Judo is a combat sport that has been in the Olympics since 1964, and the Paralympics since 1988. The Paralympic Judo events are for visually impaired contestants and the rules in the Paralympic Games are only very slightly different from Olympic Judo competition Judo. There are textured mats used to help blind or visually impaired compete.

Rules

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Paralympic judo competition is governed by the IJF rules with some modifications specified by the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA).See ^* Rule differences for blind include the judges shouting out when contestants get too near edge of the mat, contests always start with the 2 competitors in a loose grip on each others Judo suits (grip called ""Kumikata"").

History

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It was first included in the Paralympics at Seoul, Korea--October 15-25, 1988^* More than 60 visually impaired judo players, including some from Canada, France, Germany, Greece, Spain and Sweden will compete in the Athens 2004 games, making it the biggest yet staged.Women compete for the first time, started out as men only.

External links

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• International Paralympic Committee page on judo
• Judo for blind including details of paralympics
• Judo for blind atheletes
• Info from the British Paralympic Association

Paralympics | Judo | Combat sports

Judo handisport