Unlimited Martial Arts

柔道
Execution of a judo throw (ōuchi-gari)
Focus	Grappling
Country of origin	Japan
Creator	Kano Jigoro
Parenthood	Various jujutsu schools including Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū, Kito-ryū, and Fusen-ryū
Famous practitioners	Mitsuo Maeda, Kyuzo Mifune, Masahiko Kimura, Gene LeBell, Anton Geesink, Yasuhiro Yamashita, Neil Adams, Karo Parisyan, Hidehiko Yoshida, Kosei Inoue
Olympic Sport	Since 1964 (men) and 1992 (women)

Judo (柔道, jūdō), meaning "gentle way", is a modern Japanese martial art (gendai budō) and combat sport, that originated in Japan in the late nineteenth century. Its most prominent feature is its competitive element, where the object is to either throw one's opponent to the ground, immobilize or otherwise subdue one's opponent with a grappling maneuver, or force an opponent to submit by joint locking the elbow or by applying a choke. Strikes and thrusts (by hands and feet) - as well as weapons defenses - are a part of judo, but only in pre-arranged forms (kata) and are not allowed in judo competition or free practice (randori).

Ultimately, the philosophy and subsequent pedagogy developed for judo became the model for almost all modern Japanese martial arts that developed from "traditional" schools (koryū).

Practitioners of judo are called jūdōka.

History and philosophy

Kano Jigoro.

Early life of the founder

The early history of judo is inseparable from its founder, Japanese polymath and educator Kano Jigoro (嘉納 治五郎 Jigorō Kanō, 1860–1938). Kano was born into a well-to-do Japanese family. His grandfather was a self-made man: a sake brewer from Shiga prefecture in central Japan. However, Kano's father was not the eldest son and therefore did not inherit the business. Instead, he became a Shinto priest and government official, with enough influence for his son to enter the second incoming class of Tokyo Imperial University.

Founder pursues jujutsu

Kano was a small, frail boy, who, even in his twenties, did not weigh more than a hundred pounds (45kg), and was often picked on by bullies. He first started pursuing jujutsu, at that time a dying art, at the age of 17, but met with little success. This was in part due to difficulties finding a teacher who would take him on as a student. When he went to university to study literature at the age of 18, he continued his martial arts studies, eventually gaining a referral to Fukuda Hachinosuke (c.1828–c.1880), a master of the Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū and grandfather of Keiko Fukuda (born 1913), who is Kano's only surviving student, and the highest-ranking female jūdōka in the world. Fukuda Hachinosuke is said to have emphasized technique over formal exercise, sowing the seeds of Kano's emphasis of free practice (randori) in judo.

A little more than a year after Kano joined Fukuda's school, Fukuda became ill and died. Kano then became a student in another Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū school, that of Iso Masatomo (c.1820–c.1881), who put more emphasis on the practice of pre-arranged forms (kata) than Fukuda had. Through dedication, Kano quickly earned the title of master instructor (shihan) and became assistant instructor to Iso at the age of 21. Unfortunately, Iso soon took ill, and Kano, feeling that he still had much to learn, took up another style, becoming a student of Iikubo Tsunetoshi (1835–1889) of Kitō-ryū. Like Fukuda, Iikubo placed much emphasis on free practice. On the other hand, Kitō-ryū emphasized throwing techniques to a much greater degree than Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū.

Founding

By this time, Kano was devising new techniques, such as the "shoulder wheel" (kata-guruma, known as a fireman's carry to Western wrestlers who use a slightly different form of this technique) and the "floating hip" (uki goshi) throw. However, he was already thinking about doing far more than just expanding the canons of Kitō-ryū and Tenjin Shin'yō-ryū. Full of new ideas, Kano had in mind a major reformation of jujutsu, with techniques based on sound scientific principles, and with focus on development of the body, mind and character of young men in addition to development of martial prowess. At the age of 22, when he was just about to finish his degree at the University, Kano took nine students from Iikubo's school to study jujutsu under him at the Eisho-ji, a Buddhist temple in Kamakura, and Iikubo came to the temple three days a week to help teach. Although two years would pass before the temple would be called by the name "Kodokan", or "place for teaching the way", and Kano had not yet been accorded the title of "master" in the Kitō-ryū, this is now regarded as the Kodokan's founding.

