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    British Judo Association

    3rd Dan Competitive Examination

    The BJA's competitive dan grade assessment for 3rd Dan has five sections. Candidates demonstrate the twenty Kodokan fundamental skills set for the grade and five more from each preceding 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 420 of 560, 75 per cent. The promotion also requires a BJA kata certificate in Ju-no-kata at Level 1, examined separately from this assessment.

    Plain text version

    Source: 3rd Dan Grade Competitive Mark Sheet, October 2025. Transcribed from the official BJA mark sheet. The section maxima, the rule on prohibited techniques and the marking scale come from the Competitive Dan Grade Scheme Assessment Guide, which the mark sheet summarises. The forms are the authority; where this page and a current BJA form disagree, the form wins. The Senior Examiner must be at least one grade above the candidate.

    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 3rd Dan is 420 of 560, 75 per cent, and the mark sheet sets a pass mark for each section as well.

    Promotion toPass markMaximumRequirements
    3rd Dan420560Fundamental Skills: All twenty techniques set for the grade. Pass mark 150. (200)Fundamental Skills, Prior Learning: Five techniques of the candidate's choice from each of 1st Dan and 2nd Dan. Pass mark 75. (100)Performance Skills, Nage-waza: Five nage-waza, candidate's choice, each with a renzoku-waza, a renraku-waza and a kaeshi-waza. Pass mark 112. (150)Performance Skills, Katame-waza: Five katame-waza, candidate's choice, each with a combination, an escape or a complex entry. Pass mark 38. (50)Performance Skills, Transitions: Three throws into osaekomi-waza and three into kansetsu-waza or shime-waza. Pass mark 45. (60)

    Also required for this promotion

    Examined on its own terms and need not be taken on the same day.

    Section 1: Fundamental Skills

    The twenty techniques set for 3rd 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. Ashi-garami is prohibited in competition and carries an asterisk on the form: it is not applied, only explained far enough for the examiner to judge that the candidate understands the application.

    Te-waza

    Koshi-waza

    Ashi-waza

    Ma-sutemi-waza

    Yoko-sutemi-waza

    Osaekomi-waza

    Shime-waza

    Kansetsu-waza

    Section 2: Fundamental Skills, Prior Learning

    Five techniques of the candidate's choice from each preceding grade's Section 1 set, ten in all, named in advance on the candidate's supplementary exam sheet. Each is scored from 0 to 10 for 100 marks.

    • 1st Dan
    • 2nd Dan

    Section 3: Performance Skills, Nage-waza

    Five 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 15 demonstrations scored from 0 to 10 for 150 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.

    Section 4: Performance Skills, Katame-waza

    Five 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. Five demonstrations scored from 0 to 10 for 50 marks.

    • Combination
    • Escape
    • Complex Entry

    Section 5: Performance Skills, Transitions

    Standing judo into groundwork: three nage-waza carried into an osaekomi-waza and three 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. Six transitions scored from 0 to 10 for 60 marks.

    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.

    Flashcards

    Drill exactly what this paper names: an Anki deck of this form's techniques alone, rather than the whole grade behind it. A technique you already hold from another deck stays one card, with your review history.

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