Judo Scoring
How Hajime scores judo and other technique-scoring specialities, the ippon-equivalent thresholds that can end a match, and why the judge always confirms before the match actually ends.
Judo Scoring
Applies to: Organizers · Judges
Judo (Technique Scoring in the Competition Type list) works differently from a points-based or rating-based speciality: instead of accumulating a score over rounds, a match can end the moment a competitor reaches an ippon-equivalent condition. An ippon, two waza-ari, a third shido, or a hansoku-make can each end the match outright, and the judge always gets a chance to confirm before it does.
Setting up a judo speciality
Set a speciality's Competition Type to Technique Scoring (Judo/Martial Arts). See Specialities & Templates for the full walkthrough of adding a speciality.
Judo specialities are best run in Head Judge Only judge scoring mode, where a single judge enters all scores for the match. The instant-win thresholds below are checked against the acting judge's own tally, so a speciality scored with multiple independent judges (each on their own device) can have one judge's device propose a finish before another judge's count would reach the same threshold. Head Judge Only avoids that by keeping a single, authoritative tally.
Win conditions
| Condition | How it happens | Winner |
|---|---|---|
| Ippon | Judge presses the Ippon button directly | The scoring athlete |
| Waza-ari x 2 | An athlete reaches 2 waza-ari | The scoring athlete |
| Shido x 3 | An athlete accumulates 3 shido | The opponent |
| Hansoku-make | Judge presses the Hansoku-make button directly | The opponent |
If an athlete reaches 2 waza-ari and their opponent's third shido at the same time, the waza-ari win takes priority.
The osaekomi hold timer
Judo specialities ship with an osaekomi timer enabled by default: a hold/control clock the judge starts when a pin begins and stops when it breaks. It runs alongside the match clock, never pausing it, and appears as a chip on the judge scoring screen next to the athlete being held. It is purely a signal for the judge (it does not award or apply anything by itself) and, being on by default, is also visible to spectators on the mat board and faceoff screen. Organizers can turn it off, relabel it, or change its thresholds from the speciality's Timers section — see Specialities & Templates.
When the main clock stops (a pause, the end of a round, the end of the match, or time running out), any running auxiliary timer is stopped automatically and its elapsed time is kept: matte stops osaekomi. If the action restarts, the judge starts the clock again explicitly. Its start, stop, and reset controls only appear while the round is live or paused; once the round moves to the decision phase or the match is completed, the chip keeps showing the recorded time but the controls are gone, so a finished bout's timers can no longer be changed.
The confirmation step
Reaching a waza-ari or shido threshold does not end the match by itself. It raises a confirmation dialog naming the winner and the reason, and the match only ends once you confirm it. Dismissing the dialog leaves the match running with its counts unchanged: nothing is undone, and you can keep scoring normally.
Once dismissed, that same threshold will not ask again on its own: further waza-ari for that athlete, once already at 2, will not reopen the dialog. But a different threshold reached afterward always still asks, even for the same athlete: if an athlete sitting at a dismissed 2 waza-ari is later charged a third shido, that shido hands the match to the opponent and does raise its own confirmation, because it is a new condition, not the one you already decided on. A different athlete crossing their own threshold always asks too, regardless of what you decided for the other athlete.
Each waza-ari and shido counter has its own - button next to the count. Use it to take back a mis-tapped technique. If the count for that athlete later drops back below the threshold and is scored back up to it, that counts as reaching it again, and you are asked once more.
The Ippon and Hansoku-make buttons do not go through this confirmation step and have no undo: pressing either ends the match immediately, as they always have.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why was I asked to confirm a win, and not simply shown the match ending? The threshold is a strong signal, not a guaranteed one: a judge may want to correct a technique count before it decides the match. Confirmation keeps that decision with the judge.
I dismissed a waza-ari win and now the match won't prompt me again for the same athlete. Is that a bug? No: a dismissal holds until something changes it. Use the - button next to the waza-ari count to take it back, then score it again if you want to be asked once more.
Should I use Independent judge mode for a judo speciality? Head Judge Only is recommended. See "Setting up a judo speciality" above for why.
Last updated: 3 September 2026