I recently went to a Junior National Championships (17, 18 and 19 years old) and specifically watched the 100+kg weight division. I thought losing weight in judo shouldn’t be a problem for these big guys. The important thing is to have more than 100 kg to be better. In many cases, if they were to enter an “all you can eat contest”, they would all win.
However, when I saw the range between the lightest, which was 104 kg, and the heaviest, which was 148 kg, I began to have some doubts. The weight difference amounted to 44 kg! It’s almost the same difference between the lighter 55kg weight division existing in this age group and the heavier 100kg.
Normally in all judo competitions, unless it is open, where the need may be, the two closest weight divisions come together. However, it is always a security related issue, especially when minors are involved. So the 55kg weight division could be merged with the 60kg, or the 60kg with the 66kg, and so on, but the officials would never dream of unifying the 55kg with the 100kg. But when it comes to overdivision, this seems to happen “naturally”.
Of course, it can be argued that in judo it is not a question of weight, but of skills, that there are open competitions without distinction of weight, etc. And to tell the truth, the lightest athlete, who weighed 104 kg in this National Championship, won the bronze medal. He was not only very technically skilled, but he also had outstanding physical preparation.
However, the question was raised among the lighter judokas in the 100+ kg division about weight reduction: when they weighed 104, 106 or 107 kg, wouldn’t it be wise to do something to get into the 100 kg division? Considering their age and the fact that they are still teenagers, is it really wise to reduce weight? Typical for youngsters is finding drastic measures to solve the problem: they starve themselves to do the 100kg split and then immediately lose because they have no energy left to face the opponent.
Certainly, there is a more constructive approach to this issue simply by following a balanced nutrition plan, learning to manage food correctly to always be at peak performance, and avoiding adding to judo practice the problem of weight loss.
