1st Dan Competitive Examination. Set by British Judo Association. The BJA's competitive dan grade assessment for 1st Dan has five sections. Candidates demonstrate the twenty Kodokan fundamental skills set for the grade, then choose their own techniques for the performance sections: throws linked into combinations and counters, groundwork combined, escaped or entered, and standing judo carried into groundwork. Each demonstration is scored from 0 to 10; the pass mark is 238 of 340, 70 per cent. The promotion also requires a BJA kata certificate in Nage-no-kata at Level 1, examined separately from this assessment. Pass marks and requirements --------------------------- Every demonstration is scored from 0 to 10 in whole marks against the BJA's published criteria, where 7 is a competent technique meeting all basic expectations, 6 lacks effective kuzushi, tsukuri or kake, and 0 is an omitted or unrelated technique. Sections 1 and 2 are marked to the Kodokan form with traditional grips; Sections 3 to 5 allow the candidate's own variations and grips, discussed with the examiner first. Uke is expected to work with tori throughout, giving the reaction the technique needs and, in katame-waza, genuinely trying to escape. The pass mark for 1st Dan is 238 of 340, 70 per cent, and the mark sheet sets a pass mark for each section as well. Promotion to 1st Dan: pass mark 238 of 340. fundamental-skills: All twenty techniques set for the grade. Pass mark 140. (200 marks) prior-learning: Not examined at 1st Dan. (0 marks) nage-waza-performance: Three nage-waza, candidate's choice, each with a renzoku-waza, a renraku-waza and a kaeshi-waza. Pass mark 63. (90 marks) katame-waza-performance: Three katame-waza, candidate's choice, each with a combination, an escape or a complex entry. Pass mark 21. (30 marks) transitions: One throws into osaekomi-waza and one into kansetsu-waza or shime-waza. Pass mark 14. (20 marks) Also required for this promotion -------------------------------- BJA Kata Certification: Nage-no-kata https://wazabook.com/exams/bja-kata-certification/#kata-by-grade Examined on its own terms and need not be taken on the same day. Section 1: Fundamental Skills ----------------------------- The twenty techniques set for 1st Dan, one fifth of the hundred Kodokan techniques the scheme divides between the five dan grades. They are not the candidate's to choose: every one is demonstrated, to the Kodokan form and with traditional grips, showing kumi-kata, kuzushi, tsukuri and kake, and each is scored from 0 to 10 for 200 marks in all. Te-waza ------- 1. Seoi-nage 2. Tai-otoshi 3. Uchi-mata-sukashi Koshi-waza ---------- 1. O-goshi 2. Harai-goshi Ashi-waza --------- 1. De-ashi-harai 2. O-soto-gari 3. Uchi-mata 4. O-soto-otoshi Ma-sutemi-waza -------------- 1. Tomoe-nage Yoko-sutemi-waza ---------------- 1. Tani-otoshi 2. Soto-makikomi 3. Yoko-wakare Osaekomi-waza ------------- 1. Kesa-gatame 2. Kuzure-kami-shiho-gatame Shime-waza ---------- 1. Nami-juji-jime 2. Kataha-jime in this reference: Kata-ha-jime 3. Sankaku-jime Kansetsu-waza ------------- 1. Ude-hishigi-juji-gatame in this reference: Juji-gatame 2. Ude-hishigi-waki-gatame in this reference: Waki-gatame Section 2: Fundamental Skills, Prior Learning --------------------------------------------- Not examined at 1st Dan: there is no preceding dan grade to have been examined on. 1. No Prior Learning is required for 1st Dan. Section 3: Performance Skills, Nage-waza ---------------------------------------- Three nage-waza of the candidate's choice from the hundred, at least one of them from Section 1 for this grade. Each chosen throw is the attack that starts the sequence, and each is linked into a renzoku-waza, a renraku-waza and a kaeshi-waza, so the section carries 9 demonstrations scored from 0 to 10 for 90 marks. In a combination the first attack has to draw a real response from uke. Variations and unorthodox grips are allowed here, provided the candidate can name the technique and explain the choice. 1. Renzoku-waza 2. Renraku-waza 3. Kaeshi-waza Section 4: Performance Skills, Katame-waza ------------------------------------------ Three katame-waza of the candidate's choice from the hundred, at least one of them from Section 1 for this grade, drawn from osaekomi-waza, shime-waza and kansetsu-waza in any mixture. Each is shown once, in one of three ways: combined into another katame-waza, escaped or countered, or reached by an entry more involved than settling straight into it. Combinations, escapes and counters start from the chosen technique; a complex entry finishes in it. Three demonstrations scored from 0 to 10 for 30 marks. 1. Combination 2. Escape 3. Complex Entry Section 5: Performance Skills, Transitions ------------------------------------------ Standing judo into groundwork: one nage-waza carried into an osaekomi-waza and one carried into a kansetsu-waza or a shime-waza, every technique the candidate's choice from the hundred and the throw leading each time. The two halves need not use the same throws. Two transitions scored from 0 to 10 for 20 marks. 1. Osaekomi-waza 2. Kansetsu-waza or Shime-waza in this reference: Kansetsu-waza, Shime-waza The syllabus behind this form ----------------------------- This page is what is asked on the day. The techniques set for the grade, with somewhere to tick off what you have learned, are here. 1st Dan, Dan grades: https://wazabook.com/grades/bja-competitive-dan/1st-dan/ Transcribed from: 1st Dan Grade Competitive Mark Sheet, read October 2025. Flashcards ---------- Drill exactly what this paper names: an Anki deck of this form's techniques alone, rather than the whole grade behind it: https://wazabook.com/decks/exam-bja-competitive-1st-dan.apkg From Waza Book: https://wazabook.com/exams/bja-competitive-1st-dan/