Judo was originally known as Kano Jiu-Jitsu or Kano Jiu-Do, and later as Kodokan Jiu-Do or simply 'Jiu-Do' or 'Judo'. In the early days, it was also still referred to generically simply as 'Jiu-Jitsu'.

Meaning of "judo"

Formalism and strict conduct are typical of traditional judo.

The word "judo" shares the same root ideogram as "jujutsu": "jū" (柔, "jū), which may mean "gentleness", "softness", "suppleness", and even "easy", depending on its context. Such attempts to translate jū are deceptive, however. The use of jū in each of these words is an explicit reference to the martial arts principle of the "soft method" (柔法, jūhō). The soft method is characterized by the indirect application of force to defeat an opponent. More specifically, it is the principle of using one's opponent's strength against him and adapting well to changing circumstances. For example, if the attacker was to push against his opponent he would find his opponent stepping to the side and allowing his momentum (often with the aid of a foot to trip him up) to throw him forwards (the inverse being true for pulling.) Kano saw jujutsu as a disconnected bag of tricks, and sought to unify it according to a principle, which he found in the notion of "maximum efficiency". Jujutsu techniques that relied solely on superior strength were discarded or adapted in favour of those that involved redirecting the opponent's force, off-balancing the opponent, or making use of superior leverage.

The second characters of judo and jujutsu differ. Where jujutsu (柔術, jūjutsu) means the "art" or "science" of softness, judo (柔道, jūdō) means the "way" of softness. The use of "dō" (道, "dō"), meaning way, road or path (and is the same character as the Chinese word "tao"), has spiritual or philosophical overtones. Use of this word is a deliberate departure from ancient martial arts, whose sole purpose was for killing. Kano saw judo as a means for governing and improving oneself physically, mentally, emotionally and morally. He even extended the physical principle of maximum efficiency into daily life, evolving it into "mutual prosperity". In this respect, judo is seen as a holistic approach to life extending well beyond the confines of the dojo.

Combat phases

Tachi-waza ends and ne-waza begins once the jūdōka go to the ground.

In judo, there are two main phases of combat: the standing (tachi-waza) and the ground (ne-waza) phase. Each phase requires its own (mostly separate) techniques, strategies, randori, conditioning and so on. Special training is also devoted to "transitional" techniques to bridge the gap. Jūdōka may become quite skilled in one phase and be rather weak in the other, depending on where their interests most lie, although most are balanced between the two.

Sparring

Judo emphasizes a free-style sparring, called randori, as one of its main forms of training. Part of the combat time is spent sparring standing up, called tachi-waza, and the other part on the ground, called ne-waza. Sparring, even subject to safety rules, is much more practically effective than only practicing techniques on their own, which is what jujutsuka were used to doing. Using full strength develops the muscles and cardio-vascular system on the physical side of things, and it develops strategy and reaction time on the mental side of things, and helps the practitioner learn to use techniques against a resisting opponent. A common saying among judoka is "The best training for judo is judo."

There are several types of sparring exercises, such as ju renshu (both judoka attack in a very gentle way where no resistance is applied); and kakari geiko (only one judoka attacks while the other one relies solely on defensive and evasive techniques, but without the use of sheer strength.)

Balanced approach

Judo's balance between both the standing and ground phases of combat gives judoka the ability to take down opponents who are standing up and then pin and submit them on the ground. This balanced theory of combat has made judo a popular choice of martial art or combat sport.

Standing

In the standing phase, which has primacy according to the contest rules, the opponents attempt to throw each other. Although standing joint-lock and choke/strangulation submission techniques are legal in the standing phase, they are quite rare due to the fact that they are much harder to apply standing than throws are. Some jūdōka, however, are very skilled in combining takedowns with submissions, where a submission technique is begun standing and finished on the ground.

