Judo

Overview

A Japanese martial art and Olympic sport: two competitors try to throw each other to the mat, pin, or force a submission with a joint lock or choke.

Checked against the International Judo Federation's Sport and Organisation Rules, version 14 August 2026. Article numbers below refer to it.

1. The contest

A senior contest lasts 4 minutes of real contest time (Article 6). If the score is level at the end, it goes to golden score: no time limit, existing scores and penalties carry over, and the next score or penalty to disqualify wins it. If nobody scores, the win can go to a countback, or, in some formats, one side may decline to continue and lose by kiken-gachi (withdrawal).

2. Scoring

Three throwing scores, from a recognised Kodokan judo technique applied without a break in the action (Article 14):

Score	Points	What it takes
Ippon	Wins outright	Thrown largely on the back, with speed, force and control through the landing
Waza-ari	10	Lands more than 90° past the shoulder axis, but not fully on the back, or one of the four ippon criteria is missing
Yuko	1	A lesser landing: side, upper back, neck, or on the buttocks in some positions

Two waza-ari make an ippon (waza-ari-awasete-ippon, Article 16). Yuko scores add up but never combine into a waza-ari (Article 15).

On the ground (ne-waza): a hold-down, osaekomi, scores by how long it's held once the referee calls "Osaekomi!" (Article 7):

Held for	Score
20 seconds	Ippon
10–19 seconds	Waza-ari
5–9 seconds	Yuko

Ippon is also given for a submission: tapping twice, or losing consciousness to a strangle (shime-waza) or joint lock (kansetsu-waza) (Article 14).

3. Penalties

Two levels, and only one route between them (Article 18):

• Shido: a warning, for a lack of combativity, an illegal but not dangerous move, or untidy dress. Two shido, and a third is hansoku-make. Shido never score points for the opponent.
• Hansoku-make: disqualification from the contest. A direct hansoku-make can end a competitor's whole event; one reached by accumulated shido does not.

A contest can never be decided by shido alone, only by reaching hansoku-make.

4. Location and continuity

Action stays valid as long as part of a competitor's body is touching the contest area when it starts, even if it later crosses into the safety area, up to about 2 metres beyond the line (Article 5). A new technique started with both competitors already outside the area doesn't count.

Commonly argued

• Shido is never a score. Only ippon, waza-ari and yuko go on the scoreboard, and two shido plus one more is a loss, not three points.
• Two waza-ari equal an ippon, but yuko scores never add up to a waza-ari.
• Golden score has no time limit, and carries penalties over from regular time.
• A hold-down scores by time held: 5, 10 or 20 seconds for yuko, waza-ari and ippon.
• Ippon needs a recognised technique, not just a fall. Rolling onto your back without applying one scores nothing.