The standard ("true") Double Elimination System with winner's and loser's brackets will be used. The winner of the loser's bracket will compete against the winner of the winner's bracket for 1^st and 2^nd place.

The first one of these two contestants to have two (2) losses will be placed second; the other will be placed first. The loser of the loser's bracket will be placed 3^rd.

For categories of five contestants for fewer, round robin will be the method of competition. Only one bronze medal will be awarded.

Categories having five (5) Competitors or less: Round Robin Pool. The order of finish is determined by number of wins, then, if tied, by total points. If tied in wins and points, the winner of the head-to-head competition between the two who are still tied determines the winner. If three or more are still tied in wins an dpoints for any place (first, second or third), those contestants involved must contest again to determine the order of finish. Points are given to the winner only and shall be based on the highest single score of the winner, after factoring out scores that cancel out each other. Point vales are Ippon= 10, Waza-ari= 1, win by shido= 0. If a contestant withdraws from a division prior to beginning his or her final match, the results of all that person's previous matches shall be discarded. Osaekomi during golden score will be allowed to continue until time expires.

Categories having six (6) competitors or greater: Knockout System with Double Repechage (sometimes referred to as Crossover Repechage). Players are divided into two pools, A and B which are futher subdivided into A1, A2, B1, B2. Determination of the 1^st and 2^nd place: The "Knockout" (single elimination) system is then used to produce two finalists, one from pool A, the other from pool B, who will compete for 1^st and 2^nd place. Determination of 3^rd - 5^th place: All contestants who were defeated by the winners of pools A1, A2, B1 and B2 (semi-finalists) will take part in the repechage of their respective pools in the order in which they were defeated. i.e., for pool A1, the loser from Round 1 will meet the loser from Round 2; the winner of that match will meet the loser from Round 3, etc. The winner of repechage pool A1 will meet the winner of repechage pool A2; similarly for B1 and B2. The winner of the repechage pool A will meet the loser of the semi-final of knockout pool B. The winner of repechage Pool B will bmeet the loser of the semi-final of knockout pool A. The winners (2) are placed 3^rd, the losers (2) are placed in 5^th.

Senior Shiai only: The top eight athletes on the USA Judo Senior National Roster, who are in attendance, will be seeded, provided that they are ranked at A through D levels as follows:
A (or B) side: #1 and #8 in one half, and #5 and #4 in the other half
B (or A) side: @2 and #7 in one half, and #6 and #3 in the other half

A higher seeded athlete will always receive a bye before a lower seeded athlete. Athletes having the same State (Group B) affiliation will be placed as far apart in the bracket as possible.

Seeded athletes lose their Sate/Club affiliation for purposes of the draw, i.e. two athletes from the same state or club may meet in the first round if one is a seeded athlete.