Shiai is the Japanese word for a judo contest, a refereed match with a result, run under the IJF rules in four minutes of real time. The judoinfo.com terms list defines it as "contest", and gives the related words shiaijo, the competition area, and shinpan, the referee.
- Japanese name: shiai.
- In judo: a match under contest rules, as opposed to randori, free practice.
- In BJJ: the same idea is simply a match or a fight; a tournament is a championship or an open.
What does shiai mean?
Randori is free practice with no winner. Shiai is the same judo with a referee, a clock and a scoreboard. Judoinfo.com's reprint of the original Kodokan contest rules shows what the earliest contests required: each contestant wore coat and belt, defeat came from being thrown onto both shoulders and hips, from failing to free yourself from a hold, or from submission, and the defeated player signalled surrender by patting the floor or the opponent's body. The rules also barred dangerous actions. Every element of a modern shiai is already there.
Judoinfo.com's history of Masahiko Kimura records the Ten-Ran Shiai, "a special tournament held in the presence of Japan's emperor", which gives a sense of how much weight the word carries.
How does a judo contest run?
- Both players step onto the shiaijo, bow, and wait for hajime.
- Standing work, groundwork and restarts follow the referee's calls: matte, osaekomi, toketa, sono mama, yoshi.
- Scores (ippon, waza-ari, yuko) and penalties (shido, hansoku-make) go on the board as they happen.
- Sore-made ends the contest; equal technical scores go to golden score.
- The referee announces the winner; both players bow and leave.
Older words you may still hear: hiki-wake, a draw; yusei gachi, a win by decision; and fusen gachi, a win by default when the opponent fails to appear, which the IJF rules still use.
How long is a judo match?
The IJF Refereeing Rules set 4 minutes of real contest time for seniors, juniors under 21 and cadets under 18, and recommend the same to national federations. The clock stops at every matte, so a contest takes longer than four minutes on the wall clock. Every athlete is entitled to 10 minutes' rest between contests. A BJJ match under the IBJJF Rules Book runs 5 to 10 minutes for adults, depending on the belt.
How should you approach a contest?
An essay on judoinfo.com warns against entering a contest with "the sole idea of not being defeated", because the body "becomes stiff and defensive", and calls contest and practice "both means of training". The advice applies word for word to a BJJ match. Treat shiai as a test of your training and the result as information.
Our competition day essentials are for the day the test comes.
Sources
- Judoinfo.com terms list, JudoInfo
- Original Kodokan contest rules, JudoInfo
- History of Masahiko Kimura, JudoInfo
- Essay on judoinfo.com, JudoInfo
- IJF Refereeing Rules, International Judo Federation
- IBJJF Rules Book, IBJJF
Related terms
Referee calls, Ippon, Golden score, Rolling / sparring, Tatami, Dojo.