1 The Rules of Judo

Judo has many rules, so these affect the games a lot and very important elements. The place which is done judo games is about 81 square meters in area on tatami. If you do waza to your opponent outside of the place, your waza is not admitted. Judo has as many as 66 nagewaza and 29 katamewaza. Judo is the sport that you can use these waza and beat your opponent. There are three referees in the games. The game time is between 3 minutes and 20 minutes, but most use 3 or 5 minutes. Judgments of judo game are not so difficult. Valid waza is divided three categories; ippon, wazaari, yukou. If your waza is evaluated as ippon, you win. If you take wazaari twice, you win. If you or your opponent does not take ippon or wazaari twice in time, the main referee decides the outcome of the game. At that time, the person who takes more yuko than the other or one wazaari is advantageous. If both of them do not take any valid waza, the game time is postponed until either of them takes some valid waza. By the way, I will explain about the differences of ippon, wazaari, yuko in detail. The first case is nagewaza. Nagewaza means that you throw your opponent. If you throw your opponent very speedy and strongly, your nagewaza is evaluated as ippon. If either speed or strength is not adequate, your nagewaza is evaluated as wazaari. If both of them are not adequate, your nagewaza is evaluated as yuko.  These distinction are difficult, but speaking of katamewaza, the second case, they are not so difficult. Katamewaza means that you hold down your opponent for a fixed period of time. If you hold down your opponent for 25 seconds, your katamewaza is evaluated as ippon. If you hold down your opponent from 20 seconds to 25 seconds, your katamewaza is evaluated as wazaari. If you hold down your opponent from 15 seconds to 20 seconds, your katamewaza is evaluated as yuko.If your opponent shows surrender among your katamewaza, your katamewaza is evaluated as ippon. The etiquette is very important in judo. You need to bow before the games and after the games. If you do not do this, you have an offence. You have to respect your opponent at all times. This sprit is often seen in many Japanese sports and has continued since 12 century.