In the present study, 104 collegiate judokas (competitive level: international, n＝26; national, n＝26; regional, n＝26; prefectural, n＝26) who had no refereeing experience watched and subsequently evaluated video footage of four types of throwing techniques recorded from four different directions. We then investigated whether conflicting evaluations or similar effects would arise among the judokas based on their competitive level. We obtained the following results.
1．No significant interactions were observed for any of the throwing techniques, indicating the absence of complex factors involving mutual interaction between viewing direction and competitive level.
2．A significant main effect was observed for the viewing direction for all four throwing techniques, indicating a relationship with the occurrence of conflicting evaluations across all competitive levels.
3．For two of the four throwing techniques, a significant main effect was observed for competitive level, indicating a high possibility that this factor is related to the occurrence of conflicting evaluations.
4．International-level judokas gave significantly more favorable evaluations for ippon-seoi-nage (one-arm shoulder throw) than prefectural-level judokas.
International-level judokas also tended to give significantly more favorable evaluations for osoto-gari (major outer reaping throw) than both regional- and prefectural-level judokas. These results suggest that conflicting evaluations of throwing techniques are likely to occur when the judokas performing the evaluations are separated by two or more competitive levels. The results also suggest that judokas competing at higher levels evaluate throwing techniques more favorably than those competing at lower levels.
Based on the above, conflicting evaluations of throwing techniques occur according to the viewing direction, even when those evaluating the techniques compete at the same level. This indicates that viewing direction is a primary cause of conflicting evaluations of throwing techniques, and thus that conflicting evaluations are inevitable. It is therefore important for judges to view throwing techniques from multiple directions. In addition, conflicting evaluations occur due to differences in the competitive level of the referees; therefore, it is important for those wishing to become referees to first compete at a high level as judokas.