Strikes (i.e. punches, kicks, etc...) are not allowed due to their certainty of injury, but an athlete is supposed to "take them into consideration" while training by, for example, not fighting in a bent-over position for long, since this position is vulnerable to knee-strikes and other striking attacks.

The main purpose of the throwing techniques (nage waza) is to take an opponent who is standing on his feet, mobile and dangerous, down onto his back where he cannot move as effectively. Thus, the main reason for throwing the opponent is to control the opponent and to put oneself in a dominant position. In this way the practitioner has more potential to render a decisive outcome. Another reason to throw the opponent is to shock his body through smashing him forcefully onto the ground. If an opponent executes a powerful yet fully controlled throw, he can win a match outright (by ippon) on the basis that he has displayed sufficient superiority. A lower score is given for lesser throws. A score for a throw is only given when executed starting from a standing position.

In keeping with Kano's emphasis on scientific analysis and reasoning, the standard Kodokan judo pedagogy dictates that any throwing technique is theoretically a four phased event: off-balancing (kuzushi); body positioning (作り, tsukuri); execution (掛け, kake); and finally the finish or coup de grâce (極め, kime). Each phase follows the previous one with great rapidity - ideally they happen almost simultaneously.

Ground

When practicing ne-waza, the practitioners may start from their knees.

After a non-ippon throw occurs (whether or not it scores anything), combat continues on the ground.

On the ground the opponents try to execute a hold down, or to get the opponent to submit either by using armlocks (locks on joints other than the elbow are not allowed due to safety regulations) or by chokes and strangulations.

Hold downs

Hold downs (押さえ込み, osaekomi) are important since in a real fight the person who has control of his opponent can hit him with punches, knees, headbutts, and other strikes. If osaekomi is maintained for twenty-five seconds, the person doing the holding down wins the match. An osaekomi involves holding an opponent principally on their back, and free of their legs.

According to the rules as they stood in 1905, it was only necessary to hold down an opponent, on his shoulders, for two seconds - said to reflect the time necessary for a samurai to reach his knife or sword and dispatch his held opponent. The newer longer requirements reflect the combat reality that a fighter must immobilize his opponent for a substantial amount of time in order to strike effectively.

The score for a hold down is determined by how long the hold down is held. A hold down may sometimes result in a submission if the opponent cannot endure the pressure from the hold down.

The 'guard' and 'body scissors'

If the person being held down has wrapped his legs around any part of his opponent's lower body or trunk, he is pinning his opponent as much as he is being pinned, because his opponent cannot get up and flee unless the person on the bottom lets go. While his legs are wrapped around his opponent, the person on the bottom can employ various attacking techniques, including strangles, armlocks and "body scissors" (do-jime), while controlling the opponent so that he cannot effectively strike from above. In this position, often referred to as the "guard" in English, the person on top does not have enough control over his adversary for the position to be considered osaekomi. (Note that while the guard is commonly used, do-jime is no longer legal in competition judo.) The person on top can try to pass his opponent's legs and in turn hold down or submit him, or he may try to break out of his opponent's guard and stand up. The person on the bottom can try to submit his opponent from his guard or roll his opponent over to get on top of him.

Joint locks

Joint locks (kansetsu-waza) are effective combat techniques because they enable a jūdōka to control his opponent through pain-compliance, or if necessary, to cause breakage of the locked joint. Joint locks on the elbow are considered safe enough to perform at nearly full-force in competition to force submission from one's opponent. Judo has, in the past, allowed leglocks, wristlocks, spinal locks and various other techniques that have since been disallowed in competition to protect athletes' safety. It was decided that attacking those other joints would result in many injuries to the athletes and would cause a gradual deterioration of these joints. Even so, some jūdōka still enjoy learning and fighting each other informally using these techniques that are banned from formal competitions, and many of these techniques are still actively used in other arts such as sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and jujutsu.

