What is a shido in judo?
B · Beginner · Penalties and injuries · 7 of 7A shido is judo's minor penalty, given for passivity, an illegal grip or move that is not dangerous, an untidy judogi or wasting time. The first two are warnings. The third is hansoku-make: the athlete loses the contest. A shido gives the opponent no score.
How it works
- Three and out: two shido may be given, and the third is hansoku-make. The athlete loses that contest but may continue in the competition where the format allows.
- No points: "only technical scores can give points on the scoreboard". A contest cannot be decided by one or two shido.
- How it is given: the referee calls "mate", sends the athletes back to their marks, points at the offender and shows by a gesture what the offence was. On the ground, when the athlete being held offends, the referee points without stopping the action.
- Both at once: if both athletes offend together, both are penalised. If both are on two shido and each gets another, both get hansoku-make.
- Score and penalty together: if an athlete commits a slight offence and is thrown for yuko or a first waza-ari, the thrower gets the score and the offender gets the shido as well. If the throw is ippon, the contest is over.
- Made worse: an act that normally earns a shido can be given hansoku-make if it is done in a plainly unsporting way.
- Judogi, hair and delay: untying the belt without permission, disarranging a judogi on purpose, leaving hair undone and wasting time are dealt with by one warning with no penalty. Any repeat, of the same act or another on the list, is a shido.
- Shido carry over into golden score.
Tricky cases
Does a shido give the opponent a score?
No. Penalties are not scores. Only the third shido matters to the result.
An athlete gets a third shido. Are they out of the tournament?
No, not for that reason. They lose the contest, but an athlete disqualified by three shido can continue in the competition where the format allows, for example in a repechage.
Both athletes reach three shido. Who wins?
Nobody. Both are treated as losers and the contest is recorded as 0-0.
Why the rule exists
Most of the acts on the shido list are ways of not doing judo: stalling, blocking, refusing a grip. The penalty pushes both athletes to attack, and keeping it off the scoreboard means the contest is still decided by a technique.
Where it differs
| Where | What changes | Source |
|---|---|---|
| IJF rules | As above | J 18; J 18.1; J 18.3.1 |
| Cadet events | Extra shido offences: using the head to throw or to defend, and the reverse seoi-nage | J 18.1.4 |
From the rule book
International Judo Federation Sport and Organisation Rules, Refereeing Rules, Articles 4, 13, 17, 18, 18.1 and 18.3. Version of 24 July 2026. Checked 14 October 2026. Official document: IJF Sport and Organisation Rules (PDF).