Hi! / Why do you like sumo?

[AnOzekisFish 16]

Hey all, I've been merrily watching Kintamayama's tournament videos for, what, 5 years now? I think I might finally know enough to have a few nice chats around the sport. Maybe. I look forward to chatting with you all, and learning some more.

I'm in the UK (not exactly the beating heart of Sumo), and constantly living in hope of a Takayasu yusho. I'm not sure why exactly, it might just be the way his face goes from being ultra calm, to angry fire demon as soon as he charges.

I wrote the following a while back to try and explain why I like sumo so much. If anyone fancies critiquing it (I'm sure it's wrong in many exciting ways!) that'd be nice. Or if anyone has any 'sumo stories' they can throw at me from further back in the past that would be cool too.

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I'm a fan of Sumo wrestling. It might be you are too, and this article just seems like poorly informed waffle, but most likely you're not a fan. Sumo is just the fat guys wrestling, right? There was that guy in Street Fighter 2? I'm not here to change your mind, but I'd like to tell you what I think it offers.

Sumo wrestling, like any other sport can be fun to watch in itself. It's highly trained athletes, at the top of their game, demonstrating their skill. Just as a spectacle it's a lot of fun to watch, as is any sport. But Sumo gives me something I don't find anywhere else.

I'd say mainly it's down to the format sumo is held in. There are six tournaments each year, with the wrestlers assigned to ranks. You fight 15 times in a tournament. Winning the most of anyone wins you the tournament. Winning 8 or more makes your rank go up in the next tournament, and vice versa. For the very highest ranks even this isn't enough - you need to win a great deal over multiple tournaments to reach the top two ranks. Some wrestlers struggle their whole careers in the lower ranks. Others get the smallest time at one of the higher ranks, then spend the rest of their time trying to get back there. Some surge to the top and defend against all comers. This all takes place over years.

This format gives rise to long running narratives and stories. It is these stories, and following their progress over a long stretch of time that makes sumo incredible. It's like the long running storylines in dramas or professional wrestling done well, but done better. Here a few examples I've seen play out over the last 5 or so years.

Kisenosato

Japan has not had a wrestler at the highest rank (Yokozuna) in the sport for years. All Yokozunae are Mongolian, and the lack of a Japanese champion at the highest level of the national sport stings mightily. There is hope. At the second highest rank, Ozeki, Japan has a wrestler of astonishing power. He has come second in the highest level tournament 12 times, but has always come up short of a tournament victory. With no victory there is no chance of reaching the highest rank. His fans have watched him fall just short, over and over. Now however, he has another chance.

The tournament, Hatsu basho 2017. The final day. In the spiritual home of Sumo, the Kokugikan in Tokyo. All Kisenosato has to do is win one bout, and his journey to the top of Sumo's mountain is complete. National pride will be restored. Just one win. Just one win over the greatest sumo wrestler in history. Hakuho, the wrestler who makes all others appear as mere shadows of his talent.

The dohyo is the center of a cauldron of fans, packed in as tight as possible. One room, in the nation's capital. One central focus for a nation's hopes and pride. Two men, feet on clay, shielded from the pressure and fervor only by the tawara, the straw bales which form the boundary of the dohyo. The men crouch, and launch into their charge.

It is Hakuho who gets the better of it. A powerful trademark slap across Kisenosato's face, and Hakuho forces him back. And back. And back. Kisenosato's feet are pressed against the tawara. There is nowhere else to go but to defeat. His body arcs back like a bow as Hakuho presses his charge. This is the moment. Under the bright lights. The greatest wrestler ever pressing his charge home. A nation watching their hopes fade again.

Somehow, somehow, Kisenosato turns the tide. Turning clockwise, left arm rising strongly beneath Hakuho's right, time seems to stand still. Then, it happens. Hakuho hits the dirt, thrown down, and rolls off the dohyo. Kisenesato struts across the clay, king of all he surveys. The crowd collapse into ecstasy. The long wait is over.

Tochinoshin

A rare foreign wrestler. the Georgian has had a successful career, rising as high as the third rank, Sekiwake. He has even been runner up in a couple of top level tournaments, but the consistency needed to win has eluded him. Going in to Hatsu 2018, he's sat a few ranks lower than his peak, with no real prospect of a victory on the cards.