Chokes and strangulations

Chokes and strangulations (締め技, shime-waza) enable the one applying the choke to force the adversary into unconsciousness and even death. Strangulation cuts off the blood supply to the brain via compression on the sides of the neck, while a choke blocks the airway from the front of the neck. The terms are frequently interchangeable in common usage, and a formal differentiation is not made by most jūdōka. In competition, the jūdōka wins if the opponent submits or becomes unconscious. A strangle, once properly locked in, can render an opponent unconscious in only a few seconds, but normally causes no injury.

Judoka

A practitioner of judo is traditionally known as a judoka. The suffix -ka, when added to a noun, means a person with expertise or special knowledge on that subject. The term judoka refers to any practitioner of a judo; no level of expertise is necessarily implied.

Uniform

The jūdōgi is of a heavy weave in order to withstand the stresses of throwing and grappling.

Judo practitioners traditionally wear white uniforms called jūdōgi, which simply means "judo uniform", for practising judo. Sometimes the word is seen shortened simply to "gi" (uniform). The jūdōgi was created by Kano in 1907, and similar uniforms were later adopted by many other martial arts. The modern jūdōgi consists of white or blue cotton drawstring pants and a matching white or blue quilted cotton jacket, fastened by a belt (obi). The belt is usually coloured to indicate rank. The jacket is intended to withstand the stresses of grappling, and as a result, is much thicker than that of a karate uniform (karategi).

The modern use of the blue judogi was first suggested by Anton Geesink at the 1986 Maastricht IJF DC Meeting. For competition, a blue jūdōgi is worn by one of the two competitors for ease of distinction by judges, referees, and spectators. In Japan, both judoka still use a white judogi and the traditional red sash (based on the flag's colours) is affixed to the belt of one competitor. In Europe and North America, a coloured sash is typically used for convenience in local competitions, while a blue jūdōgi is worn by one competitor at the regional, national, or Olympic levels where the visibility, particularly for television cameras, is more important than tradition or convenience. Japanese practitioners and purists tend to look down on the use of blue jūdōgi.

Techniques

While judo includes a variety of rolls, falls, throws, hold downs, chokes, joint-locks, and strikes, the primary focus is on throwing (投げ技, nage-waza), and groundwork (ne-waza). Throws are divided in two groups of techniques, standing techniques (tachi-waza), and sacrifice techniques (捨身技, sutemi-waza). Standing techniques are further divided into hand techniques (手技, te-waza), hip techniques (腰技, koshi-waza), and foot and leg techniques (足技, ashi-waza). Sacrifice techniques are divided into those in which the thrower falls directly backwards (真捨身技, ma-sutemi-waza), and those in which he falls onto his side (橫捨身技, yoko-sutemi-waza).

The ground fighting techniques are divided into attacks against the joints or joint locks (関節技, kansetsu-waza), strangleholds or chokeholds (絞技, shime-waza), and holding or pinning techniques (押込技, osaekomi-waza).

A kind of sparring is practised in judo, known as randori (乱取り, randor), meaning "free practice". In randori, two adversaries may attack each other with any judo throw or grappling technique. Striking techniques (atemi-waza) such as kicking and punching, along with knife and sword techniques are retained in the kata. This form of pedagogy is usually reserved for higher ranking practitioners (for instance, in the kime-no-kata), but are forbidden in contest, and usually prohibited in randori for reasons of safety. Also for reasons of safety, chokeholds, joint locking, and the sacrifice techniques are subject to age or rank restrictions. For example, in the United States one must be 13 or older to use chokeholds, and 16 or older to use armlocks.

In randori and tournament (shiai) practice, when an opponent successfully executes a chokehold or joint lock, one submits, or "taps out", by tapping the mat or one's opponent at least twice in a manner that clearly indicates the submission. When this occurs the match is over, the tapping player has lost, and the chokehold or joint lock ceases.

