Ehh, it was even worse before. There used to be other points like kokas and yukos that made the sport even more tactical and calculated
Games are often decided by shido (penalties) when one of the fighters "refuses" to fight and instead makes fake attacks, non-traditional grips for too long without intending to attack, and excessive defence. It is a slog to watch at times I admit, but it used to be even worse
umm...I think I disagree. I know the Japanese do. These days there is a lot more emphasis on penalties and less on throws which goes against the spirit of the sport IMO. They seem to be giving out shido's like no one's business. Also, by getting rid of Yoko's and Koka's I believe they had lowered the standards of what constitutes a Waza-ari and Ippon. I.e. it's too easy to get them. I see a throw and I'm thinking, oooOO, Waza-ari but those are called Ippon's these days.
I haven't watched enough tournaments to really say so I could be wrong but it seems there is less variety of throws these days because of the rule changes. Seems it's almost all drop-throws these days.
Maybe I'm biased but I do prefer the older rules. Or at least some aspects of it. I know the Japanese seem to think so.
Fake attacks and non-combat/excessive defence have always been illegal. But did you watch Deguchi's gold medal match? The Korean girl was pretty much only doing 'fake' attacks. I think there were only a couple of times when I saw actual intent to throw. It was obvious her strategy was to make her opponents lose the match by getting shido's for non-combativeness. It was ugly. They need to get that crap out of Judo.