King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Fencing vs Greco-Roman wrestling

Fencing and Greco-Roman wrestling side by side, from the facts recorded for each art.

FencingGreco-Roman wrestling
Country of origin—Ancient Greece
Typecombat sport and Olympic sportamateur wrestling
Competition at the OlympicsYes – 108 Olympic events recordedYes – 24 Olympic events recorded
Notable practitioners here3202517
Top countries of practitionersFrance, Italy and United StatesRussia, Soviet Union and Iran
Equipment and weaponsfoil, épée and saber—
Weight classes—Yes
Energy use (MET)6.0 MET (Fencing, general)—

Fencing

Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: foil, épée, and sabre (also spelled saber), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fencers specialise in one of these disciplines. The modern sport gained prominence near the end of the 19th century, evolving from historical European swordsmanship. The Italian school altered the historical European martial art of classical fencing, and the French school later refined that system. Scoring points in a fencing competition is done by making contact with the opponent with one's sword.

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

More about Fencing →

Greco-Roman wrestling

Greco-Roman (American English) (spelled Graeco- or Græco- in British English) or classic wrestling (European English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been part of every summer Olympic held since 1904. It is one of the two forms of wrestling contested at the Olympics, the other being freestyle wrestling.

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

More about Greco-Roman wrestling →

Facts from Wikidata (CC0): Q12100, Q389654. 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.