Out of the blue, Tochinoshin does staggeringly well. He's displaying absolutely insane levels of strength. Whenever he manages to get a left hand grip on his opponent's belt, he is simply overpowering them. Some of his opponents, near 400lb of solid muscle and energy, find themselves simply being lifted out of the ring. At the half way point Tochinoshin has 7 wins to one loss, with that loss being to a Yokozuna. He can't possibly keep this up. His often injured knee won't stand up to the pressure of lifting these struggling giants around. Surely.

But the next day, it's 8-1. Somehow. Then it's 9-1, then 10-1, then 11-1. What on earth is happening? This is the end of the line though. Across the dohyo stands Ichinojo, the largest wrestler in the sport. 450lb of immovable mass. There are some things strength just can't do.

Or are there? The bout begins. The two giants meet in the centre, with a resounding thud. Tochinoshin gets his left hand grip, and although there will be no sight of Ichinojo being lifted two feet up, he can lift him enough and move him back. Like a house mover corralling a particularly unruly piano into the back of a truck, he forces the Mongolian out over the bales. 12-1.

The next day, he can win the whole tournament with one more victory, with a day to spare. And he does. When asked how the tournament win feels, he simply replies, "It feels great". No kidding.

Hakuho

The greatest of all time. A colossus of the sport, but seemingly at odds with its ethos of Japanese respectability. He is fading. He sits most tournaments out with injuries, or returns for only a few bouts before bowing out again. Rumours swirl of his retirement. In his place the powerful Terunofuji has risen, making the other wrestlers look like children fighting their father.
Hakuho returns. One last time. Injured and circling the drain. Can he reach the end of the tournament? Can he possibly still compete against Terunofuji? The last stand of the best that ever was. Cut to the end. 14 wins in a row, and on the final day he faces Terunofuji. In his final bout he struggles mightily, but summoning his reserves he hurls his replacement down, with a scream of pure emotion. Hakuho rides off into the sunset, his opponents' bodies littering the clay behind him, the best that ever was.

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These are just a few of the stories I've followed while watching, since that day years ago when I started watching sumo out of some misplaced sense of irony. More stories are ongoing, and new ones begin each tournament. I've not seen anything in other sports that can quite match up to it.

If this is even vaguely interesting, I'd say give Sumo a watch. Don't expect to be hooked right away though - just watch a tournament, perhaps spot a couple of wrestlers who grab your interest. It'll be fine. If you persevere though, and keep watching for a while, you'll find the narratives open up to you. If you get that far, there's nothing quite like it.

 

 

[hakutorizakura 609]

Welcome! I was also a video watcher for some time before finally joining here. Recently I rewatched few bashos that have outstanding stories (might make a list of that someday). Hatsu '17 was the one that made me hooked to sumo -- Kise already won it on day 14 BTW, but indeed his victory over Hakuho sealed the promotion I think 

Enjoy your time here!

*Oh yeah, I'm that street fighter guy's lookalike

Edited November 19, 2021 by hakutorizakura

[Katooshu 3,179]

One of things I really enjoy is how quickly a match can change - one rikishi bulldozes the other around the dohyo, looking completely in control and on his way to victory, only to have his opponent perform a well-timed sidestep or pulldown (or for the bulldozer to lose balance on his own) to pull out a win. I think there few sports that are as dynamic as sumo and consistently fit so much into such little time.

 

[Godango 973]

Hi! I'd have a similar timeline to you in terms of keen interest in ozumo, but I remember being interested in sumo even as a small child. Was it because I liked playing as E. Honda in Street Fighter, or vice versa, I honestly don't know. 

I think you've hit the nail on the head regarding the drama sumo provides, both in the tradition/ritual/theatrics, what may take place in a single basho or a specific wrestler across multiple basho. In the comparatively short time I've been a fan I've witnessed Harumafuji's shocking retirement, Tochinoshin's injury comeback and reaching Ozeki, Kisenosato's regrettable injury-forced intai dashing the hopes of Japanese fans, with redemption in Takakeisho's rise -- many others along the way but of course most recently Terunofuji's dramatic comeback and yokozuna promotion and the retirement of arguably the greatest in-ring rikishi ever. 4 years of fandom and so much drama and intrigue!

