Judo competition

[danfaggella]

I see judo competition and I don't understand all of it. I understand the 1 point ippon, the 1/2 points that add up, the 1/4 points that you can accumulate, and the 1/8 points that you can accumulate, but on the ground I get confused. I see some takedowns that don't seem to be logical, and on the ground the "thrower" lands in a much worse position than the "throwee", such as in the Soto Makikomi. In the technique the throwee could easily sink hooks in afterwards and work from the VERY advantagous back mount. It doesn't seem logical to me. Other throws end up very much the same, I don't know if the rules are best for preparing for combat, because its not who lands in an advantagous position, its who throws who onto thier back, but I tend to like to BE on peoples backs, because then they can't stop the choke attempts attempts (and there are plenty with a gi). Also, in the street, elbows in the back of the head are pretty unstoppable when you have back mount, and thats deadly.

[EmptyneSs]

Also, in the street, elbows in the back of the head are pretty unstoppable when you have back mount, and thats deadly.

our bjj instructor tells us to always give your opponent a few elbow shots to the back of the head and neck before going for the choke when u get back mount. this is for self defense though, not competition.

[EmptyneSs]

Judo's Theory of Combat

Judo assumes that there are two main phases of combat: the standing (tachi waza) and the ground (newaza) phase. Each phase requires its own mostly separate techniques, strategies, randori, conditioning and so on, although some special training is devoted to 'transitional' techniques to bridge the gap. Some judoka can become quite skilled in one phase and be rather weak in the other, depending on where their interests most lie, although most are rather balanced between the two.

The Standing Phase

In the standing phase, which is considered the initial phase, the opponents try to throw each other to the ground. Even though standing joint-lock and choke/strangulation submission techniques are legal in the standing phase, they are quite rare due to the fact that they are much harder to apply standing than throws are. Some judoka, however, are very skilled in combining takedowns with submissions, where a submission technique is begun standing and finished on the ground. Strikes (i.e. punches, kicks etc) are not allowed due to their certainty of injury, but judoka are supposed to 'take them into consideration' while training by, for example, not fighting in a bent-over position for long, since this position is vulnerable to knee-strikes and others. The main purpose of the throwing techniques (nage waza) is to take an opponent who is standing on his feet, mobile and dangerous, down onto his back where he cannot move any more. Thus, the main reason for throwing the opponent is to control him and put yourself in a dominant position above him where you have more potential to inflict damage on him than he does on you. Be that as it may, another reason to throw the opponent is to shock his body through smashing him forcefully onto the ground. If a judoka executes a powerful yet fully controlled throw, he can win a match outright due to the theory that he has displayed enough superiority. In actual fact, this kind of victory is very difficult to achieve if the opponents are equally matched. Therefore points are given for lesser throws in the standing phase of combat.

The Ground Phase

In the ground phase, which is considered the secondary phase of combat, the opponents try to hold, or get the opponant to submit either by using arm/leg-locks or by chokes and strangulations.

Pins

Pins are considered important since in a real fight the person on top who has control of the person beneath can hit him with knees, forearms, the head and so on. If a pin is held for 25 seconds, the person doing the pinning wins the match. The reason for requiring such a long pin is that in order to be able to hit the person underneath you effectively, you have to have full control of him for a long time. In a match, if you pin your opponent for less than 25 seconds you get points depending on how long, with the minimum being 10 seconds. This also flows from the theory that you will be striking a pinned opponent, and after 10 seconds will have possibly weakened him somewhat with strikes, at least enough to merit giving some points.

However, if the person you are holding down has wrapped his legs around any part of your lower body or your trunk, he is pinning you as much as you are pinning him since you cannot get up and flee unless he lets go. What if, for example, his friends who are nearby happen to drop in to 'pay you a little visit'? You won't be able to get away. Also, to make things even worse for you, there are various attacking techniques he can launch against you from this position, which is called 'Do-osae' (body squeeze) in Japanese and 'The Guard' in English. Clearly you do not have control of him in this position even though you are 'on top', so it is not considered a pin. It is your job to break through his 'guard' and pin or submit him, and it is his job to submit you from where he is, to roll you over and get on top of you or to simply break out and get back up to his feet and fight from there if that is what he wants to do.

Joint Locks

Elbow locks are considered safe-enough to do at nearly full-force to induce a submission. In times past, Judo allowed many other joints to be attacked too such as the knees, spine and others. Over the years it was discovered that attacking those other joints would not only result in many injuries to the athletes, but also would gradually wear the joints down over time. Even so, some Judoka still enjoy learning and fighting each other informally using these banned techniques. Joint locks are effective combat techniques since they enable you to control your opponent through pain-compliance. Also, some joints, such the elbows, can be broken, maiming your adversary so he cannot any longer attack you effectively or put up a defence. For these reasons Judo considers joint locks to be important techniques.

Chokes/Strangulations

Chokes/strangulations are Judo's deadliest techniques. They enable the one applying the choke to force the adversary into unconsciousness and even death.

Fighting

Judo emphasizes fighting (randori) as its main form of training. Half the combat time is spent fighting on the ground, called newaza and the other half standing up, called tachi waza. Actual fighting, albeit within safety rules, is considered to be much more effective than only practicing techniques, since fighting full-strength develops the muscles and cardio-vascular system on the physical side of things, and it develops strategy and reaction time on the mental side of things.