Forms (kata)

Forms (kata) are pre-arranged patterns of attack and defence, which in judo are practiced with a partner for the purpose of perfecting judo techniques. More specifically, their purposes include illustrating the basic principles of judo, demonstrating the correct execution of a technique, teaching the philosophical tenets upon which judo is based, allowing for the practice of techniques that are not allowed in competition, and to preserve ancient techniques that are historically important but are no longer used in contemporary judo.

Knowledge of various kata is a requirement for the attainment of a higher rank.

There are seven kata that are recognised by the Kodokan today:

• Free practice forms (Randori no Kata), comprising two kata:
  • Throwing forms (Nage no Kata)
  • Grappling forms (Katame no Kata)
• Old style self-defence forms (Kime no Kata)
• Modern self-defence forms (Kodokan Goshin Jutsu)
• Forms of "gentleness" (Ju no Kata)
• The five forms (Itsutsu no Kata)
• Ancient forms (Koshiki no Kata)
• Maximum-efficiency national physical education kata (Seiryoku Zen'yō Kokumin Taiiku no Kata)

There are also other kata that are not officially recognised by the Kodokan but that continue to be practiced. The most prominent example of these is the Go no sen no kata, a kata that focuses on counter-attacks to attempted throws.

Styles

Kano Jigoro's Kodokan Judo is the most popular and well-known style of judo, but is not the only one. The terms judo and jujutsu were quite interchangeable in the early years, so some of these forms of judo are still known as jujutsu or jiu-jitsu either for that reason, or simply to differentiate them from mainstream judo. From Kano's original style of judo, the following similar forms have evolved:

• Olympic Judo: This is the predominant form of Kodokan judo.

• Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu: Mitsuyo Maeda introduced judo to Brazil in 1914. Maeda taught judo to Carlos Gracie (1902–1994) and others in Brazil. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu did not follow later changes in international judo rules that were added to emphasise the standing phase of the fight, nor those rules that were introduced to ban the more dangerous techniques.

• Judo-do: In Austria, Julius Fleck and others developed a system of throwing intended to extend judo that they called Judo-do.

• Kawaishi-ryū jujutsu: Teaching in France, Mikonosuke Kawaishi developed Kawaishi-ryū jujutsu as an alternative approach to instruction that continued to teach many techniques banned in modern competition.

• Kosen Judo (高專柔道, Kosen Judo): As a sub-style of Kodokan Judo that became popularised in early 20th century Japanese inter-scholastic competition, Kosen style has the same range of techniques but greater latitude is permitted for ground technique. This is the only style of judo that dates back to the early 1900s essentially unchanged.

• Russian Judo: This distinctive style of judo was influenced by Sambo and is exemplified by well-known coaches such as Alexander Retuinskih and Igor Yakimov, and represented by mixed martial arts fighters such as Igor Zinoviev, Fedor Emelianenko and Karo Parisyan. In turn, Russian judo has influenced mainstream judo, with techniques such as the flying armbar being accepted into sport judo.

• Sambo (especially Sport Sambo): Vasili Oshchepkov was the first European judo black belt under Kano. Oshchepkov went on to create Sambo from judo's influence, integrating other combative techniques into his new system. Oshchepkov died during the political purges of 1937 for refusing to deny his education in Japanese judo under Kano.

Judo as a sport

Although a fully featured martial art, judo has also developed as a sport. Judo became an Olympic sport for men in the 1964 Tokyo games. With the persistence of an American woman by the name of Rusty Kanokogi and many others, judo became an Olympic sport for women as well in 1988. Popular legend has it that the men's judo event in 1964 was a demonstration event, but according to the International Judo Federation (IJF) and International Olympic Committee, Judo was in fact an official sport in the 1964 games. At that Games Dutchman Anton Geesink won the gold medal in the open division defeating Aiko Kaminaga of Japan. Judo then lost the image of being "Japanese only" and went on to become one of the most widely practised sports in the world. The women's event was a demonstration event in 1988, and became an official medal event 4 years later. Men and women compete separately, although they often train together.

Judo has been a Paralympic sport (for the visually impaired) since 1988. Judo is also one of the sports at the Special Olympics.

