Paralympic Judo
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Judo in the Paralympic Games is only very slightly different form normal Judo. There are textured mats used to help blind or visually impaired compete.
Rules
Paralympic judo competition is governed by the IJF rules with some modifications specified by the International Blind Sports Association (IBSA).See [1] (http://edweb6.educ.msu.edu/kin866/spjudo.htm) Rule differences for blind (http://www.judoinfo.com/virules.htm) 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
It was first included in the Paralympics at Seoul, Korea--October 15-25, 1988[2] (http://www.judoinfo.com/92paraly.htm) 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
- Judo for blind including details of paralympics (http://edweb6.educ.msu.edu/kin866/spjudo.htm)
- Judo for blind atheletes (http://www.judoinfo.com/usaba.htm)
- International paralympic committee page on judo (http://www.paralympic.org/sports/sections/judo/general.htm) A very short article.
- Info from the British Paralympic Association (http://www.paralympics.org.uk/sport.asp?section=000100010004¶sport=00010003000200010013&othersport=)