1. Bout/match duration

  1. Bout/match duration
    1. Competition systems
      1. Double elimination
      2. Round Robin
    2. Rest between bouts is minimum of double the match time.
    3. U10
      1. Match time: 2 minute continuous time or 2 Ippon
      2. No Golden Score
    4. U12
      1. Match time: 2 minute stop time
      2. No Golden Score
    5. U14
      1. Match time: 3 minute stop time
      2. No Golden Score
    6. U16
      1. Match time: 3 minute stop time
      2. Golden Score
    7. U18, U21 & Senior
      1. Match time: 4 minute stop time
      2. Golden Score
    8. Veteran
      1. Match time: 3 minute stop time
      2. Golden Score

2. Legal scoring techniques

  1. Regular time
    1. Ippon:
      1. Tachi waza
        • Scoring for actions that, without stopping, are a continuation of judo techniques. If there is a stop in the action, there is no score. Continuity, it is important that there is no interruption during the execution of direct throwing techniques, counter techniques, or combinations.
        • Ippon will be given when the athlete throws their opponent on the back, applying a technique or countering their opponent’s attacking technique, with considerable ability with maximum efficiency.
        • A judo technique which is present in the Kodokan judo classified techniques.
      2. Osaekomi-waza
        • When an athlete holds with osaekomi-waza the other athlete who is unable to get away for 20 seconds.
      3. Shime-waza
        • When an athlete is submitted by strangulation technique.
      4. Kansetsu-waza
        • When an athlete submits by an arm locking technique.
    2. Waza-ari:
      1. Scoring for actions that, without stopping, are a continuation of techniques. If there is a stop in the action, there is no score.
      2. Evaluation of the points in tachi-waza.
      3. Landing on the whole side of the body at 90 degrees or more to the rear of the shoulder axis.
      4. A score will be given for a whole side of the body landing even when the elbow is out. Only the shoulder position must be considered. Everything that is out of this range will be yuko or no score.
      5. When the four ippon criteria are not fully achieved.
    3. Waza-ari-awasete-ippon:
      1. 2nd waza-ari by same athlete in a single match
    4. Osaekomi-waza:
      1. When an athlete holds with osaekomi-waza the other athlete who is unable to get away for 10 seconds or more, but less than 20 seconds.
    5. Yuko
      1. Scoring for actions that, without stopping, are a continuation of techniques. If there is a stop in the action, there is no score.
      2. Evaluation of the points in tachi-waza.
        • Landing on the whole side of the body near 90 degrees to the front of the shoulder axis.
        • When the four ippon criteria and wazari criteria are not fully achieved.
      3. When an athlete holds with osaekomi-waza the other athlete who is unable to get away for 5 seconds or more, but less than 10 seconds.
  2. Golden Score (overtime)
    1. Match continues to golden score if no athlete has a technical score, or if the technical score is tied at the end of regular time.
    2. An ippon or waza-ari during golden score is an immediate win for the athlete.
  3. Kiken-gachi:
    1. Win by default, opponent withdraws during match.

3. Illegal scoring techniques

  1. Kansetsu-waza and Shime-waza restrictions
    1. No Kansetsu-waza or Shime-waza are allowed in any competition for judoka of yellow and orange ranks.
    2. No Kansetsu-waza is allowed for U16 (all ranks).
    3. Shime-waza is allowed for U16 (green belts and higher).
  2. Use of Sankaku-gatame
    1. U14 and younger are not allowed to use Sankaku-gatame for it is impossible to determine whether it is applied as a Katame or a Shime-waza.

