Ray Brinzer

From 6th grade to 12th grade, Judo was a big part of my life. I fought a lot, won more than I lost, and went as high as 2nd in high school nationals. When college drew near, and I needed to make a decision, I seriously entertained the idea of pursuing Judo and putting wrestling on the back-burner.

All of which is to say, the basis of my opinions is a love of the sport, not having been great at the sport. There was no Judo at either Oklahoma State or Iowa, where I went to school, so, with the exception of several months I spent at the National Judo Institute after my freshman year, I fell out of that scene. It’s been about 20 years since I last put on a gi.

Still, the impact on my wrestling was considerable. I became known for foot-sweeps, trips, and some very distinctive throws and matwork. The idea of teaching that stuff to my athletes has been rattling around in my head for years, but the opportunity hasn’t yet arisen. So I started paying attention, and I learned that a number of things had changed since the 1980s.

Some of these weren’t a big deal. Blue gis: weird. Granted, having two guys all in white is needlessly confusing for both spectators and referees… but blue? Black would have had more of the dignity of Japanese martial arts. Now instead of a chess match, Judo evokes Dragon Ball Z.

Koka, the lowest score, went away. I wouldn’t miss it. It’s not like it was part of Judo’s heritage anyway. Fewer land-on-his-butt points won’t kill anyone. Oddly shido, the penalty equivalent of a koka, remains, but no biggie.

Really, really short ne waza (matwork): lame. As mixed martial arts have put groundwork and submission holds in the spotlight like never before, the grand poobahs of Judo decide that it’s time to run throwing tournaments. Good plan.

Most of the new gripping restrictions: annoying, from what I can tell, but I’m not knowledgeable enough to want to comment on them.

Prohibiting leg-grabbing, except as a follow-up attack: bad. Hansoku make for leg-grabbing, except as a follow-up attack: WTF?

Hansoku make is when you’re disqualified from the match. To my mind, getting hansoku make in a single call (rather than having repeated infractions elevated to hansoku make) means you’ve violated the spirit of Judo. It means you leave the gym in shame. The idea that they’re handing this out for (arguably) poor style just makes me plain angry. It takes a lot to draw strong words from me about a sport where I’m now an outsider, but this is a travesty.

There’s a more detailed account of the matter, Hansoku Make, IJF!, by a Real Judo Guy™, Gerald Lafon. There’s also update here, where we learn that players are using these rules to their advantage… which, for some reason, always seems to surprise the people who make rules.

Finally: the apparent lack of Judo tournaments. I used to be able to hit local tournaments around Pennsylvania all the time, and get in a bunch of big ones periodically. The scene seems to have dwindled to a shadow of what it was. I’m told that it’s not just tournaments, and that participation is down generally.

That’s a shame. I have some ideas about why that might be, but if I write them down at all it’ll be another time. The lack of opportunities for competition does really undermine the ideas I was playing with, however. And it presents a sad picture of what opportunities for Judo will be left to my children, in the coming years.