King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Amateur wrestling vs Kendo

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

Amateur wrestlingKendo
Country of origin—Japan
Typewrestling and amateur sportsgendai budō, budō and martial arts
Competition at the OlympicsYes – 1 Olympic event recorded—
Notable practitioners here33061
Top countries of practitionersUnited States, Iran and JapanJapan
Equipment and weapons—shinai, bōgu, hakama and keikogi
Belt ranks—Yes

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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Kendo

Kendo (Japanese: 剣道, Hepburn: Kendō; lit. 'sword way' or 'sword path' or 'way of the sword') is a modern Japanese martial art, descended from kenjutsu (one of the old Japanese martial arts, swordsmanship), that uses bamboo swords (shinai) as well as protective armor (bōgu). It began as samurai warriors' customary swordsmanship exercises, and today, it is widely practiced within Japan and has spread to many other nations across the world.

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

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Facts from Wikidata (CC0): Q838089, Q170931. 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.