A GUIDE TO COMPETITIONS

Judo is a competitive sport and you can gain a lot of enjoyment and satisfaction from pitting your skills against other players. If you haven’t competed before, these tips may cast some light on what to expect, especially for younger players.

What competitions are there?

The type of competition you enter will determine what standard of player you are likely to meet, so choose carefully.

Each competition may have several separate categories or groups, where players of the same gender and similar grade or age can be grouped together. Further, each of these categories is split into several weight groups. So you may, for example, find yourself in:

Group 1 Boys – Novice to 3rd Mon: Under 30 kg Or Group 4 Girls – 4th to 9th Mon: Under 36 kg

What do I enter?

Until you are an experienced player, you should take advice from your club coach on the best competitions for you to enter. Some competitions attract players of a very high standard – you may want to steer clear of these until your skills have developed.

How do I enter?

As a Junior Judo player, you will probably enter your first competitions through your club. Make sure that your entry is sent off before the closing date for the competition, usually two to three weeks before the competition date. You will need to provide the following for your competition entry:

• Your name
• Your date of birth
  Will you be the correct age on the day of the competition?
• Your BJA Licence number
  You must have a BJA Licence to compete.
• Your BJA Licence expiry date
  Will your licence be valid on the day of the competition?
• Your current grade
  Will you be the correct grade on the day of the competition? Some competitions insist that you have graded at least once within the last 12 months.
• Your current weight
  If your weight changes between entering and competing, you will usually be allowed to move up to a heavier weight group, but you may be charged a penalty fee.
• Your entry fee
  Yes, they all cost money!

Before you go …

… make sure that you have the following:

• Judo kit
  That’s clean jacket and trousers, belt, t-shirt (girls) and hair ties. If you’re not the only one who does Judo in your house, make sure it’s your kit! Make sure your kit fits properly, especially the jacket sleeves.
• Blue and white belts
  You will wear these in your fights. It’s usually not essential to have your own belts, but it looks good if you do!
• BJA Licence
  No licence, no competition. It’s a good idea to have a passport-size photo in your licence.
• Water
  Stay hydrated – don’t drink fizzy pop before you fight.
• Food
  Take something that’s easily digestible, like bananas, and avoid fatty foods. If you’re worried that you might not make the weight, save breakfast until you’ve weighed in.
• Book, personal stereo, games console
  There’s always a lot of sitting around and waiting at Judo competitions.
• Directions to get to the venue

Make sure that you know what time you are supposed to be there, and get there on time!

Weigh-in

All players must be weighed before the competition starts so that they can be assigned to the correct weight groups. It’s a good idea to get to the weigh-in as early as possible to avoid the rush.

At the weigh-in you will need to be in your judo kit or lightweight tracksuit, and you will need to produce your BJA Licence. You will be weighed with trousers and t-shirt (girls), but without jacket and belt. (Note for Juniors: parents may not be allowed in the weigh-in area, but your club coach can be on hand to assist if required.)

Waiting

Once you’ve weighed in, there is nothing to do but wait for your group to be called to fight. Generally, the younger, lighter groups fight first – if you’re in one of the older, heavier groups you may have several hours to wait.

Stay relaxed, drink your water, and soak up the atmosphere. Remove any jewellery – it will get you disqualified – and check that your finger nails and toe nails are short.

There are very seldom any facilities offered for warming up, but try to find space to do your basic warm-up routine.

Keep your ears open for the call to the mat – all the players in your group will be called together.

Pools

When you get to your designated mat, give your name to the officials at the control table and sit at the side of the mat ready to go. This may be your first chance to assess how many other players you’re up against.

Where there are more than five contestants in a single weight category, general practice is to split players into pools of three or four. You fight everybody in your pool once, and the top one or two players in the pool go forward to a knockout stage for the medals.

In some smaller contests designed for novice players there may not be a knockout stage. Instead, medals will be awarded to all players in each pool.

You may find that you are the only player in your weight group, in which case it’s an easy medal! In cases like this the competition officials will often put together an “Open” weight category made up of two or more combined weight groups. The idea is to offer all players the chance of some fights. You don’t have to take part in one of these open weight categories if you don’t want to. It’s your choice.

Ready to fight

When it is your turn to go your name will be called, along with the colour of the belt you should wear – either white, red or blue. It helps if you have your own belts, but there are usually spares provided.

Stand on the correct side of the control table and wait to be called onto the mat by the referee. Bow before you go onto the mat and walk on, around the back of the corner judge, avoiding the red safety area. Stand at the edge of the safety area, bow again, and walk to the centre of the mat. Bow to your opponent and step forward into the “ready” stance.

Hajime! …

There isn’t room here to run through the complete rules of the sport of Judo, but there a few things that you should be aware of in a competition environment.

The length of contests varies depending on the age of the contestants. Informal contests for Kano players and some junior contests will be just 2 minutes. Juniors may also fight for 2 minutes 30 seconds. Fights for Senior players are usually from 3 to 5 minutes.

The time required for hold downs to Ippon also varies, from just 20 seconds to 30 seconds. Make sure you know the requirements for your own competition.

Crucially, if you are an older Junior or youth player, make sure you know whether or not armlocks and strangles are allowed. Attempting to use these techniques in contests when they are forbidden will result in instant disqualification from the competition.

… Matte!

Remember your etiquette at the end of the fight and bow to your opponent. Bow to the centre of the mat as you leave the contest area, and bow as you leave the mat. So, how did you do?

Knockout stage

If you have been successful enough to get through the pool stage of your group you may be sent away and told to return later on for the knockout stage. More usually, the knockout stage will carry straight on after the pools. Otherwise, well done and hard luck!

Afterwards

Whether you were successful in any of your fights, or even if you lost them all, try to be positive about the experience. Time in competition on the mat is seldom wasted. Back at your club, review your fights with your coach and assess how you performed. Try to identify areas that you need to practice – often it’s more important to do the basics well than to do a fancy new throw badly. Remember, whether you’re destined to be a future Olympic champion, or just a good club player, enjoy your Judo!