The sport itself, I think what I love about it is that it's simple to describe/observe but extremely difficult to do. I've been in a local sumo club now for a little over a year and my god, any inkling I had along the lines of "If I had my time over again I think I could have maybe reached sekitori" were quickly dashed. These men, though many think of them as jokes in the Western World, are some of the most disciplined, elite athletes you'll ever find. Almost literally 24/7 existing for no other reason than to be an elite rikishi, it's hard not to respect that.

I could waffle on forever, but I'll choose not to, and instead leave you with TAKAYASU YUSHO! (though my hope is rapidly fading with each basho).

Edited November 20, 2021 by Godango

[rokudenashi 296]

First of all welcome to the forum, looking forward to your contributions. UK here too.

My path to sumō, perhaps regrettably depending on how you feel about it, came from years of Japanese pro-wrestling fandom, particularly from the Shōwa period. Puroresu was born out of a disgruntled ex-sekitori going to America and bringing the pro-style back to Japan. In the ensuing decades the two "sports" became increasingly disparate, however thanks to the aforementioned Rikidōzan there exists an inseparable bond between them.

Coming from this background, I feel much of the same emotional investment in ōzumō as I do with puroresu, albeit in a far more pared-down, purer context. That ōzumō bouts are (mostly) legitimate lends to this sense of purity. Replacing the camaraderie and showmanship in puroresu with the rituals and lore underpinning sumō, I am similarly drawn in. Much in the same vein, there are winners and losers, there are complications to deciding the victor (disqualifications, count-outs vs mono-iis), as well as rulesets to understand, outfits by which to identify the competitors, storylines to keep one hooked from one tournament to another.  You could even equate the sleazy goings-on in puroresu to the real-life scandals that occur far too often in ōzumō.

It helps that my favourite wrestler of all time, Tenryū Gen'ichirō, was a makuuchi sekitori who beat Chiyonofuji once, before jumping ship.

Of course, the downside to this is that I often end up thinking about sumō in a pro wrestling context, which can lead to some questionable extrapolations...

Edited November 19, 2021 by rokudenashi

[Swami 245]

Hearty salutations from the Swami!

I first got into sumo in the late 1980s when the UK's Channel 4 took a bold leap in showing highlights from usually the Aki Basho - albeit with hindsight for a far too brief period of time.  I could never understand why they lost interest all of a sudden, especially after the successful London Koen in 1991.

It was a great era of sumo with Chiyonofuji and his awesome technique, though generally the standard of sumo was much higher than at any time in the 15/20 years.  With the exception of the relatively few lightweights now, what used to be fairly common techniques (utchari, tsuridashi) have all but gone.  Far too much use of henka for my liking.

 

Swami

[Kishinoyama 582]

I got into watching sumo while I was stationed in Japan from 1987 to 1990. I would watch the tournaments after I got home from work. I was fortunate to see Chiyonofuji in action along with Konishiki, Asahifuji, Hokutoumi and many other rikishi from that time period. I stopped watching once I got back to the United States. You couldn't find sumo anywhere on TV except for some highlights on ESPN. Unfortunately, those stopped being broadcast after only a few tournaments. Once I got a PC, I searched the internet in the late 1990s and joined the sumo mailing list. Thanks to the sumo mailing list, I found the sumo forum in 2004. I have been an avid follower ever since. 

[AnOzekisFish 16]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I've learned a lot already just from these responses (my memory of Hatsu '17 is...hazy, Channel 4 showed sumo?!, other people also mix together sumo and pro wrestling...). I look forward to chatting with you all!

[yorikiried by fate 2,001]

Sumo is fun, because any Makushita guy could kill me with his tachi-ai, even though I'm probably smarter.

Edited December 6, 2021 by yorikiried by fate

[Jakusotsu 5,873]

At least you're smarter than Hattorizakura was...

[Naganoyama 5,881]

8 hours ago, yorikiried by fate said:

Sumo is fun, because any Makushita guy could kill me with his tachi-ai, even though I'm probably smarter.

 

15 minutes ago, Jakusotsu said:

At least you're smarter than Hattorizakura was...

And better at sumo - in the case of Hattorizakura, any Jonokuchi guy could kill him with his tachi-ai.