The Championships will be conducted in accordance with the Contest Rules, Organization Code and Sporting Code of the International Judo Federation, as revised for this tournament. The exception to the IJF rules will be the usage of the competition methods for Veterans and IJF-Junior and categories and the match time for Veterans.

1.    Points on the USA Judo National Roster will be awarded in Senior, Veteran, Visually Impaired and IJF-Junior categories only as outlined in the respective criteria. Criteria can be found at www.usjudo.org.

2.    Athletes may only enter one weight per eligible category with the exception of Open weight, if applicable.

3.    Shime-waza is allowed for all shiai categories except novice category and veteran categories for athletes in the 60 and older age groups.

4.    Kansetsu-waza is allowed for all categories except novice category.

Match Lengths

Senior, IJF-Junior, Visually Impaired, Brown Belt and Novice Categories

·         Male: 4 minutes

·         Female: 4 minutes

·         No Golden Score time limit

Veteran Categories

·         M1 / F1-M6 / F6: 3 minute time limit, plus 2 minutes Golden Score

·         M7/F7-M10/F10: 2 minute time limit, plus 1 minute Golden Score

Competition Method:

Senior, VI Categories

Categories having six (6) competitors or greater: Knockout System with Double Repechage (sometimes referred to as Crossover Repechage). Athletes are divided into two pools, A and B which are further subdivided into A1, A2, B1, B2. Determination of 1st and 2nd place: The “Knockout” (single elimination) system in then used to produce two finalists, one from pool A, the other from pool B, who will compete for 1st and 2nd place. Determination of 3rd – 5th place: All contestants who were defeated by the winners of pools A1, A2, B1, and B2 (semi-finalists) will take part in the repechage of their respective pools in the order in which they were defeated. For example, for pool A1, the loser from Round 1 will meet the loser from Round 2; the winner of that match will meet the loser from Round 3, etc. The winner of repechage pool A1 will meet the winner of repechage pool A2; similarly, for B1 and B2. The winner of the repechage pool A will meet the loser of the semi-final of knockout pool B. The winner of repechage pool B will meet the loser of the semi-final of knockout pool A. The winners (2) are placed 3rd, the losers (2) are placed 5th.

Categories having five (5) Competitors or less: Round Robin Pool (every competitor competes against every other competitor). The order of finish is determined by number of wins, then, if tied, by total points. If tied in wins and points, the winner of the head-to-head competition between the two who are still tied determines the winner. If three or more are still tied in wins and points for any place (first, second, or third), those contestants involved must contest again to determine the order of finish. Points are given to the winner only and shall be based on the highest single score of the winner, after factoring out scores that cancel out each other. Point values are Ippon= 10, Waza-ari= 1, win by shido=0. If a contestant withdraws from a division prior to beginning of his or her final match, the results of all that person’s previous matches shall be discarded.

Round Robin Clarification:

·         If Athlete A pulls out before finishing competition against other athletes in the category and does not go out onto the mat, all points won or lost associated with Athlete A are removed. No medal is awarded to Athlete A

·         If Athlete A cannot finish competing but goes out onto the mat (field of play), then Athlete B wins and is awarded ippon points. Athlete A receives 0 points.

·         If Athlete A, who did not finish competing but went out onto the mat, they are eligible to medal.

IJF-Junior, Brown Belt, Novice, Veteran Categories

True Double Elimination System with winner’s and loser’s brackets will be used. The winner of the loser’s bracket will compete against the winner of the winner’s bracket for 1st and 2nd place. The first one of these two contestants to have two (2) losses will be placed second; the other will be placed first. The loser of the loser’s bracket will be placed 3rd. For categories of two and under contestants, round robin will be the method of competition.

Seeding

Senior Only: The top four athletes on the USA Judo Senior National Roster, who are in attendance, will be seeded, provided that they are ranked at A through D levels as follows: A (or B) side: #1 and #4 in one half, #2 and #3 in the other half. A higher seeded athlete will always receive a bye before a lower seeded athlete.

Athletes having the same state affiliation will be placed as far apart in the bracket as possible. Seeded athletes lose their State/Club affiliation for purposes of the draw, i.e., two athletes from the same state or club may meet in the first round if one is a seeded athlete.

IJF-Junior only: The top four athletes will be seeded in each division. If seeded athlete is not present, the other athletes will move up in seeding.

Seeded athletes will be separated as far as possible in their sections of the draw and will receive byes if available. A higher seeded athlete will always receive a bye before a lower seeded athlete.

Injury Rule

Decisions regarding on mat injuries, are to be resolved in accordance with IJF rules; such decisions occurring off the mat or not covered by the IJF rules, are to be made by the coach, the athlete, and appropriate medical staff. If there is not a unanimous opinion among these three individuals, the athlete may not continue (Board- approved October 22, 1998)

Multiple Category Entries

Forthoseathleteswhoelect tocompeteinmultiplecategories,efforts willbemadetoseparatethecompetition times, butthis cannot beguaranteedandadecisionmayneedtobemadebythecompetitorastothematchin which they compete, thereby forfeiting one of the two matches. If categories are competing at the same time, the athlete must move from one category (on mat) to their waiting category with no rest time. If a competitor has matches immediately after one another, they must move to the waiting mat and begin competition immediately with no 10-minute rest.