Contents
The value ladder
| Value | Standing (tachi-waza) | Ground (osaekomi) | Counting |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ippon | Throw with speed, force, largely on the back, controlled to the end — landing in a bridge still counts ippon | 20 s — or a tap (maitta) to a strangle/armlock, or loss of consciousness | Terminal — contest over |
| Waza-ari | A backward landing beyond ~90° missing one ippon criterion | 10–19 s | Two waza-ari = ippon |
| Yuko | Side landing (~90°), upper back, shoulder-and-elbow, seated landing without shido | 5–9 s | Never converts — a tiebreak below waza-ari |
No gap rule, no mercy rule — the word does not exist in judo. The tactical consequence is developed in Grip fighting & tactics.
Shido & hansoku-make
Shido (minor infringement) for: non-combativity (no genuine attack within the ~30 s window), false attack, extreme defensive posture, intentional stepping out, illegal grips (negative grip, below the inner-thigh line, fingers inside the sleeve, prolonged free hand). Unintentional stepping out is no longer shido (2025). A shido never adds to the opponent's score; three shido: the third is hansoku-make — and you cannot win regulation time on shido difference alone: level scores go to golden score.
Direct hansoku-make for grave acts: head-first diving, a lock or strangle applied with no chance of escape, kata-sankaku blocking the body with the legs, a hard object in the judogi. Throwing onto the opponent's arm: shido where the risk is lower, hansoku-make where uke cannot escape (2025).
Durations, rest, golden score
| Category | IJF | France Judo |
|---|---|---|
| Benjamin | — (national) | 2 min (daily mat time capped ~20 min) |
| Minime | 3 min | 3 min |
| Cadet / Junior / Senior | 4 min | cadets 2D/3D: 3 min · seniors 4 min |
| Veterans | — | ≤ M6/F6: 3 min · M7/F7+: 2 min 30 |
Rest between contests: at least 6 min (France Judo all-categories: 10 min). Golden score: no time limit, scores and shido carry over, won by the next technical score or by hansoku-make (direct or accumulated) — and a pin there ends the contest at the yuko threshold (5 s). Swiss delta: the SJV caps youth golden score at 1 minute, then referee decision.
The deltas of the 22 February 2025 edition
| Change | The 2025 rule |
|---|---|
| Yuko | Reinstated (absent 2017–2024) — counts, never converts |
| Waza-ari-awasete-ippon | Reinstated — two waza-ari make ippon |
| Head to throw / defend | Legal junior/senior · shido for all cadets (U18) · head-first diving: still hansoku-make |
| Reverse seoi-nage | Legal junior/senior · shido cadet/U18 |
| Leg grabs | Jacket grips and grips to the top of the inner thigh allowed; shido to grip/hook/block below that or use them negatively (no more automatic hansoku-make) |
| Passivity | Window 45 → ~30 s, and ne-waza activity counts as combativity |
| Step-out | Unintentional: no longer shido |
The youth deltas (reminder)
The technique gates (shime/kansetsu, sutemi, kumi-kata, head rules) are detailed federation by federation in Age groups & technique gates. On the refereeing side: France Judo adds a stricter youth head rule than the IJF (head alone on the mat = direct hansoku-make for minimes/cadets 2D-3D/espoirs), loss of consciousness ends the day at every age, and the 2025 French frame carries the spirit « the shido does not necessarily win » — the attacker outranks the penalty-avoider.
FAQ
Do a waza-ari plus two yuko beat a waza-ari?
Can you win on the opponent's penalties?
Is my 2019 rules sheet usable?
Sources
IJF — Contest Rules in force since 22 February 2025 (reproduced verbatim by British Judo) and the official cycle-change notes (IJF.org, December 2024–January 2025); France Judo — Textes Officiels 2025/2026 (durations, rest, veterans) and national arbitrage 2025/2026 (head rules, the youth frame); SJV — the youth golden-score cap. Paak judo corpus, file 01 (rules and governance) — verified September 2026. Every value above carries its edition; an undated sheet is a wrong sheet waiting to happen.