Collegiate competition in the United States, especially between UC Berkeley and San Jose State, contributed towards refining judo into the sport seen at the Olympic Games and World Championships. In the 1940s Henry Stone and Yosh Uchida, the head coaches at Cal and SJSU, developed a weight class system for use in the frequent competitions between the schools. In 1953, Stone and Uchida successfully petitioned the Amateur Athletic Union to accept judo as a sport, with their weight class system as an official component. In 1961, Uchida represented the United States at the IJF meetings in Paris, where the IJF adopted weight classes for all future championships. The IJF was created largely based on the earlier European Judo Union, where weight classes had also been used for many years.

Weight divisions

There are currently seven weight divisions, subject to change by governing bodies, and may be modified based on the age of the competitors:

Rules

Penalties may be given for being inactive during the match, or for using illegal techniques. Fighting must be stopped if a participant is outside the designated area on the mat (tatami). If the referee and judges need to discuss something during groundwork, the referee will call sonomama (which means "do not move") and both fighters must stop in the position they are in. When they are done, the referee says yoshi and the match continues.

All scores and penalties are given by the referee. The judges can make a decision that changes the score or penalty given by the referee.

There are slight differences to IJF rules to accommodate blind judo.

Competition scoring

The object in a judo match is to either throw the opponent to the ground on his back; to pin him to the ground principally on his back; or to force him to submit to a choke or an armlock. Any of these score ippon (一本), immediately winning the match.

Judo has four grades of score: ippon, waza-ari, yuko, and koka. An ippon literally means "one point" and wins the match. An ippon is awarded for (a) a throw that lands the opponent largely on their back in a controlled manner with speed and force; (b) for a mat hold of sufficient duration (twenty five seconds); or (c) for opponent submission. A waza-ari is awarded for a throw that does not quite have enough power or control to be considered ippon; or for a hold of twenty seconds. A waza-ari is a half-point, and, if two are scored, they constitute the full point needed for a win.

Yuko and koka are lower grades of score, and only count as tie-breakers - they are not cumulative with one another. Scoring is lexicographic; a waza-ari beats any number of yuko, but a waza-ari and a yuko beat a waza-ari with no yuko. It is not uncommon for a match to be decided based on koka.

A fifteen-second hold down scores yuko and a ten-second hold down scores koka. If the person who secured the hold down already has a waza-ari, they only need to hold the hold down for twenty seconds to score ippon by way of two waza-ari (waza-ari-awasete-ippon). Throws further lacking the requirements of an ippon or a waza-ari might score a yuko or a koka. So-called "skillful takedowns" are also permitted (e.g. the flying arm-bar) but do not score.

On the electronic scoreboard, a waza-ari is represented as "100"; a yuko is represented as "010"; and a koka as "001" - an ippon is not represented on the scoreboard, because upon award of an ippon, the match is immediately terminated. In print, the scores are often represented like this: 1W2Y2K vs. 1W2Y1K - meaning that the first player scored one waza-ari, two yukos, and two kokas, beating his opponent who scored one fewer kokas.

If the scores are identical at the end of the match, the contest is resolved by the Golden Score rule. Golden Score is a sudden death situation where the clock is reset to match-time, and the first contestant to achieve any score wins. If there is no score during this period, then the winner is decided by Hantei, the majority opinion of the referee and the two corner judges.

Mixed martial arts

Using their knowledge in ne-waza/grappling and tachi-waza/standing-grappling, various accomplished judo practitioners have also competed in mixed martial arts matches. Fedor Emelianenko, PRIDE Fighting Championships's current heavyweight champion and consistently ranked the world's best heavyweight mixed martial arts fighter, has a background in judo and sambo. Karo Parisyan fights in UFC's welterweight championship, and Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou and Hidehiko Yoshida, an Olympic gold medalist in 1992 and World Judo Champion in 1999, are also fighters in PRIDE FC. Other Olympic gold medalist and world champion judokas such as Pawel Nastula and Yoon Dong Sik also fight in PRIDE. Undefeated middleweight championship contender and WEC champion Paulo Filho has credited judo and jiu-jitsu for his success.