4. Scoring fouls/penalties

  1. Shido (Slight Infringements Group)
    1. Lack of Combativity
      1. Negative positions
      2. False attack
      3. False initiation of ne-waza
      4. Not initiation attack
      5. Deliberately move outside contest area
  2. Illegal Move
    1. To put a hand, arm, foot, or leg directly on the opponent’s face. The face means the area within the line bordered by the forehead, the front of the ears and the jawline.
    2. To intentionally avoid taking kumi-kata to prevent action in the contest.
    3. To grab the top of the leg.
    4. Ducking beneath the opponent’s arm without an immediate attack.
    5. Hooking one leg between the opponent’s legs unless immediately attacking with a throwing technique.
    6. In a standing position, to continually hold the opponent’s sleeve end(s) for a defensive purpose or to grasp by “screwing up” the sleeve end(s).
    7. In a standing position, to continually keep the opponent’s fingers of one or both hands interlocked, to prevent action in the contest or to take the wrist or the hands of the opponent only to avoid the grip or the attack on them.
    8. To insert a finger or fingers inside the opponent’s sleeve or of their trousers either in the ends of the trouser legs or in the waistband (top) of the trousers.
    9. To bend back the opponent’s finger(s) to break their grip.
    10. Breaking grips with one or two hands and not taking a grip immediately.
    11. To break the grip of the opponent with the knee or leg.
    12. Cover the upper part of the lapel of the judogi jacket to prevent the grip.
    13. Avoid uke’s grip with a blow on their arm or hand.
    14. Blocking the opponent’s hand.
    15. Leg grabbing, grabbing the trousers, blocking, or pushing the opponent’s leg(s) with their hands or arms.
    16. To encircle the end of the belt or jacket around any part of the opponent’s body.
    17. To take the Judogi in the mouth (either their own or their opponent’s judogi).
    18. To put a foot or a leg in the opponent’s belt, collar or lapel.
    19. To apply shime-waza using either your own or your opponent’s belt or bottom of the jacket or using only the fingers.
    20. In osaekomi-waza, shime-waza or kansetsu-waza, over-stretching the leg is forbidden.
    21. Special attention will be given to situations: where tori, whilst applying a shime-waza, also over-stretches and straightens uke’s leg.
    22. To directly hug by locking hands behind the opponent's back for a throw (bear hug).
    23. In shime-waza (ryote-jime with tori and uke face to face, hadaka-jime with tori on the back of uke or sankaku situation gripping the head with the legs just around the neck) using the legs to assist the grips around the opponent’s head without any arm of the opponent.
    24. To kick with the knee or foot, the hand or arm of the opponent, in order to make them release their grip or to kick the opponent’s leg or ankle without applying any technique.
    25. Applying kansetsu-waza or shime-waza in tachi-shisei without a judo throwing technique.
    26. The act of entangling the leg without making an immediate attack.
  3. Hansoku-make (Grave Infringements Group)
    1. Indirect: accumulation of 3 shido
    2. Direct: Dangerous Techniques and acts against the spirit of judo such as:
      1. To apply kawazu-gake.
      2. To apply kani-basami.
      3. To apply do-jime.
      4. To apply ashi-garami.
      5. To fall directly to the tatami while applying or attempting to apply techniques such as ude-hishigi-waki-gatame.
      6. Applying kansetsu-waza or shime-waza in tachi-shisei with a judo throwing technique where uke has no reasonable chance of escaping the kansetsu-waza or shime-waza.
      7. Uke, when behind tori, cannot reap tori’s standing leg or legs from the inside.
      8. To make any action that may endanger or injure the opponent especially the opponent’s neck or spinal vertebrae.
      9. Intentionally fall backwards when the other athlete is clinging to their back and when either athlete has control of the other’s movement.
      10. To lift the opponent off the tatami and forcefully push him back onto the tatami without a judo technique.
      11. To disregard the referee’s instructions.
      12. To make unnecessary calls, remarks, or gestures derogatory to the opponent or referee during the contest.
      13. To wear or to have inside the judogi a hard or metallic object (covered or not).
      14. Any action against the spirit of judo (this includes anything that can be described as anti-judo, for example being in the lead and, in the last seconds of the match, leaving the competition area to prevent the opponent from taking grips) may be punished by a direct hansoku-make at any time in the contest.
      15. And as per the International Judo Federation (IJF) Sport Organization Rules and Addendums.

5. Result declarations

  1. Technical Score
    1. Ippon: win immediately by ippon technical score.
    2. Waza-ari: win by accumulation of 2 waza-ari technical scores by the same athlete.
    3. Yuko: win by a higher technical score at the end of the regulation match time or in golden score.
  2. Hansoku-make
    1. Indirect: win by penalties, opponent accumulates 3 shido in a match and is disqualified — opponent can continue in the competition.
    2. Direct: win by penalties, opponent receives Hansoko-make and is disqualified — opponent cannot continue in the competition.
  3. Fusen-gachi: win by default, opponent doesn’t report for match.
  4. Kiken-gachi: win by default, opponent withdraws during match.

6. Athlete attire and required equipment

  1. At Club–A tournaments, the Tournament Director must have a sokuteiki available for judogi control.
  2. Judogis must adhere to Judo Canada/IJF sizing.
  3. The first compactor called to the mat will be the “white” competitor. The second will be “blue” competitors.
  4. All Tournaments
    1. U10 and below competitor T-shirts are optional for competitors.
    2. U12 and up female competitors are required to wear a plain white opaque short-sleeved, round-necked T-shirt under their judogi.
    3. U12 and up male competitors may not wear a T-shirt under their judogi.
    4. For all competitors it is forbidden to wear any metal, hard plastic or any other hard material, this includes but not limited to, under garments, braces, hair ties, jewellery.
    5. All competitors must wear undergarments.
    6. Any athlete not conforming to the above dress code will be asked to change or will forfeit the match.
  5. Club-A Tournaments
    1. Properly fitted white judogi. Blue judogis are optional.
    2. All competitors will wear either a white or blue sash or white or blue judogi depending on the side they are called to for the match and their current rank colour belt. The Tournament Director is responsible for supplying sashes for each mat surface, but athletes are encouraged to bring their own properly fitting sash.
    3. It is recommended that athletes bring back-up judogis.
    4. For official qualifiers, U16 and up and green belt and up must have both white and blue judogi. All other divisions must have a white judogi, but also may wear a blue judogi when called to the blue side for a match.
  6. Club-B Tournaments
    1. It is recommended that all competitors have a white judogi plus one white and one blue properly fitted sash with a belt of their appropriate rank colour. However, at Club-B tournaments this rule may not be strictly enforced to give all competitors the opportunity to compete.
  7. An official will inspect the equipment of all contestants prior to competition to ensure that the contestant’s equipment meets minimum standards and is in good repair.