Taekwondo vs. Judo
Quick answer
Taekwondo originated in Korea after 1945 mainly from karate, judo in Japan in 1882 from jujutsu, and they share only the environment of Japanese arts from which the founders of the kwans drew. Taekwondo scores kicks and strikes at distance and penalises grabbing, judo rests on the grip, the throw and groundwork and prohibits strikes. Both are Olympic, judo since 1964, taekwondo since 2000.
At a glance
| Taekwondo | Judo | |
|---|---|---|
| Country of origin | South Korea | Japan |
| Origin | 1955 | 1882 |
| Founder | Choi Hong-hi | Kano Jigoro |
| Contact | Full contact · Light contact (depending on style) | Full contact |
| Sparring | Full contact · Light contact (depending on style) | Full contact |
| Competition format | Point fighting | Point fighting |
| Olympic status | Current Olympic sport | Current Olympic sport |
| Ranks | Yes (belts) | Yes (belts) |
| Rank recognition | by federation | by federation |
| Attire | Gi required | Gi required |
| Weapons | No weapons | No weapons |
| Forms | Forms at the core | Forms optional |
| Relative cost | medium | low |
| Katas and forms in the encyclopedia | 41 | 5 |
| Techniques in the encyclopedia | 84 | 104 |
Scales 1–5
Rated for the typical training of an adult beginner in an ordinary club, calibrated across all arts.
What each art is built from
Editorial rating 0–3: how much room each area gets in ordinary training.
History and relationship
Judo originated in Tokyo in 1882, taekwondo in Korea after 1945. The founders of the Korean kwan schools had encountered karate, judo and kendo during the Japanese occupation. Taekwondo technique derives mainly from karate.
- 1882: Kano Jigoro founds the Kodokan in Tokyo.
- After 1945: kwans are founded in Seoul. Jidokwan continues the section at the judo school Chosun Yun Moo Kwan.
- 1955: Choi Hong Hi presents the name taekwondo, in 1959 the Korea Taekwondo Association is founded.
- 1964: judo at the Olympics for the first time, in Tokyo.
- 2000: taekwondo becomes a medal sport in Sydney, after demonstrations in Seoul 1988 and Barcelona 1992.
Technique
- Kicking distance, fighters keep apart.
- Weapons: the foot below the ankle and the fist.
- WT: fist to the trunk only, kicks to trunk and head, a turning kick to the head scores 6 points.
- Prohibited: grabbing, holding, pushing, attacks below the belt and on a fallen opponent.
- Close contact in the jacket grip.
- Throws (nage-waza) and groundwork: holds, chokes, joint locks.
- Joint locks in competition only on the elbow, a hold on the ground wins after 20 seconds.
- Prohibited: strikes and kicks, grips below the belt, diving head first.
Taekwondo penalises exactly what judo is built on: grabbing and holding the opponent. Judo has no strikes or kicks, atemi exist only in kata.
Training
| Taekwondo | Judo | |
|---|---|---|
| Foundation | forms (poomsae, tul), kicks, step sparring | falls (ukemi), uchi-komi, randori |
| Free fighting | kyorugi sparring in protective gear | randori at varying intensity, the main form of training |
| Other parts | breaking (gyeokpa), hosinsul self-defence, meditation and breathing | Kodokan kata, groundwork drills |
| Load measured in a study | not documented | 4 randori of 5 minutes: 174–183 beats per minute |
A judoka begins with falls, without them one cannot be thrown. A taekwondo practitioner begins with stance, kicks and forms. We have not been able to document the ratio of forms, sparring and conditioning, or the usual number of training sessions per week.
Progression and ranks
| Taekwondo | Judo | |
|---|---|---|
| Student grades | gup with coloured belts, ITF six colours | 6th to 1st kyu: white, yellow, orange, green, blue, brown |
| Master grades | dan, usually up to 9th dan | dan up to 10th dan, from 6th dan a red-and-white belt |
| First dan | Kukkiwon (British guide): from age 16, 15 when moving up from poom | UK from age 15, USA usually from age 16 |
| Waiting periods | 1 year between 1st and 2nd dan, 4 years between 4th and 5th | minimum times of the Kodokan and IJF not documented |
Both arts count student grades downward and master grades upward. The dan grades of taekwondo in the WT system are registered by the Kukkiwon in Seoul, the dan grades of judo are awarded by the Kodokan in Tokyo.
