King's Kung-Fu& Tai Chi

Judo vs Naginatajutsu

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

JudoNaginatajutsu
Country of originJapanJapan
Created1882—
FounderKanō Jigorō—
Typecombat sport, martial arts and Olympic sportjutsu and martial arts
Competition at the OlympicsYes – 64 Olympic events recorded—
Notable practitioners here30521
Top countries of practitionersJapan, Russia and United StatesFrance
Equipment and weaponsjudogi and tataminaginata
Belt ranksYes—
Weight classesYes—
Energy use (MET)11.3 MET (Judo)—

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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Naginatajutsu

Naginatajutsu (長刀術 or 薙刀術) is the Japanese martial art of wielding the naginata (長刀). The naginata is a weapon resembling the European glaive and the Chinese guan dao. Most naginatajutsu practiced today is in a modernized form, a gendai budō, in which competitions also are held.

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

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Facts from Wikidata (CC0): Q11420, Q1757215. 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.