Comparison of Individual Penalties According to Gender and Weight Categories of Elite Judo Athletes from Four World Championships

Abstract

Background: This research aimed to compare individual penalties by gender and weight categories in judo from the Judo World Championships (WC): Budapest—2017, Baku—2018, Tokyo—2019 and Budapest—2021 in all individual weight categories for females and males. Methods: Data were collected by notational analysis of 2041 penalty videos for females and 3473 penalty videos for males (total n = 5514). All individual penalties—Shido 1, 2, 3 and Hansoku Make (direct disqualification) were analysed by the Pearson chi-square test at the level of statistical significance of 5%. Results: Significant differences were noted in the assigned individual penalties between individual categories (p < 0.001) in both genders. The significant difference was contributed mainly by the weight category +78 kg with penalties Non-combativity (5.3) and Avoid Grip (−3.4) in females, while in males it impacted by the +100 kg weight category and the Non-combativity (4.2) and Avoid Grip (−4.0) penalties. For females, the most dominant individual penalties were Non-combativity (41.6%), Avoid Grip (16.2%) and False Attack (15.0%), and were Non-combativity (40.3%), Avoid Grip (19.5%) and False Attack (16.4%) for males. The largest number of penalties in females were in −52 kg (16.7%), −57 kg (15.9%) and +78 kg (15.2%) categories, while in males, they were −66 kg (17.2%), −73 kg (16.1%) and −90 kg (15.6%). Conclusions: The findings of this study highlight the leading penalties in all weight categories for both genders on WC to be Non-combativity, Avoid Grip and False Attack. Additionally, a new trend in heavyweight athletes with a lower number of penalties is noted. The obtained results indicate the need to pay more attention to working with competitors of all ages and genders on education to implement tactical variants, forms and means to use penalties to athletes’ advantage, especially after a possible rule change and to lower the occurrence of injuries.

Behavior of female judo weight divisions on approach and grip phases in different judo rules: The top 20 athletes from the 2016 and 2020 Olympic cycles

“…n fact, in World Championships the most common prohibited actions were non-combativity and avoid-grip [ [21] , [22] ]. Furthermore, the number of penalties differs by weight division, as lighter athletes (especially 52 kg and 57 kg) commit a greater number of excessively defensive penalties, such as head escape, holding the same side, false attack, defensive posture and avoid-grip [ 22 ]. These data confirm that weight divisions can behave differently from the rules of competitive judo and therefore should be analyzed separately.…”

“…In combats from the 2017 World Judo Championship, the 48 kg category scored more frequently performing techniques involving turning action, forward throw, and two supporting feet (e.g., o-goshi, koshi-guruma, seoi-nage, sode-tsuri-komi-goshi , and seoi-otoshi ) [ 25 ]. Moreover, the 48 kg category received more penalties related to holding the sleeve ends in various competitions [ 22 ].…”

Which Performance Tests Best Define the Special Judo Fitness Test Classification in Elite Judo Athletes?

“…This may have stemmed from the fact that many complex motoric and psychological abilities affect judo performance. Also, there have been numerous changes in judo competition rules and thus match duration and content since the development of SJFT [ 55 , 56 , 57 , 58 , 59 ]. In line with these changes, judo athletes’ physiological characteristics have also changed [ 60 ].…”

The effects of weight categories on the time-motion analysis of female high-level judo athletes between the 2016 and 2020 Olympic cycles

“…However, regarding the penalties committed in the 2020 cycle, Balci and Ceylan (2020) analyzed the 2018–2019 senior world judo championships and found that the most committed prohibited actions in combat were non-combativity (common for those who held the grip without making attacks) and avoid grip (common for those who spent a lot of time in the approach phase). Kajmovic et al (2022) carried out a study that analyzed 2041 penalties committed by female judoka from competitions between 2017 and 2021. They identified that the main penalties were non-combativity (41.6%), avoid grip (16.2%) and false attack (15%).…”