Judo for self-defence

In 1902, Barton-Wright wrote: "Judo and jujitsu were not designed as primary means of attack and defence against a boxer or a man who kicks you, but were only to be used after coming to close quarters, and in order to get to close quarters it was absolutely necessary to understand boxing and the use of the foot." While many schools focus on Olympic judo, others do include some practical self-defence in their instruction, apart from any formal instruciton in Kime no kata.

While throws executed with proper break falls on soft mats may seem relatively light and graceful, their more practical application on a hard surface can be very dangerous (especially with greater intent to harm.)

Furthermore, ground grappling had been proven to be an effective form of self-defence (against a single attacker.) That fact was demonstrated by the success of the Fusen-ryū jujutsuka against early Kodokan judoka in a challenge match held in 1900, and again nearly 100 years later when Royce Gracie beat all-comers in the first UFC tournament (in 1991) with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

Safety

Research shows that judo is a particularly safe sport for youths, though adult competitive judo has a relatively higher incidence of injuries compared to non-collision or non-contact ball-sports for example, but similar to other competitive contact sports.

Chokes

Although chokes are potentially lethal techniques, a properly-applied chokehold, if released soon enough after submission or unconsciousness, causes no injury.

There is ample data demonstrating the safety of applying chokeholds, and training includes emergeny care and resuscitation (kappo).

Judo organizations

The international organization of competition sports judo is the International Judo Federation (IJF).

In the USA, there are three national organizations, all of which are recognised by the IJF. One is United States Judo, Incorporated (USJI) - also known as USA Judo. USJI has state organizations that host state tournaments and other judo-related activities. As a member of the United States Olympic Committee, USJI is the national governing body for judo in the USA. The other national organizations are the United States Judo Federation (USJF) and the United States Judo Association (USJA). Each national organization in the USA has its own promotion requirements. USJF and USJA are founding members of USA Judo, and members often having dual membership.

In Great Britain, the British Judo Association (BJA) is the largest judo association, and the only one affiliated with the IJF. Judo clubs can also be administered by the British Judo Council (BJC), which is popular in the north of England. Other judo administrations exist, including the British Judo Council - Martial Arts Circle (BJC-MAC) and the All England Judo Federation (AEJF).

In Australia, the Judo Federation of Australia (JFA) is the largest judo association, and the only one affiliated with the IJF.

Although it has no official standing in judo, the International Federation of Associated Wrestling Styles (FILA) defines judo as one of the four main forms of amateur competitive wrestling practised internationally (the other three being Greco-Roman wrestling, Freestyle wrestling and sambo).

Rank and grading

Judo rank is generally not of primary importance among jūdōka who participate in tournaments. Modern judo is primarily practised as a sport, so there tends to be more emphasis on tournament records than on rank. Since rank does not determine competitive performance, and since tournaments are not structured by rank (except at the lowest novice levels), it is not uncommon to see lower-ranked competitors defeat higher-ranked opponents. An active competitor may not pursue high ranks, preferring to focus on preparation for competition; for example, a silver medal was won by an ikkyu (brown belt) female competitor, Lorena Pierce, in the -70 kg category at the 2004 Paralympics. Apart from knowledge and ability, rank requirements typically include a minimum age. Therefore, it is not uncommon to find teenage competitors at national-level competition who have been practicing judo for 10 years who can beat adult practitioners, but who are only purple or brown belts due to being too young to qualify for a dan rank. Once an individual attains the level of a dan rank, further promotions can be granted for a variety of reasons including skill level, competition performance and/or contributions to judo such as teaching and volunteering time. Therefore, a higher dan rank does not necessarily mean that the holder is a better fighter (although often it does).

