Dr.Hab., Professor V.A. Adolf¹
Dr.Hab., Professor L.K. Sidorov¹
Dr.Hab., Associate Professor M.D. Kudryavtsev^{1, 2, 3, 5}
PhD, Associate Professor A.Y. Osipov^{2, 4, 5}
Dr.Hab., Professor A.Y. Bliznevsky^2
1Krasnoyarsk State Pedagogical University named after V.P. Astafyev
²Siberian Federal University, Krasnoyarsk
³Reshetnev Siberian State University of Science and Technology, Krasnoyarsk
⁴Professor V. F. Voino-Yasenetsky Krasnoyarsk State Medical University, Krasnoyarsk
⁵Siberian Law Institute of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation, Krasnoyarsk

Keywords: judo, judokas’ training system, competitive success, precompetitive fitness, offence, referees’ comments.

Background. As things now stand, most of the Russian elite judokas tend to control fights so as to passively retain the advantage after it is achieved in a bout. However, in the situation of the growing competitiveness of the sport and the increasingly biased refereeing of the Russian athletes on the international arenas, the competitors should hold on to more aggressive fight control tactics from the start to the end of every bout [6]. Presently many national and international sport specialists recommend looking for new tactics in competitive fights [1-4, 6]. Actual competitive records and performance analysis of the elite Russian competitors in the high ranking international events give the grounds to conclude that the leading national athletes still lag behind of the international judo elite in the tactical thinking – despite the fact that the modern elite judo trainings systems should give a top priority to aggressive tactics as recommended by V. Bobrovsky [1].

Objective of the study was to find the key technical and tactical aspects of the fight control styles based on an expert analysis of the competitive performance of elite Russian judokas in the top ranking international events.

Methods and structure of the study. Sampled for the study were 74 elite Russian judokas aged 17-35 years including 36 athletes from the Krasnoyarsk Territory and Siberian Federal District and 38 athletes from other Russian regions. By formal qualifications, the sample included 16 Candidate Masters of Sport, 34 Masters of Sport, 21 World Class Masters of Sport and 3 Honorary Masters of Sport. The study was designed to rate the competitive performance of the sample and analyze and generalize the fight control styles.

Collected and analyzed for the study purposes were video records of the competitive bouts, with the individual performance rated by 8 top-skilled experts including the national/ world class judo referees having long service records in the national and international events, plus honorary judo coaches of the Russian Federation. The experts estimated the individual competitive performance and fitness of each athlete in the sample based on analyses of the video records of their competitive bouts in a few high-ranking events including the Russian Judo Championships and Cups and international events for the period of 2015-2016. On the whole, the experts analyzed 286 competitive bouts to score fight success, technical actions, referees’ warnings, fighting activity/ dynamics and fight control tactics. This applied set of criteria was basically much the same as used by the leading foreign experts who give priority in the competitive performance rating analyses to the fighting activity, offence and counter offence actions, technical/ tactical versatility and response (adaptation) to the opponent’s actions [5].

Study findings and discussion. On the whole, the practical attempted attacks in the standing (Nage-waza) positions were estimated at 2047 including the offence and counter offence actions, with only 324 successful (scoring) throw attempts. Each of the fighters was found to take 7.2 active attempted attacks per bout in a standing position.

Practical attempted attacks in the ground (Ne-waza) positions were estimated at 324 with only 51 scoring technical (locking/ holding) attempts. The sample was found to take only 0.9 attacks per bout in the ground positions. The expert analyses of the competitive bouts found none of the athletes being immune from warnings (Shido), with the sample estimated to receive 758 Shido on the whole i.e. 2.7 Shido per bout.

The fight dynamics/ activity (including the footwork/ action speed and intervals in between the technical actions) was rated lower than the modern competitive standard, with the technical action interval estimated to average 41s.

Having analyzed the dominating fight control tactics of the sample, the experts found most of the sample striving to score in one way or another and then fight against time to keep the edge till the end of the bout. Given in Table 1 hereunder are the key findings of the expert analysis.

Table 1. Competitive performance of the sample: key findings of the expert analysis

The experts made a special emphasis on the dominating passive fight control styles of the sample, with 2.7 warnings (Shido) per bout. Since the modern judo rules favor active (high-pace) and aggressive fight control styles, it is only natural that none of the athletes could avoid at least one Shido per bout, and this was the reason for the experts to rate the results acceptable (+) on the whole.

The total attempted technical actions in the standing (Nage-waza) positions were rated satisfactory (+) by the experts albeit the scoring rate was found too low, with only 16% of the attacks being scored in fact. The experts recommended the low scoring rate being addressed by special research and training efforts.

