A small change to the rules as 1 January 2010
The new year is here, and new rules are in effect. As mentioned in an earlier post, a player cannot grip or block an opponent with his hand(s) or arm(s) under the belt. The rule had been tested in a few tournaments in 2009, where players who grabbed, gripped, or blocked their opponent’s leg were penalised with a Shido and the next time it happens, they were disqualified with Hansoku-make.
From 1 January 2010, there will be no warning of Shido, but a direct Hansoku-make. This is a very harsh penalty, as some referees will be ‘trigger’ happy to disqualify a player that grips or blocks the opponent’s leg.
One exception to this rule is when a player, Tori, take a cross-guard grip, i.e., gripping with his right arm over Uke’s right shoulder (or vice-versa, left over left) – provided that there is contact between Uke and Tori – Uke is allowed to attack by grabbing Tori’s leg.
There are a lot of grey areas with this rule, as the referees will have to interpret one’s intentions when attacking and grabbing Uke’s leg. The attack has to be genuine with a drive in the direction of the throw, i.e. if attacking with Kouchi-gari, Tori has to be pushing forward with his upper body in order to throw, and not in order to lift Uke’s foot of the mat to grab it.
On the other hand, this will lead to a more straight posture Judo, as players won’t be afraid that their opponent grabs their legs every time they get close.
Tags: Hansoku-make
Filed under Judo Competition |
Comments are closed.
