King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Freestyle wrestling vs Kendo

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

Freestyle wrestlingKendo
Country of origin—Japan
FounderBritish Empire—
Typeamateur wrestlinggendai budō, budō and martial arts
Competition at the OlympicsYes – 30 Olympic events recorded—
Notable practitioners here5621
Top countries of practitionersRussia, Soviet Union and IranJapan
Equipment and weapons—shinai, bōgu, hakama and keikogi
Belt ranks—Yes
Weight classesYes—

Freestyle wrestling

Freestyle wrestling is a style of wrestling. It is one of two styles of wrestling contested in the Olympic Games, along with Greco-Roman. High school wrestling and men's collegiate wrestling in the United States are conducted under different rules and termed scholastic and collegiate wrestling. U.S. collegiate women's wrestling is conducted under freestyle rules.

From the Wikipedia article Freestyle 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): Q327223, 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.