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Which Martial Arts Are Olympic Sports?

photo of Olympic judoka
source: https://catalog.archives.gov/

Wondering which martial arts are Olympic sports? Currently, six martial arts are a part of the Olympic games:

  1. Western Boxing
  2. Fencing
  3. Judo
  4. Wrestling
  5. Taekwondo
  6. Karate

Wrestling has been part of the Olympics since 1896, except for the 1900 Games.

The IOC made a controversial decision to drop wrestling from the program in 2013. Wrestling was the main event during the ancient Games in Greece and throughout modern times, and after considerable backlash, the IOC restored wrestling to its rightful place on the program for the 2016 Games.

By comparison, Western Boxing has been a part of the summer games since 1904. At that time, the heavyweight category was a mere 158lbs or 71kg.

Fencing joins wrestling as an “OG” Olympic sport, having been a part of the program since the first modern games in 1896.

According to Wikipedia, “judo was first included in the Summer Olympic Games at the 1964 Games in Tokyo, Japan. After not being included in 1968, judo has been an Olympic sport in each Olympiad since.”

Taekwondo is a relative newcomer to the Games, making its first appearance as an Olympic sport in 1988, with karate taking the spot as the most recent addition to the Summer Olympics in 2020.

Related Post

Why Isn’t My Style An Olympic Sport?

The IOC determines which martial arts are Olympic sports; they keep one open slot in the program for each of The Games so the host nation can showcase a sport unique to its culture and heritage. Whether or not it becomes a permanent addition to the program depends on whether or not there is already an equivalent sport as part of the regular lineup.

For example, fencing is a sword art that has been part of the games since its inception, so other sword arts like Kendo or Iaido are not included. Likewise, judo and wrestling already represent the grappling arts, so there is no BJJ (Brazillian Jiu-jitsu). Additionally, boxing, karate, and taekwondo already represent a range of striking and kicking arts, so kung fu is not a part of the program.

There are over 2500 recognized distinct kung fu styles in the Chinese martial arts, plus countless small family and village styles. Who gets to decide which of those styles represents all of kung fu? At some point, you must choose what gets included (and excluded) just for expediency. The Summer Games would take all year if they were “all-inclusive.”

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