Jūdōka are ranked according to skill and knowledge of judo, and their rank is reflected by their belt colour. There are two divisions of rank, below black-belt "grades" (kyū), and black belt "degrees" (dan). This ranking system was introduced into the martial arts by Kano and has since been widely adopted by modern martial arts. As initially designed, there were six student grades, which were ranked in descending numerical order, with 1st kyū being the last before promotion to first degree black belt (shodan). There are ordinarily 10 dan ranks, which are ranked in ascending numerical order. For dan ranks, the first five are coloured black, 6th, 7th, and 8th dan have alternating red and white panels, and for 9th and 10th dan the belts are solid red.

The tenth degree black belt (jūdan) and those above it have no formal requirements. The president of the Kodokan, currently Kano Jigoro's grandson Yukimitsu Kano (Kano Yukimitsu), decides on individuals for promotion. Only fifteen individuals have been promoted to this rank by the Kodokan. On January 6, 2006, three individuals were promoted to 10th dan simultaneously: Toshiro Daigo, Ichiro Abe, and Yoshimi Osawa. This is the most ever at the same time, and the first in 22 years. No one has ever been promoted to a rank higher than 10th dan, but:

Although dan ranks tend to be consistent between national organisations there is more variation in the kyū grades, with some countries having more kyū grades. Although initially kyū grade belt colours were uniformly white, today a variety of colours are used.

Belt colours

In Japan, the use of belt colours is related to the age of the student. Some clubs will only have black and white, others will include a brown belt for advanced kyū grades and at the elementary school level it is common to see a green belt for intermediate levels.

Some countries also use coloured tips on belts, to indicate junior age groups, and historically, women's belts had a white stripe along the centre.

Examination requirements vary depending on country, age group and of course the grade being attempted. The examination itself may include competition and kata. The kyū ranks are normally awarded by local instructors (sensei), but dan ranks are usually awarded only after an exam supervised by independent judges from a national judo association. For a rank to be recognised it must be registered with the national judo organisation or the Kodokan.

Judo belt colors in Brazil

White
Blue
Yellow
Orange
Green
Purple
Brown
Black

Judo belt colors in Australia, Europe, Canada(Seniors only)

White
Yellow
Orange
Green
Blue
Brown
Black

Australia and Europe

For Australia and most of Europe, the belt colours in ascending order are white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and finally black. In Australia, competitors are usually organised into two categories depending on grading; the first is from orange to brown, and the second is black. Some European countries additionally use a red belt to signify a complete beginner, whereas other European countries such as the UK use a red belt as the belt one grade above a beginner to show that the person is a full member of a club.

Brazil

Brazilian belt rankings are normally white, blue, yellow, orange, green, purple, brown and black. Additionally, a grey belt may be given to very young judoka (under 11 or 13 years old) just before the blue. Competitors are organised into two categories depending on grading; the first is from white to green, and the second is purple through black.

Canada

In Canada belt rankings for Seniors are, in ascending order: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown and finally black. Belt rankings for Juniors use white, white-yellow, yellow, yellow-orange, orange, orange-green, green, green-blue, blue, blue-brown, and brown.

United States

Judo kyū belt colors in the United States

Japanese kyū names	USJF Senior	USJF Junior	USJA Senior	USJA Junior	USJA Junior level names
Jūnikyū				Yellow	Junior 1st Degree
Jūichikyū		White		Yellow	Junior 2nd Degree
Jūkyū		White- yellow		Orange	Junior 3rd Degree
Kūkyū		Yellow		Orange	Junior 4th Degree
Hachikyū		Yellow- orange		Green	Junior 5th Degree
Nanakyū		Orange		Green	Junior 6th Degree
Rokkyū	White	Orange- green	Yellow	Blue	Junior 7th Degree
Gokyū	Green	Green	Orange	Blue	Junior 8th Degree
Yonkyū	Blue	Green- blue	Green	Purple	Junior 9th Degree
Sankyū	Brown	Blue	Brown	Purple	Junior 10th Degree
Nikyū	Brown	Blue- purple	Brown	Brown	Junior 11th Degree
Ikkyū	Brown	Purple	Brown	Brown	Junior 12th Degree