Judo is an Olympic sport. People all over the world study this martial art. The quintessence of modern gendai budo, it retains a strong sense of tradition while adopting cutting edge training methods.

Dots purchased in this Merit provide access to special combat maneuvers. Each maneuver is a prerequisite for the next. Judo maneuvers are based on the Brawl Skill and work in conjunction with unarmed combat and athletics.

Ukemi (“Receiving;” •): Your character knows how to fall properly and get up quickly. He may stand up from a prone position (but not both) once per turn as a reflexive action, and is considered to have one point of armor against bashing damage caused by falls – but not other sources.

Nage-waza (“Throwing Techniques;” ••): Your character may use a grappling overpower to render an opponent prone without falling prone herself – but if she chooses to fall prone, she may simultaneously damage her opponent while rendering her prone. Furthermore, she excels at gripping clothing. If the opponent wears anything heavier than a t-shirt on his upper body she gains a +1 equipment bonus to perform each of the above maneuvers. If the opponent wears a gi (a karate or judo-style uniform), this increases to +2.

Sutemi-waza (“Sacrifice Techniques;” •••): Your character uses her own bodyweight to drive her opponent to the ground, falling prone along with him. If she uses an all-out attack (see the World of Darkness Rulebook, p.157) you may add her Athletics skill to a roll instead of the usual +2 to render her opponent prone while using the nage-waza option that allows her to simultaneously damage an opponent and render her prone, while falling prone herself.

Renzoku-waza (“Combination Techniques;” ••••): The character can attempt multiple grappling or shihonage attacks per turn, or he can defend with multiple throws using the Aiki maneuver. He may make one additional grapple or shihonage for each point of Dexterity that he has above 2. Each extra action is rolled at a cumulative –1 modifier. Thus, he can attempt two grapples or shihonage at Dexterity 3 (with the second at a –1 modifier), three at Dexterity 4 (at a 0, –1 then –2 modifier to dice rolls) and four at Dexterity 5 (at 0, –1, –2 and –3 to each dice roll, in turn).
Drawback: If the character’s first action is anything but a grapple or shihonage attempt he cannot use this benefit.

Tokui-waza (“Favorite Technique;” •••••): Through constant practice and competition, your character had made one throw into a specialty. It’s not easy to apply it every time, but when the opportunity appears, few people can resist her technique. If her opponent scores zero successes to establish a hold, escape one or use an overpowering maneuver and the character secures a hold herself, she creates an opening for the technique.

If you score even one success on one of the nage-waza based overpowering actions (render an opponent prone while standing, or render both combatants prone while inflicting damage), add the character’s Athletics Skill as extra successes.