Judo NZ communication regarding rules changes

Kia ora all, just forwarding the following communication from Judo NZ for your awareness:

Hi everyone,

Following last years Olympics and preparing for the next Olympics in 2024 the IJF has made changes to the Contest Rules and the Sports Code.

It has been JNZ's policy to implement these changes immediately so that the players are subject to the same rules being applied through out the world and they will certainly be in force for the two Opens in Oceania later in the year.

On that basis the Technical Directorate has made the following decisions.

 #1

That the new contest rules will be accepted and adopted in their entirety with immediate effect.

#2 

That compliance with the new judogi size changes be adopted in New Zealand for Cadets, Juniors and Seniors, but that implementation of this change is deferred until the 1st of January 2023 to allow time for transition to the new gis. No change will be applied to girls and boys judogi.

#3

That athletes are allowed to seek medical help for finger and toe joint resetting, including resetting and taping to secure the joint. Further that this change does not mean event organisers must have some one on hand who is able to do the resetting.

I have attached the IJF notification of these changes along with the contest rule changes set out below in detail. These are accompanied with IJF Tour Referee Craig Barletts' comments in italics after attending an explanation session with the IJF.

Please contact me if you need clarification any aspect of these changes.

Kind regards

Dave Browne

National Technical Director

1. Contest Rule Changes

 Decision 1: Scoring for actions that, without stopping, are a continuation of techniques.

 If there is a stop in the action, there is no score.

This is largely self explanatory and is really just a clarification of the existing position.

Decision 2: Waza-ari criteria comprises landing on the whole side of the body at 90 degrees or more to the rear, or on one shoulder and upper back. A score will be given for a whole side of the body landing even when the elbow is out. Hip and shoulder position must be considered.

As you will be aware, in recent times more focus has been placed on elbow position rather than the position of the body, and many relatively frontal landings were being given waza-ari.  Now provided the side has contact with the tatami the elbow position is irrelevant and the focus is on the at least 90 degree angle - the 90 degrees should be at both the line of the shoulders and the line of the hips.

Decision 3:  Waza-ari criteria comprises landing on the whole side of the body at 90 degrees or more to the rear, or on one shoulder and upper back. A score will be given for a whole side body landing even when the elbow is out.

As above with regards to the elbow position.  The rest of this is fairly self explanatory.

Decision 4: Landing simultaneously on 2 elbows or hands, towards the back, is waza-ari for tori and shido for uke.

With regards to the waza-ari for the landing this is a continuation of the current situation.

Ne waza continuation - if tori continues to take advantage in ne waza this should be allowed, however uke should not be given that opportunity.

Cumulative penalties/scores - if tori already has a waza-ari then preference should be given to the positive score, ie waza-ari awaseti ippon. If first wazari and uke has two shido - waza-ari > mate > third shido.

Gesture - this will be advised at a later point.

Decision 5: No score for counter techniques where the initial attack is rolled to the back, towards the counterattacking or defending judoka.   

This is not deemed to be proper judo technique and will not be scored.  The contest can be continued in ne waza.  This is very much about the “ride and roll” style of counter to harai goshi/ uchi mata.  The commission have requested if there are videos of specific situations where we seek clarification on the validity that these should be sent to the commission.

Decision 6: No score and shido for reverse seoi-nage. 

This decision has been made on safety grounds, due to the lack of control in the completion of reverse seoi-nage, and the number of injuries that have been resulting.  Some questions were asked about forms of reverse seoi-nage using a conventional grip, and the commission requested if people had video examples this could be looked at.

The gesture for this penalty will be advised in due course.

Decision 7: Gripping under the belt in the end phase of a throwing technique is allowed if the opponent is already in ne-waza. If the throwing technique is interrupted, gripping under the belt is a ne-waza action.

This relates to when the leg is touched in situations like soto makikomi as a natural continuation of technique after contact with the tatami, where the use of the arm is inconsequential to the completion of the technique.  This also removes the issue where competitors get caught out with believing they are in ne-waza getting penalised for the leg grab.  This does not extend to situations such as where the hand is used to assist the completion of techniques like seoi-nage or ko-uchi.

Decision 8: Collar and lapel grips are allowed if not negative.

This is largely self explanatory.  The focus is on if the action is positive or negative.

Decision 9: Belt grip, one side grip, cross grip, pistol grip and pocket grip are not traditional grips. If taken, time will be allowed for the preparation of an attack.

This is a relaxation of the existing requirement for immediate attack to give the opportunity to prepare the attack.  When these grips are used they must be used in a positive way.

Decision 10: Breaking the grips and immediately taking grips is allowed. Breaking grips and not taking a grip immediately is shido.

Note: this is breaking the grip with one hand or two hands (ie two handed grip breaks are allowed again now). Using the leg to break the grip is still not allowed.  Essentially when the grip is broken you must be using the grip break to get a grip.

Decision 11: Being directed to re-tie and/or arranging the judogi and/or hair is allowed once per judoka per contest. Further occasions are penalised with shido.

Self explanatory.

Decision 12: Techniques using head diving are dangerous and will be penalised with hansoku-make.

The key change is that even if the tori is turning if they are using their head on the tatami in the throwing action it is hansoku-make.