Activity calories · 2024 Compendium METs

Calories burned doing martial arts

Quick answer

A 70 kg (154 lb) person burns about 361 kcal in 30 minutes of doing martial arts (Moderate pace (karate, judo, Muay Thai)), and about 721 kcal in an hour. That is 10.3 METs.

30 minutes: 361kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 721kcal; 70 kg (154 lb)
1 hour: 618kcal; 60 kg (132 lb)
1 hour: 824kcal; 80 kg (176 lb)

The Compendium rates martial arts by pace and style: a novice practice session is lower, moderate-pace karate, jujitsu, kickboxing or Muay Thai is high, and judo and taekwondo sparring are higher still. Class warm-ups and drills count when they are part of the time you enter.

Calculate calories burned doing martial arts

Starts at 70 kg (154 lb) for 30 minutes of doing martial arts at 10.3 METs; enter your own weight and time.

Calories burned doing martial arts by weight and time

Kilocalories for doing martial arts at 10.3 METs (Moderate pace (karate, judo, Muay Thai)), by body weight and minutes. Read across from your weight; the pace table below shows the other rows.

Calories burned doing martial arts at 10.3 METs, by body weight and duration
Body weight	15 min	30 min	45 min	1 hour	1.5 hours	2 hours
50 kg (110 lb)	129	258	386	515	773	1,030
60 kg (132 lb)	155	309	464	618	927	1,236
70 kg (154 lb)	180	361	541	721	1,082	1,442
80 kg (176 lb)	206	412	618	824	1,236	1,648
90 kg (198 lb)	232	464	695	927	1,391	1,854
100 kg (220 lb)	258	515	773	1,030	1,545	2,060
110 kg (243 lb)	283	567	850	1,133	1,700	2,266

Doing martial arts: calories by pace or effort

The Compendium rates doing martial arts on 5 lines, from 5.3 METs (Slower pace, novice practice) up to 14.3 METs (Taekwondo, combat simulation). Each row below is one of those codes with the calories it works out to.

Calories burned doing martial arts by pace or effort
Pace or effort	Compendium code	METs	30 min, 60 kg (132 lb)	30 min, 70 kg (154 lb)	30 min, 80 kg (176 lb)	1 hour, 70 kg (154 lb)
Slower pace, novice practice	15425	5.3	159	186	212	371
Kickboxing	15457	7.3	219	256	292	511
Moderate pace (karate, judo, Muay Thai)	15430	10.3	309	361	412	721
Judo	15433	11.3	339	396	452	791
Taekwondo, combat simulation	15432	14.3	429	501	572	1,001

The Compendium’s own wording for each code: 15425, “Martial Arts, different types, slower pace, novice performers, practice”; 15457, “Kickboxing”; 15430, “Martial Arts, different types, moderate pace (e.g., judo, jujitsu, karate, kick boxing, tae kwon do, tai-bo, Muay Thai boxing)”; 15433, “Judo”; 15432, “Taekwondo, combat simulation”.

What changes the number for doing martial arts

Pace is the biggest lever. The hardest listed way of doing martial arts (Taekwondo, combat simulation) is rated at 14.3 METs, 2.7 times the 5.3 METs of the gentlest (Slower pace, novice practice). For a 70 kg (154 lb) person that is 1,001 kcal an hour against 371 kcal.

Body weight is the second: the same 10.3 METs of doing martial arts for 30 minutes comes to 258 kcal at 50 kg (110 lb) and 567 kcal at 110 kg (243 lb). To reach 100 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) takes about 8 minutes at the starting pace.

Laid out in half-hour terms for 70 kg (154 lb): slower pace, novice practice is 186 kcal; kickboxing is 256 kcal; moderate pace (karate, judo, muay thai) is 361 kcal; judo is 396 kcal; taekwondo, combat simulation is 501 kcal.

How the calories are worked out

The formula is calories = MET × body weight in kg × hours. A MET compares an activity with sitting quietly, which is 1 MET and is taken as roughly 1 kcal per kilogram per hour. That equivalence is an approximation, which is why every figure is rounded and called about.

For doing martial arts at 10.3 METs, a 70 kg (154 lb) person for 30 minutes: 10.3 × 70 × 0.5 = 361 kcal. This is a gross figure: it includes the energy your body would spend at rest in the same time.

The MET values are those of the 2024 Adult Compendium of Physical Activities (Herrmann SD, Willis EA, Ainsworth BE, et al., J Sport Health Sci 2024), read from its activity list on 2026-10-23 and copied with their codes. They are averages for adults; see how we calculate.

Frequently asked questions

How many calories does a 70 kg person burn doing martial arts in 30 minutes?

About 361 kcal at 10.3 METs (Moderate pace (karate, judo, Muay Thai)). The whole range for doing martial arts on this page runs from 186 kcal (Slower pace, novice practice) to 501 kcal (Taekwondo, combat simulation) in the same half hour.

How many calories does doing martial arts burn in an hour?

At 10.3 METs, about 618 kcal for a 60 kg (132 lb) person, 721 kcal at 70 kg (154 lb) and 824 kcal at 80 kg (176 lb). Heavier people burn more because they move more mass.

How long does doing martial arts take to burn 100 calories?

For a 70 kg (154 lb) person, about 8 minutes at 10.3 METs (Moderate pace (karate, judo, Muay Thai)). At the gentlest listed pace (Slower pace, novice practice, 5.3 METs) it takes 16 minutes, and at the hardest (Taekwondo, combat simulation, 14.3 METs) about 6.

Does the number for doing martial arts include the calories I would burn anyway?

Yes. Of the 10.3 METs, 1 is the resting cost, about 10% of the total here, so the activity itself adds about 326 of the 361 kcal in 30 minutes at 70 kg (154 lb).

Why would my watch show a different number for doing martial arts?

A watch uses its own model, often with heart rate, age and sex, while this page uses the Compendium’s average. For doing martial arts that average already spans 5 entries from 5.3 to 14.3 METs, a 2.7-fold range, so a gap between the two is normal.

Which line in the table should I choose for doing martial arts?

Pick the row that best describes how you did it: this page starts from “Moderate pace (karate, judo, Muay Thai)”, about 56% of the way up the 5.3 to 14.3 MET range. The rows are separate Compendium entries (15425, 15457, 15430, 15433, 15432).

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These are estimates for healthy adults from average MET values. How much you actually burn varies with your fitness, body composition, technique, terrain and conditions, so use the figures as a guide, not a measurement. This is not medical advice.