King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Amateur wrestling vs Judo

Amateur wrestling and Judo side by side, from the facts recorded for each art.

Amateur wrestlingJudo
Country of origin—Japan
Created—1882
Founder—Kanō Jigorō
Typewrestling and amateur sportscombat sport, martial arts and Olympic sport
Competition at the OlympicsYes – 1 Olympic event recordedYes – 64 Olympic events recorded
Notable practitioners here33063052
Top countries of practitionersUnited States, Iran and JapanJapan, Russia and United States
Equipment and weapons—judogi and tatami
Belt ranks—Yes
Weight classes—Yes
Energy use (MET)—11.3 MET (Judo)

Amateur wrestling

Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced at Olympic, collegiate, scholastic, and other levels. There are two international wrestling styles performed at the Olympic Games, freestyle and Greco-Roman, both of which are governed by the United World Wrestling (UWW).

From the Wikipedia article Amateur wrestling (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Judo

Judo (Japanese: 柔道, Hepburn: Jūdō; lit. 'gentle way') is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, combat sport, Olympic sport (since 1964), Paralympic sport (since 1988) and Commonwealth Games sport (since 1990). Judo is the most prominent form of Samurai throws and self-defense competed internationally. Judo was created in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō (嘉納 治五郎) as an eclectic martial art, distinguishing itself from its predecessors (primarily Tenjin Shinyo-ryu jujutsu and Kitō-ryū jujutsu) due to an emphasis on "randori" (乱取り, lit. 'free sparring') instead of kata (形, kata; pre-arranged forms) alongside its removal of striking and weapon training elements. Judo rose to prominence for its dominance over established jujutsu schools in tournaments hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department (警視庁武術大会, Keishicho Bujutsu Taikai), resulting in its adoption as the department's primary martial art. A judo practitioner is called a "judoka" (柔道家, jūdōka), and the judo uniform is called "judogi" (柔道着, jūdōgi; "judo attire").

From the Wikipedia article Judo (CC BY-SA 4.0).

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Facts from Wikidata (CC0): Q838089, Q11420. Practitioner counts are the people with a profile on this site. Data retrieved 2026-10-22.

Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.