From: satadd00@nx16.mik.uky.edu (scott andrew taddiken)
Subject: Judo: the value of competition.
Summary: A push toward competition is an important part of judo.
Organization: University of Kentucky
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 15:13:13 GMT

The recent talk about judo (meaning Kodokan judo, with no offense intended
to those of you who do some other jujutsu which you choose to call a "do")
being polluted by a competitive atmosphere has peaked my interest.  I went
back through some of my old books, and this is what I have come up with.

In no way do I mean this to be a refutation of what some have said about
problems in modern competition, but I hope it is interesting.

In _Judo_Kyohan_, penned by Kano in 1931, it reads:

	Randori means "free practice".  Partners pair off and vie with
	each other as they would in an actual match.
	...
	Both kata [set practice] and randori [free practice] are forms of
	mental training, but of the two, randori is the more effective.
	...
	Practicing judo brings many pleasures: the pleasant feeling
	exercise imparts to muscles and nerves, the satisfaction of
	mastering movements, and the joy of winning in competition.

If you define judo as "that which was created by Jigoro Kano" as I do, then
it seems that you are forced to the conclusion that shiai (contests) are an
integral part of judo.  Certainly noone who does judo should neglect randori.

Now, a little background on competition judo for those of you non judoka who
are still hanging on:  The rules of judo have undergone many revisions over
the years, but a major revision took place sometime around the early 70's.
In the old rules, attempts to throw were classified as follows:

	ippon--"one point".  A clean, forceful throw of the opponent onto his
	       back.  This ends the match.
	waza-ari--"with technique".  Not good enough to win, but still deemed
	          by the referee to have value.
	yuko--"attempt".  A very broad category, ranging from reaching out and
	      tapping the opponent on his ankle with your foot to throwing the
	      opponent on his side while falling down with him.

Ippon and waza-ari were the only clear ways to win.  Yukos were kept track of
subjectively by referees and judges.  Many contests ended tied either 0-0 or
1-1 in terms of waza-ari, so the judges were called in often, and many
contestants felt that they were being cheated when they lost.  The revision was
supposed to take care of all this:

	Throws are judged on 3 criteria: force, amplitude, and control.  That
	is, how hard does he hit, how high does he go before hitting, and how
	squarely does he land on his back.  4 scores are given, depending on
	these:

	ippon--As above.  Lacking in none of the criteria.
	waza-ari--As above.  Lacking in one criterion.
	yuko--Now scored for spectators and contestants to see.  Throws lacking
	      in two of the three criteria.
	koka--"passable".  Scored for all to see.  These are of two types.  The
	      first, quite rare, is a throw lacking in all three criteria, as
	      in throwing an opponent gently onto his side without clearing his
	      feet off the ground.  The second is a throw which lands an
	      opponent, however forcefully, on his buttocks or stomach.

One waza-ari beats any number of kokas and yukos.  One yuko beats any number of
kokas.  If all is tied, once again we have to go to the judges, who usually
give the match to the fellow who looked like he was trying hardest to throw.

These rules have had a couple of unfortunate side effects.  One of these is
that, when yukos were so much more hazy, people knew that they had to try for
waza-ari or better to win, so they made more efforts to get the big throw.
(Of course, as I mentioned earlier, many contests ended tied, anyway).  Another
side effect was to make it profitable for people to invent techniques
specifically designed to score the koka with high probability of success, but
which have no chance for a better score.  Some of these techniques require an
extraordinary amount of effort (which violates the fundamental principal of
efficiency), but they are worth it, because once you have a lead, however
small, the opponent must come to you.  You can even, if so inclined, score
koka in the first 30 seconds of a match, and creatively stall out the remaining
4 and a half minutes, to lock up a victory.

I do not fall in with those who want to go back to the old way, but I do
recognize that the new way can encourage conservative, inefficient judo.
I don't think that there is any way that you could finagle the rules to promote
better judo.  My two hopes for the future of contest judo are: 1) coaches will
put their proteges through alternative forms of randori, which encourage
straight-up, loose-hipped judo, and this style will become infectious.
2) Skilled judoka will apply the principle of maximum efficiency to contest
judo, deriving new solutions to new problems.  The second is already going on,
as is evident from the judo of Adams, Ulch, Kashiwazake, and many others.
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Scott Taddiken, University of Kentucky