What Is Sumo And How To See A Sumo Wrestling In Japan
Sumo is a Japanese style of wrestling and Japan's national sport. It is a full-contact wrestling where a rikishi (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (dohyō).
WHAT IS SUMO
Sumo has a long history, and it has been called Japan's national sport. Sumo means "wrestling" in Japanese. More than 1000 years ago there were sumai tournaments where a representative of each province used to travel to a noble court and fight with the other province representatives.
Sumo is a Japanese wrestling sport where two wrestlers, or rikishi, try to force each other out of a ring or make them touch the ground with anything other than the soles of their feet.
Sumo wrestling was born as a Shinto ritual to entertain gods. It was believed that if the gods are not pleased, they would not bring a good harvest season. The sumo stage, dohyo, has been considered very sacred.
In sumo, two rikishi (sumo wrestlers) wearing nothing but a mawashi (loincloth), face each other in a dohyo (circular ring) and try to push, grapple, and throw his opponent. The one who forces his opponent to the ground or pushes him out of the ring is the winner.
RITUALS
The most well-known ritual, which takes place just before the start of the match, is that the wrestler raises one leg and stamps down on the ground several times. This ritual has been maintained since ancient times, when samurai would do it before battle to frighten the enemy.
The wrestlers will also frequently throw salt across the floor of the ring and outside the ring itself. This is seen as an act of purification.
A SUMO BOUT
To perform a sumo bout, two wrestlers must face each other within a ring that is marked out with rope. The floor of the platform is made of clay and acts as a type of sacred Shinto shrine. The wrestlers will perform their rituals and then come towards each other to fight.
To win the bout, a wrestler must push his opponent out of the rope ring, or force him down to the ground. If any part of the wrestler’s body, other than his feet, touch the clay floor, then he has lost. The task of pushing out an opponent may take only a few seconds in some of the fastest bouts. The difficulty lies in the tremendous size of the wrestlers themselves. Many weight in at 150 kilos, but some of the best wrestlers have weighed over 200 kilos.
SOME FACTS ABOUT SUMO
The sumo stage, dohyo, has been considered very sacred. That is why there is a roof dressed by the purple curtains and tassels that represents the roof of a Shinto shrine.
An average sumo wrestler is about 185 cm tall and weighs around 150 kilos.
The loincloth belt of a sumo wrestler is about 6-7 meters long.
The sumo wrestlers live about 65 years which is shorter than the avg. Japanese life expectancy for males (78).
The sumo wrestlers usually eat a high-calorie dish called chanko nabe which is beef stew and vegetables hot pot. Young sumo wrestlers consume around 20,000 calories of food a day. That is why they can get fat so easily and quickly.
When sumo wrestlers quit or retire, they change their diet and they quickly lose weight. Foreigners are surprised to see ex-sumo wrestlers who look quite skinny.
There are no official female sumo wrestlers and women are not allowed to enter the sumo ring. In the past it was believed that if a woman entered the ring, the ring must be purified again.
Sumo wrestlers are prohibited from driving a car because of a car accident that injured a sumo wrestler years ago.
In the recent past, there was a notion in Japan that the champion sumo wrestlers married to beauty pageants.
Sumo wrestlers cannot be independent, they must belong to a sumo house or stable. Each stable can only have 1 foreigner.
The fan the referee holds (gunbai) is the same as the war fan the daimyos held during the battle.
In the past 10 years, there were only 2 Japanese champions. Most recent sumo champions are Mongolians.
The referees (gyoji) carry knives to give the message that they are ready to commit seppuku if they make a mistake.
The dohyo is covered by sand and the sumo wrestlers throw a pinch of salt to the stage, both of which represent purity in Shintoism.
The salt thrown on the stage is also commonly placed at the entrance of the buildings to ward off evil spirits.
Before the wrestlers start taking on each other there is a dohyo entering ceremony led by a Shinto priest wearing white robes. Also before the ceremony, some chestnuts and cuttlefish are placed inside the ring to be presented to Shinto gods.
The Yokozuna (champion sumo wrestler) wears white zigzag-shaped strips of paper, exactly the same as the mulberry papers hanging at the entrance of Shinto shrines.
During the entering ceremony, sumo wrestlers wear decorative aprons called mawashi.
The lowest-ranked enters the ring first and the highest-ranking enters the last just like other Japanese ceremonies.
In the end, the rikishi (sumo wrestlers) hold each other's hand and hold up their aprons. This is an old samurai tradition to show that they are unarmed.
