Contents
The gripping curriculum
| Stage | Content |
|---|---|
| The fundamental grip | Sleeve (sode) + lapel (eri), right or left, the base position of all standing judo |
| Keeping your grip | Maintaining the grip under pressure, replacing the chased hand |
| Breaking the opponent's grip | Break then regrip immediately: breaking without regripping wins nothing and exposes you to the prolonged-free-hand sanction |
| The first-grip duel | Who takes their grip first: the opening game, drillable once the youth bounds are respected |
The youth bounds (France Judo arbitrage 2025/2026)
For the young categories: cross-grip forbidden, bear-hug forbidden, no grip below the belt, and head-encircling grips are stopped (pedagogical at minime: explained first, sanctioned on repeat). On the IJF 2025 side, for everyone: gripping, hooking or blocking below the top of the inner thigh draws shido, as does the negative use of any grip (the grip that prepares nothing).
The scoreboard logic (what a coach optimises)
Judo's score is made of counters: the ippon ends it, two waza-ari manufacture it, the yuko separates but never converts, and there is no gap rule. The correct tactical target is therefore a quality throw (control + back + force/speed) or a concluded ground exchange, not accumulation. Three practical consequences:
| Rule lever (22/02/2025 edition) | The tactic that follows |
|---|---|
| Passivity window ~30 s (and ne-waza activity counts) | Attack early in the window; ground work keeps you « active » |
| 3rd shido = hansoku-make; a shido never scores | Force the opponent's passivity, never gift a direct hansoku-make, and do not « play the penalty »: level scores go to golden score |
| Golden score: everything carries over, a pin concludes at yuko (5 s) | Keep attacking: passivity loses, a short pin is enough |
| Unintentional step-out: no longer shido (2025) | Edge pressure is a manageable weapon again |
| Renraku-waza (combinations) | The first threat must be real: it manufactures the second throw's kuzushi |
The three corner levers (a coach's checklist)
| Lever | The question | The call |
|---|---|---|
| The grip | Who has their grip? | « Sleeve first » / « break and regrip » |
| The clock | Where is the passivity window? | « Attack now » / « you are active on the ground » |
| The plane | Where is the score available? | « Follow it down » / « stand it up » |
Coaching is allowed between exchanges, not during the action in a way that interferes: a coach can themselves draw a sanction. The useful corner calls the three levers, not technique detail.
FAQ
Should you « play for yuko » at the end of a contest?
How to drill kumi-kata with benjamins?
Is a randori « won »?
Sources
IJF: Contest Rules in force since 22 February 2025 (counters, ~30 s passivity, 3rd shido, golden score, the inner-thigh line, step-out) and the IJF cycle notes; France Judo: national arbitrage 2025/2026 (youth kumi-kata bounds); the kuzushi-tsukuri-kake mechanics and lexicon (renraku-waza) from the pedagogical canon. Paak judo corpus, files 04 (tactics and analysis), 01 (rules) and 02 (gates), verified September 2026. No federation publishes a « randori score », by design.