Physical load and risks
- Olympics 2008–2016: 7.7 injuries per 1,000 minutes of competition.
- National team athletes: most often the knee (21.3%), the instep and foot (17.0%).
- Amateurs: over 81% of injuries occur in training.
- Olympics 2008–2016: 9.6 injuries per 1,000 minutes of competition.
- About 70% of injuries occur when landing after a throw.
- Most often the knee (up to 28%), the shoulder (up to 22%) and the fingers (up to 30%).
Who it suits
| Taekwondo (WT) | Judo (IJF) | |
|---|---|---|
| Youth | cadets 12–14, juniors 15–17 years | cadets 15–17, juniors 15–20 years |
| Seniors | from age 17 | from age 15, no upper limit |
| Older age | poomsae up to the over-65 division | veterans from M6 (55–59 years) to M9 (over 70), in M7 to M9 without chokes |
| Women | at the Olympics since 2000, four weight categories as for men | Olympic medals since 1992, seven weight categories as for men, mixed team since 2020 |
Children
| Taekwondo | Judo | |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest competition category | WT cadets from age 12 | IJF from age 15, national competitions earlier, Judo Victoria (Australia) from age 6 |
| Protection of children in competition | head guard with a face shield, rounds can be shortened to 1 to 1.5 minutes | Judo Victoria: up to U15 without joint locks and chokes, in U9 not even throws from the knees |
| Studies in children | review of 8 studies (402 children, aged 6–16): improvement in strength, flexibility and balance | Polish study of 6,468 judoka: injuries in 5.7% of youth, in adults 22.5% |
| Medical opinions | we found no statement on taekwondo | the American Academy of Pediatrics leaflet describes judo as closer to wrestling than other martial arts |
Self-defence
- Sparring against resistance, in WT full contact in protective gear.
- Stance and kicks at distance, the fist in WT only to the trunk.
- Hosinsul self-defence, in the Kukkiwon textbook also falls, joint locks and takedowns.
- Randori against full resistance in the grip and on the ground.
- Throws, holds, chokes and elbow joint locks.
- Ukemi falls from the first training sessions.
- Strikes and kicks are absent in randori and in competition, self-defence kata contain them only without resistance.
Taekwondo covers kicking distance, judo the grip, the throw and the ground. The limit of taekwondo lies in close contact, which the rules interrupt, the limit of judo in striking distance, which randori does not train.
Practical use
| Taekwondo | Judo | |
|---|---|---|
| Self-defence | study of 30 sedentary women: improvement in a self-defence test after 6 weeks | self-defence kata Kodokan goshinjutsu and the women’s Joshi-goshinho |
| Women and older age | 16 postmenopausal women: higher agility after 12 weeks | review of 23 studies (2023): higher bone density in postmenopausal women, lower fear of falling in some studies |
| Competition in older age | poomsae over 65 years | IJF veterans up to over 70 years, the British federation prohibits chokes in a bout with a participant over 60 |
The studies involve small groups and short programmes. No general conclusion about suitability for women, seniors or people with sedentary jobs can be drawn from them.