The fringes of the ropes hanging from the belt symbolize the purified ropes in front of Shinto shrines that must always be in odd numbers (usually 17, 19, or 21 ) that are lucky in Shintoism.
There are many foreign-born sumo wrestlers. The most famous one being Kotooshu from Bulgaria who has been wrestling in the top division.
There are no weight-based divisions meaning the weights of the wrestlers are not equal.
There are 6 levels of sumo leagues. The lowest level is called jonokuchi (about 50 wrestlers) and the top-level is called makuuchi (42 wrestlers). Most televised sumo tournaments are makuuchi wrestlers.
A wrestler who becomes the champion in two consecutive seasons or who has some outstanding achievements becomes the yokozuna. The yokozuna has the highest ranking among all the sumo wrestlers. Below Yokozuna there is ozeki, sekiwake, and komusubi.
There are only six sumo tournaments a year and each tournament lasts for 2 weeks. 3 of the tournaments take place in Tokyo (Jan, May, Sept.) where the sumo museum is located (Ryogoku Kokugikan). The other tournaments take place in Osaka (March), Nagoya (July), and Fukuoka (November). The last day of the tournament has the matches of the top wrestlers. It is called senshuraku (the pleasure of 1000 seasons).
THE LIFE OF A SUMO WRESTLER
Some sumo wrestlers are superstars in Japan, especially those who win tournaments and acquire the title of ‘grand champion’. Although, they are treated like rock-stars. Their lives are very regimented. Wrestlers are prohibited from driving cars, for example! Breaking rules such as these can result in fines or suspension from wrestling.
Just like the geisha system one cannot become a sumo wrestler on his own. He must belong to a sumo house and enter the sumo house at a young age where all of his expenses are paid.
Junior sumo wrestlers must wake up at 5 am. Sumo wrestlers cannot have breakfast. They have to take a siesta after a bug lunch. Junior members must live in the dorms of the sumo house they belong to.
The Sumo Association prescribes the behavior of its wrestlers in detail. When sumo enters the sport, they are expected to grow their hair long and wear it in a top knot, known as a chonmage. They are also given clothes that must be worn at all times when in public, so that they can be identified as a sumo. Young sumo wrestlers must wear wooden sandals: the sound of the sandals reminds them that they should still practice!! - In a typical sumo tournament, brothers and the members of the same sumo house cannot face each other more than the final.
Compared to other athletes, sumo wrestlers make relatively less money. The yokozuna (top sumo wrestler) gets approximately $100,000 after winning one tournament and about $ 30,000 monthly salary. Sumo wrestlers in the top division make about $8-10K a month. Most sumo wrestlers (those lower than the 2nd division don’t get salaries other than some stipend).
The reason sumo wrestlers are healthy is they don’t have visceral fat. Their fat is right under the skin not spread among the organs. If the sumo wrestlers stop training they feel unhealthy in a short time. Most past sumo wrestlers are not fat today. Another reason the sumo wrestlers are healthy is the low amount of sugar in their diet.
Sumo life can be difficult, and sumo often live 20 years shorter than the average Japanese life expectancy.
A DAY IN THE LIFE OF A SUMO
For sumo, day-to-day life is very regimented and each part of the day must be followed very strictly. An average day, when training, looks like this:
Wrestlers will get up at 5 am to begin training. Senior wrestlers train first, whilst junior wrestlers perform chores such as preparing daily meals, cleaning and preparing baths.
Wrestlers will continue to train throughout the morning, without stopping for breakfast. Though, they will all stop training for a large lunch, which is mostly a hotpot meal filled with fat, meat, vegetables and noodles.
In the afternoon, junior wrestlers will train and perform more chores, whilst the senior wrestlers are able to relax.
In the evening, senior wrestlers may attend their fan clubs, go out with sponsors or with the stable-master. Junior wrestlers are expected to stay in the training facility, unless they are asked by a senior wrestler to join them as a ‘manservant’.
HOW TO BECOME A SUMO
To become a professional sumo, wrestlers must have completed nine years of compulsory education and meet both height and weight requirements. If the wrestler is accepted by the Japanese Sumo Association, they will be assigned to a ‘stable manager’. This is the person who runs each training facility. Each sumo stable is only allowed to recruit one foreigner.
The wrestler will be expected to move to the training facility and will start his journey as a junior wrestler, performing chores at the facility and training daily.
Photo credits : Charelle M Lopena: Sumo matches take place on an elevated ring (dohyo), which is made of clay and covered in a layer of sand.