Other Interests

Konichiwa!

One cannot live by golf alone and a new(ish) interest is in Sumo wrestling from Japan.

I watch the matches on YouTube.  There is a channel from Robert Mensing who provides the matches in condensed format the day after they take place.

As I understand it, the actual ceremony and early match posturing takes considerable time, but the condensed matches are shown in about 20 minutes.  There is a commentary in English with a smattering of enough Japanese words to keep my linguistic curiosity alive.

There is a match every two month.  Each basho is in a different city.  They last 15 days and it's a round robin format.  The wrestler with the best score wins the Emperor's Cup.  He doesn't get to take it home.  They also pass out some trophies and the odd bow -- bow as in bow and arrow.

There are the occasional interview after something important happens.  These are interesting.  They seem very typically Japanese to me.  For example they interview the Yakazuna (high & mighty wrestler who has attained both skill and a spiritual demeanor): "How do you feel that you won the Emperor's Cup for the third time in a row?"  "I will train harder and do better."   And on the other side of the scale: "How do you feel that you only won one match for the first time in your career?"  "I will train harder and do better."  I'm not joking much about this.  :-)

The matches usually only take a few seconds.  They line up across from each other in a crouch a bit like a football line.  When both have touched both hands down to the clay surface, they launch into each other and frequently smack their heads together.  Then there is pushing and slapping and someone is pushed out of the circle.  Other matches are when the wrestlers lock up and there is actual wrestling.  This can be stomach v. stomach and being bumped out.  Or there are rear or frontal push outs.  There are some throws too.  Either by their belts (miwashi) or arms.

The circle they wrestle in is about 15 feet across and there is a small apron outside of the edge of the circle.  The circle boundary is a raised rope or something.  Then the apron, then there is a 4 foot drop off into the seats.  The spectators are right there.  It's not unusual for these guys to tumble in the crowd.  There are no seats of course.  They are all sitting on very flat areas.  Shoes are off.  There is the odd kimono in the crowd.

The wrestlers are not small.  They are close to 200 kilos in weight.  The heights are all over the place -- there are some tall guys too.  They are built like the super heavy weight power lifters.  Enormous stomachs are pretty common.  Their legs are, shall we call them sturdy? 

Also, the Japanese culture seems to be to me fairly exclusive.  But Sumo wrestlers come from all over the world.  There are the Japanese of course, but also Mongolians, one guy from Brazil, another from Georgia.  I guess if you are big enough, you are welcome.

For each tournament you have 15 bouts.  If you score 8 or more, you have made your kashi koshi, or more wins than losses.  There is another term for being on the short end of it.  If you keep making your kashi koshis you will move up the rankings.  Don't make it and you will be demoted.

There are rankings.  Yakazuna is the highest and there are about 6 levels below that.  Making Yakazuna is not easy and as mentioned about, just winning is not enough.   There is a committee that meets and approves the rankings.

I've watched enough that I've have a couple of wrestlers that I recognize and root for.  Give it a try, it's different!