Judo's Balanced Approach to Fighting

Judo's balance between both the standing and ground phases of combat gives judoka the ability to take down opponents who are standing up and then pin and submit them on the ground. This balanced theory of combat has made Judo a popular choice for many.

Techniques

While Judo includes a variety of rolls, falls, throws, pins, chokes, joint-locks, and methods of percussion, the primary focus is on throwing (nage-waza, 投げ技), and groundwork (ne-waza,寝技). Nage-waza is divided in two groups of techniques, standing techniques (tachi-waza, 立技) and sacrifice techniques (sutemi-waza, 捨身技). Standing techniques are divided in hand techniques (te-waza, 手技), hip techniques (koshi-waza, 腰技) and foot/leg techniques (ashi-waza, 足技). Sacrifice techniques are divided into those in which the thrower falls directly backwards (ma-sutemi-waza, 真捨身技) and those in which he falls onto his side (yoko-sutemi-waza, 橫捨身技).

The groundwork techniques are divided into: attacks against the joints or joint locks (kansetsu-waza, 関節技), strangleholds or chokeholds (shime-waza, 絞技), and holding or pinning techniques (osaekomi-waza, 押込技).

A kind of sparring is practiced in judo, known as randori (乱取り), meaning "free practice". In randori, players (known as judoka) may attack each other with any judo throw or grappling technique. Striking techniques (called atemi-waza) such as kicking and punching, along with knife and sword techniques are retained in the katas taught to higher ranking judoka (for instance, in the kime-no-kata), but are forbidden in contest (and usually prohibited in randori), for reasons of safety. Also for reasons of safety, chokeholds, jointlocking - and the sacrifice (sutemi) techniques, which can be very spectacular, are often subject to age and/or rank restrictions; in the United States, one must be 13 or older to use chokeholds, and 17 or older, or hold the rank of Shodan (first grade black belt) or higher to use armlocks.

In randori and shiai (tournament) practice, when an opponent successfully executes a chokehold or joint lock, one "taps out" by tapping the mat or one's opponent at least twice in a manner that clearly indicates the submission. When this occurs, the match is over, and the tapping player has lost, but the chokehold or joint lock ceases. Because this allows a merciful exit to the match, injuries related to these holds are quite rare.

Although a fully featured martial art, judo has also developed as a sport. Judo became an Olympic sport for men in 1964 and, with the persistence of an American woman by the name of Rusty Kanokogi and many others, a sport for women as well in 1988 (both years given were the years that Judo was a demonstration event followed by an official medal event 4 years later). Men and women compete separately (although they often train together), and there are several weight divisions.

The object in a judo match is to throw your opponent to the ground. This will score an ippon (一本), a full point that wins the match. Anything else, such as landing your opponent on the hip or shoulder, will be waza-ari (技有), yuko (有効) or koka (効果) (waza-ari being the highest of the 3, koka the lowest) or even no score. Technically speaking, a waza-ari is a half-point, two of which will earn the match. Yukos and kokas are not fractional points in that they do not accumulate to equal a waza-ari or ippon-- in fact a waza-ari beats any number of yukos and a yuko beats any number of kokas. Rather, they are used as tiebreakers if the match ends before an ippon is scored. At match end, if one player has scored a waza-ari and the other has not, the player with the waza-ari wins, but if they are equal in that regard (both with zero or one) yukos are used to break the tie. If they are also equal in yukos, kokas break the tie. Finally, if both players have identical scores, the match is resolved by having the contestants continue fighting in a sudden death overtime called the Golden Score period where the first contestant to get any score wins. If there is no score during this period, then the decision (majority vote) of the referee and two corner judges is used.

After the throw occurs and is scored, combat may continue on the ground. Pinning an opponent, with both shoulders on the mat, for 25 seconds (20 if you previously scored a waza-ari, since two half-points will complete your ippon) results in an ippon. An automatic ippon is also granted when one's opponent submits (which frequently occurs when strangle holds / arm locks are used). If there is no ippon or submission, the one with the highest score wins. Penalties may be given for being inactive during the match or using illegal techniques and fighting must be stopped if a participant is outside the designated area on the mat (tatami).

All scores and penalties are given by the referee. The judges can make a decision to change the score or penalty given by the referee.
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Sport and beyond

Despite the literal meaning of judo being "the gentle way", competition judo is one the roughest and most demanding of sports. A World Championship or Olympic match lasts only 5 minutes, but will leave participants exhausted.

Without the kicking and punching so common to other martial arts, except in atemi-waza, which is taught to black belts, judo is often portrayed as friendlier than, for instance, karate. Proponents believe this contributes to judo being underrated as a method of self-defense. However, while throws executed with proper break falls on soft mats can seem light and graceful, their more practical application on a hard surface (and potentially with greater intent to harm) could be very dangerous. Even in the controlled environments of a match or dojo training session, injuries can easily occur due to a lapse in focus or overzealous application of a technique.


*this is from, wickipidia

[danfaggella]

Great post thanks a whole lot.

I need to get myself a Gi top.