Nintai Martial Arts

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Spotted! Legends! 🥋🇿🇦

A special moment at the Southern Dan Grading on 6 December 2025, where three respected judoka, Gert Gouws, Thomas Dunker, and Mike Job, were present as 7th Dans.

Their presence represents decades of dedication, service, knowledge, and contribution to South African judo.

A 7th Dan is not only a reflection of technical achievement, but also of a lifetime spent building the sport, mentoring others, and carrying the values of judo forward.

Judo South Africa honours and celebrates these legends of the mat.

Respect. Legacy. Judo.

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🥋 ROAD TO LOS ANGELES 2028 STARTS NEXT WEEK!

After the Paris Olympic Games, a new Olympic qualification race is about to begin. Next week, during the Ulaanbaatar Grand Slam in Mongolia, the first ranking points for qualification to Los Angeles 2028 will be awarded. This event officially opens the Olympic qualification period according to the International Judo Federation (IJF).

📊 How are ranking points awarded?

Main tournaments and points for winning:

🥇 World Championships - 2000 pts
🥇 World Masters - 1800 pts
🥇 Grand Slam - 1000 pts
🥇 Continental Championships - 800 pts
🥇 Grand Prix - 700 pts
🥇 Continental Open - 100 pts

📅 How are points calculated?

✅ For the first 12 months, points keep 100% of their value.
✅ After one year, they drop to 50%.
✅ After two years, they disappear completely from the ranking.

This means athletes must consistently compete and maintain high performance throughout the Olympic cycle.

🎯 What do we know about LA 2028 qualification?

IJF has confirmed that the Olympic qualification period will last two years. Only the six best results of each athlete achieved during the qualification period will count towards the Olympic ranking.

🏅 How does Olympic qualification work?

Although the full qualification system for Los Angeles 2028 has not yet been officially published by IJF and the IOC, it is expected to be very similar to the system used for Paris 2024.

During the previous Olympic cycle:

✅ The top 17 athletes in the IJF Olympic Ranking in each weight category qualified directly for the Olympic Games.

🌍 Additional continental quota places were allocated. Each continent received a certain number of spots, awarded to the highest-ranked athletes from that continent who had not already qualified directly through the world ranking.

🎟️ There were also:
• host nation places,
• universality wild cards for developing judo nations,
• additional places allocated by the IOC Tripartite Commission.

👥 Thanks to this system, the Olympic Games included not only the world’s top-ranked judoka, but also athletes representing countries where judo is still developing.

At the moment, everything suggests a similar qualification structure will be used for Los Angeles 2028, although official confirmation is still awaited.

The next two years promise to bring incredible competition and emotions. Every contest, every medal and every single point may become crucial in the fight for Olympic qualification.

Who do you think will make the strongest start to the new Olympic cycle? 🥋🔥