Positive Kumi Kata to be Enforced at Beijing Olympics?

[elder999]

I heard about this elsehwer, but can't find any official support of it. Anyone know if it's true? Supposedly, the IJF is planning to enforce positive kumi kata at the Olympic Games in Beijing:enforce the five second rule for gripping your opponent with both hands. The rule has been on the books for many years but rarely enforced. This change might eliminate the need for Golden Score (Koka Wins) in some of the finals. Maybe positive kumi kata will make judoka actually use their abilities to throw their opponents or, it could just result in lots more breaks in the action to award shido, but I don't even know if it's true......(seems there's talk of it every four years, anyway..._)

 

[bignick]

It will be interesting to see how this plays out, rule changes/emphasis always end up affecting the game and strategy. I'm starting to get pumped for some good judo action in August.