Furthermore, the experts found the fight control styles in the ground (Ne-waza) positions largely passive and inefficient, with most of the athletes striving to fight against time to keep the early advantage. Therefore, this competitive performance component was rated unsatisfactory (-).

The competitive fight control activity on the whole was also rated unsatisfactory (-) as too passive, with too large (41s on average) technical action intervals in the standing positions often penalized by Shido, whilst in the modern top-ranking competitions every Shido may be fatal for the expected competitive success.

Conclusion. Having analyzed of the competitive performance of the sample, the experts found the following drawbacks in the fight control styles:

• Passive fight control style in the ground (Ne-waza) positions, with most of the sample striving to fight against time to keep the lead rather than score;
• Low rate of scoring technical actions in the standing (Nage-waza) positions; and
• Low activity in competitive bouts, with experts particularly pointing to the long (40+ second) time gaps between the technical actions of the sample. In view of the increasingly biased refereeing of the Russian teams, the national judo community shall give a special priority to active offence with determined and frequent technical actions for success.

The national judo coaches and athletes are recommended to consider findings of the study and make necessary adjustments to the training systems for success in the top-ranking international events.

References

1. Bobrovsky V.A., Krestiyaninov V.A. Realizatsiya takticheskoy podgotovlennosti dzyudoistov vyisokoy kvalifikatsii v sorevnovatelnoy deyatelnosti [Realization of tactical skills of highly skilled judokas in competitive activities]. Omskiy nauchny vestnik, 2011, no. 5 (101), pp. 176-180.
2. Bogushevskiy D., Yagello B. Vliyanie pravil sorevnovaniy na sposob realizatsii shvatok veduschimi dzyudoistkami mira [Influence of competition rules on fighting of world leading judokas]. Teoriya i praktika fiz. kultury, 2012, no. 6, pp. 68-73.
3. Gorelik A.V., Osipov A.Yu., Prikhodov D.S. Analiz kachestva sorevnovatelnoy borby molodykh (15–18 let) rossiyskikh dzyudoistov s uchetom dannykh sorevnovatelnykh koeffitsientov atletov [Analysis of quality of competitive fight of Russian junior (15-18 year-old) judokas based on athletes’ competitive coefficients]. Problems of modern pedagogical education, 2018, no. 58 (4), pp. 73-76.
4. Eganov A.V., Sirotin O.A. Tekhnologiya razrabotki metodiki otsenki sorevnovatelnoy deyatelnosti dzyudoistov vysokoy kvalifikatsii [Technology for development of competitive performance evaluation methods for highly skilled judokas]. Pedagogiko-psikhologicheskie i mediko-biologicheskie problemy fizicheskoy kultury i sporta, 2013, no. 3 (28), pp. 34-41.
5. Osipov A., Kudryavtsev M., Fedorova P. et al Sravnitelny analiz nauchnykh vzglyadov rossiyskikh i inostrannykh uchenykh na problemy podgotovki kvalifitsirovannykh dzyudoistov [Comparative analysis of scientific views of Russian and foreign scientists on training of skilled judokas]. Zhurnal fizicheskogo vospitaniya i sporta, 2017, no. 1, pp. 288-293. DOI: 10.7752 / jpes.2017.01043
6. Osipov A., Kudryavtsev M., Struchkov V. et al Ekspertny analiz urovnya sorevnovatelnoy podgotovlennosti molodykh rossiyskikh dzyudoistov k vedeniyu aktivnoy atakuyuschey borby [Expert analysis of competitive fitness level of Russian junior judokas to conduct active offensive fight]. Zhurnal fizicheskogo vospitaniya i sporta, 2016, no. 4, pp. 1153–1158. DOI: 10.7752/jpes.2016.04185

Corresponding author: kumid@yandex.ru

Abstract

The study analyzes the precompetitive fitting methods applied by Russian judo teams prior to the top-ranking international events to secure due competitiveness and top performance standards. Sampled for the study were the competitive bouts of 74 elite Russian judokas from regional/ territorial picked teams. Subject to analysis were video records of the competitive bouts with the individual performances rated by experts. The expert analysis of the competitive bouts found the following drawbacks in the technical and tactical aspects of the fight control styles: (1) Low activity in the ground (Ne-waza) positions, with most of the fighters striving to safeguard the lead i.e. fight against time rather than be active; (2) Low success rate of the offense actions in standing (Nage-waza) positions; and (3) Low activity in the competitive bouts, with experts particularly pointing to the long (40+ second) time gaps between the technical actions of the sampled athletes.

In view of the increasingly biased refereeing of the bouts of Russian teams, the national judo community is recommended giving a special priority to active offence with determined and frequent technical actions for success.