Competition
| Taekwondo (WT) | Judo (IJF) | |
|---|---|---|
| Olympic programme | since Sydney 2000 | since Tokyo 1964, absent only in 1968 |
| Bout length | 3 rounds of 2 minutes, then a golden point round | one round, 4 minutes |
| Victory | points for hits, electronic scoring since 2017, KO | ippon, two waza-ari, a 20-second hold, submission |
| Olympic weight categories | 4 for men and 4 for women | 7 for men and 7 for women, mixed team |
| Forms as competition | poomsae: individuals, pairs, trios, freestyle | we have not documented an IJF kata competition |
Gear and costs
| Taekwondo | Judo | |
|---|---|---|
| Clothing | dobok, in WT usually with a V-neck | judogi of a heavy cotton jacket, trousers and belt, at IJF competitions white and blue |
| Protective gear | WT: trunk, head, groin, forearms, shins, gloves, mouthguard, sensor socks | we found no mandatory protective gear |
| Relative costs | medium | low |
Availability and organisations
| Taekwondo | Judo | |
|---|---|---|
| World federation | World Taekwondo (WT), alongside it three ITF organisations | International Judo Federation (Budapest), national federations in five continental unions |
| Who awards dan grades | Kukkiwon in the WT system, ITF organisations independently | Kodokan, for judoka from all over the world |
| Recognition of grades when changing clubs | within the Kukkiwon system yes, between WT and ITF we have not documented it | we found no general rule, conditions differ between federations |
Judo has one set of rules and one world federation. In taekwondo, when moving, it matters whether the new club belongs under the Kukkiwon and WT or under the ITF.
Switching and combining
- Experience of sparring against resistance.
- Learning ukemi falls and the jacket grip.
- Unlearning keeping distance, judo is built on close contact.
- Learning groundwork: holds, chokes, joint locks.
- Habit of full resistance from a partner in randori.
- Learning kicks and stance at distance.
- Unlearning grabbing, in WT it is penalised by gam-jeom.
- Learning the poomsae or tul forms as part of grading exams.
The left column describes the transition from taekwondo to judo, the right one the opposite direction. Both arts are linked by Korean yongmudo, created according to its founder in 2001 at Yong-In University.
Philosophy
- Five tenets according to Choi Hong Hi: courtesy, integrity, perseverance, self-control, indomitable spirit.
- Reference to the five commandments of the hwarang.
- Theory of power: speed takes precedence over mass.
- Seiryoku zenyo: maximum efficient use of energy.
- Jita kyoei: mutual benefit.
- Softness overcomes hardness, the opponent’s force is turned against him.
Taekwondo seeks power in the speed of one’s own strike, judo in yielding and using the opponent’s force.
Forms and terminology
In taekwondo, forms are the basis of grading exams and also a competition in their own right. The Kukkiwon uses eight Taegeuk forms for coloured belts and nine forms for dan grades, the ITF 24 Chang Hon forms. In judo, kata are practised mostly with a partner, for example Nage-no-kata with 15 throws to both sides. The Kodokan recognises ten of them and randori remains the main form of training.
Training culture
- Practised in a dojang, the terminology is Korean.
- Titles in the Kukkiwon system: kyosa-nim (1st–3rd dan), sabum-nim (4th–6th dan).
- Since 2018 the national martial art of South Korea.
- Practised in a dojo on tatami, the terminology is Japanese.
- Kodokan in Tokyo: main dojo with 420 tatami, separate women’s and boys’ dojo.
Common misconceptions
- Taekwondo is not a continuation of the ancient taekkyeon. It arose after 1945 and the Korean taekkyeon association denies any connection.
- Judo is not just a throw: the rules also score holds on the ground and permit chokes and elbow joint locks.
- Taekwondo is not just kicking: the ITF permits a hand strike to the head and the Kukkiwon textbook also includes falls, joint locks and takedowns.
- Judo does know striking techniques, but only in kata (atemi), they are not used in randori or in competition.
Which to choose
Frequently asked questions
Do taekwondo and judo share a common origin?
Not directly. Judo originated in Japan in 1882, taekwondo in Korea after 1945 mainly from karate. The founders of the Korean kwans, however, knew judo as well, and the Jidokwan school continues the section at the judo school Chosun Yun Moo Kwan.
Which of them is Olympic?
Both. Judo since Tokyo 1964 with the exception of 1968, taekwondo since Sydney 2000.
Can they be trained at the same time?
Yes, the techniques do not overlap. The South Vietnamese Olympic judoka Nguyen Van Binh added taekwondo in 1962 and continued to compete in judo, at the 1964 Games he competed in the lightweight category.