IJF Hall of Famer Neil Adams, who is in China in his IJF commentary role, shared his technical analysis of last day of IJF action for 2018.

We have seen very little negative judo, there’s been no playing for penalties and I’m really pleased by that. I’ve not heard the coaches shouting for any scores or penalties and the same can be said for the players. Everything has been very positive towards scoring and that's what the rules should dictate – even when you’re down the aim has to be to get a score back and not to push for penalties.

Because of the level of competition, I half expected more golden scores, but even when it has it’s because the athletes have been even and they’re still going for scores. It’s been nice to see that all the way through.

There’s been a very high amount of ippons, considering we have top 16 here, the best judoka have stood out.

Japan obviously always impress because they are always looking for ippon. No Japanese judoka play the edge and the odd time they’re there they back up their opponents to get a reaction.

The Japanese judoka rely more on technical expertise and technique to win a match, that tells us a lot towards the amount of randori they do in Japan and the sheer volume of practice as opposed to just physical training.

We can always use that as the main reason for their degree of success and other nations, in my opinion, have to put more emphasis on training specifically for judo.

Technique wins. Even when they’re down and out the top judoka are always dangerous, the ones with big techniques, you can’t write them off. When you have technique your always dangerous until the last second.

Also interesting as with all techniques, we have seen hybvrid’s, different variations of classical techniques such as sasae, harai, hiza and it’s nice to see these variations.

We have different styles from all over the world – it’s truly international with different gripping strategies.

As for transitions we’ve seen a lot from tachi-waza to ne-waza but they have really clicked with regards to the other direction from ne-waza back to standing – the longer that goes we will see more positive things with it. I’d jump all over that, as a fighter, and take full advantage of people wanting to stay on their knees and wait for the matte.

We now have continuity in this area for judo and this has made a big difference.

British legend Neil Adams is double Olympic silver medallist, 1981 world champion, five-time European champion and is ranked 9th Dan. IJF Commentator and Technical Adviser Adams, who is known as the ‘Voice of Judo’, moved into coaching after his remarkable competitive career and had spells with the Welsh Judo Association, British Judo Association and in Belgium.

See also
Outreach
Celebrating Achievements with the Loretta Doyle Judo Foundation

04. Jul. 2025 / The community-driven Loretta Doyle Judo Foundation ...

Athlete Stories
Shiho Tanaka - "The Most Important Thing is to Love It"

03. Jul. 2025 / Twenty-seven year old Shiho Tanaka (JPN) just missed ...

Interview
Julien Goes Around the World (30)

26. Jun. 2025 / Julien Brulard has been travelling the world with his ...

Interview
A First Experience

26. Jun. 2025 / Sebastian Richly is a journalist.

Judo for Refugees
The Judo Family Shows Its Solidarity on World Refugee Day

23. Jun. 2025 / The World Refugee Day is an international day designated ...

News
DIJF and IJF Meet in Budapest

23. Jun. 2025 / At the end of 2024, the IJF and the DIJF (Deaf International ...

OTP WJC 2025
Georgia! It's Georgia! World Mixed Team Champions!

20. Jun. 2025 / The final block began at 6pm sharp and flew by so fast, ...

OTP WJC 2025
The Mixed Team Preliminaries - Wow!

20. Jun. 2025 / In 2017 the mixed team format was included in the senior ...

Athletes' Commission
The New IJF Athletes' Commission Is Known

20. Jun. 2025 / During the OTP Bank World Judo Championships Hungary ...

Athlete Stories
Eteri Liparteliani: the Pioneer

20. Jun. 2025 / Since 1992, when Georgia first appeared at global sporting ...

Athlete Stories
A New Generation of Role Models

20. Jun. 2025 / Twenty-one year old Timur Arbuzov and twenty-three ...

OTP WJC 2025
From World Champions to Honoured Guests, the Whole Judo Family Wins

19. Jun. 2025 / Fourteen incredible judoka have been crowned in Budapest, ...

OTP WJC 2025
+100 kg: Tasoev Doubles His World Title

19. Jun. 2025 / In the last final of the OTP Bank World Judo Championships ...

INTERVIEW EXPRESS
Shishime Ai (JPN)

08. Jun. 2018 / The next reigning world champion to be invited to answer ...

News
5 Key Takeaways from judo’s first Tokyo 2020 qualifier

06. Jun. 2018 / Highlights from Hohhot Grand Prix 2018

VIDEO
Judo for the World in Iran

07. Jun. 2018 / In April 2018, the International Judo Federation and ...

Meeting
JUDO: A Beneficial Cause

07. Jun. 2018 / 'Society should believe in sport as a beneficial cause ...