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Kōsen jūdō is a variation of the Kodokan judo competitive ruleset that was developed and flourished at the 高等専門学校 (高專) technical colleges in Japan in the first half of the twentieth century. Kosen judo's rules allow for greater emphasis of ground techniques than typically takes place in competitive judo and it is sometimes regarded as a distinct style of judo.Green and Svinth 2003, p282
Currently the term "kosen judo" is frequently used to refer to the competition ruleset associated with it that allows for extended ne-waza. Such competition rules are still used in the Nanatei Jūdō / Shichitei Jūdō (七帝柔道, Seven Emperors Judo) competitions held annually between the seven former Imperial universities. Similarly, there has been a resurgence in interest in Kosen judo in recent years due to its similarities with Brazilian jiu jitsu.
The rules of a kosen judo match were mainly the ones codified by the Dai Nippon Butokukai and Kodokan school prior to 1925 changes. However, they differed in that they asserted the right of competitors to enter groundwork however they wished and to remain in it as long as they wanted, as well as perform certain techniques which were forbidden in regular competition. Naturally, this kind of rules allowed to discard tachi-waza and adopt a more tactical style of ne-waza, which was developed profusely under the influence of judoka like Tsunetane Oda and Yaichihyōe Kanemitsu.
It is believed that the popularity of those strategies was the reason why Kodokan changed its competitive ruleset, restricting ground fighting and entries in 1925 and replacing draws for decision victories or yusei-gachi in 1929. Jigoro Kano was reportedly unsatisfied with kosen rules, and was quoted in 1926 as believing that kosen judo contributed to create judokas more proficient at winning sport matches at the cost of being less skilled at self-defense.Risei Kano, Jigoro Kano and the Kodokan - An Innovative Response To Modernisation Despite his posture, the kosen movement continued on, having barely changed its rules through all its story.
In 1950, the kōtō senmon gakkō school system was abolished as a consequence of education reforms, but the kosen ruleset was adopted by the universities of Tokyo University, Kyoto University, Tohoku, Kyushu, Hokkaido, Osaka University and Nagoya, collectively known as Seven Imperial Universities. They hosted the first inter-collegiate competition, 七帝柔道, in 1952, giving birth to another annual tradition. Jujutsu & Newaza, Sensei St. Hilaire The Tokyo University abandoned the Nanatei league in 1991 in order to focus on regular judo, but it was reincorporated in 2001.Ryuichiro Matsubara, Nanatei Judo, Gong Kakutogi, 2001
The Kyoto region is particularly notable on the kosen judo scene, having schools entirely specialized on this style until around 1940. Jujutsu & Newaza , Sensei St. Hilaire Among the seven universities, Kyoto has the highest number of victories at the Nanatei league, counting 22 wins and 3 draws (against Nagoya in 1982 and Tohoku in 1982 and 1983) out of the 66 editions celebrated as of 2017.
The matches are contested on a mat 20×20 meters in total size. A starting zone 8x8 meters was marked on the mat as well as a danger zone which ended at 16×16 meters. If a judoka went out of the danger zone the match would be restarted. If they were actively engaged in newaza the referee would call sono-mama to freeze them into position, drag them to the middle of the competition area, and call yoshi to restart the match in the same situation. This device was common in judo in general and is still part of the official judo rules, addressed in article 18, but has since fallen into disuse, allowing modern judoka to escape newaza by going out of the competition zone.
At the Nanatei Judo league, universities face off in teams of 20 judoka of any weight class: 13 of ordinary contenders, a captain and a vice-captain, and five replacements in case of injuries or retirements. Every match is composed of a single, six-minute round, changed to an eight minute round when the contenders are captains or vice-captains. The league is hosted as a kachi-nuki shiai, meaning every winner stays on the mat to face the next member of the rival team. At the end of the event, victory is given to the team with the highest numbers of matches won or with the last man on the field.
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