Are omoplatas legal in judo? Though they cause pain to the shoulder joint, they "lock" the elbow joint (in a bent position) to achieve this (as in ude-garami and te-gatame).
Yes, omoplatas are considered a variant of ashi-gatame or hiza-gatame.1 3 The IJF Referee Commission has confirmed their legality on multiple occasions,1 2 both as a submission, and as a method of turning uke over from the turtle position:
Lascau: Osaekomi.
Demonstrator: *uke taps, tori points at armlock*
Lascau: Ippon. Ippon.
Demonstrator: [With this movement,] making the kansetsu-waza? [It's ok?]
Lascau: Ippon. No problem. Ashi-gatame. Ashi-gatame, combination with rolling, and then osaekomi or ashi-/hiza-gatame, depending how is the hand.
They are occasionally seen in competition, and are the signature techniques of some high level judoka (e.g. Huizinga, Munkhbat):
Submission (ashi-gatame / hiza-gatame):
- Düsseldorf Grand Prix 2020 | 73kg | An vs Sterpu
- Osaka Grand Slam 2019 | 57kg | Klimkait vs Tamaoki
- Antalya Grand Prix 2017 | 52kg | Azizova vs Tas
- Tokyo Grand Slam 2015 | 60kg | Aoki vs Chammartin
- Hohhot Grand Prix 2017 | 48kg | Munkhbat vs Wang
- Baku Grand Slam 2014 | 48kg | Munkhbat vs Rosseneu
- Paris Grand Slam 2018 | 48kg | Munkhbat vs Guan
- Paris Grand Slam 2017 | 48kg | Munkhbat vs Mosdier
- Paris Grand Slam 2016 | 48kg | Munkhbat vs Nikolic
- Tashkent Grand Prix 2017 | 48kg | Munkhbat vs Pavlenko
- World Masters Rabat 2015 | 48kg | Munkhbat vs Pareto
- World Championships Baku 2018 | 48kg | Munkhbat vs Costa
- World Championships Baku 2018 | 100kg+ | Durlenbayar vs Pineda
- World Championships Seoul 1985 | 100kg | Saito vs. Cohen
"Huizinga roll":
- 2007 Tournois de Paris | 90kg | Huizinga vs Dafreville
- 2010 World Cup Lisbon | 81kg | Canto vs Stevens
- Grand Prix Agadir 2018 | 57kg | Harachi vs Iraoui
- Havana Grand Prix 2016 | 57kg | Harachi vs David
- Grand Prix Budapest 2016 | 60kg | Aoki vs Bestaev
- World Championships Budapest 2017 | 73kg | Ungvári vs Ruiz
1. IJF Refereeing & Coaching Seminar 2016: Day 1 (6:59:55)
2. IJF Refereeing & Coaching Seminar 2018: Day 2 (2:59:20)
3. Kodokan Katame-Waza: Various Techniques and their Names (1994)