It was during this period, in , that the Japanese sumo association was created. Its mission? To establish new rules and organize championships. The sumo fights were then broadcasted on the radio before appearing on television in Nowadays, Japanese wrestlers are less and less numerous and are replaced by foreign fighters.
It must be said that this sport requires extreme living conditions and a lot of sacrifices. The professional wrestler is called a rikishi which means "strong man" , not sumotori a term reserved for beginners.
In addition to being dressed in a very characteristic outfit, the fighter follows a rigorous training as well as a very particular lifestyle. From adolescence, rikishi join a stable heya , which is a kind of sumo club where they live in community and practice every day under the orders of the oyakata former top wrestler, head of the stable.
New sumotori adopt a fighting name when they arrive at the facility. They were housed in dormitories while the higher ranked wrestlers had the right to an individual room. Not all of them became great champions and only the most powerful of them received a salary. It was the beginning of a very strict way of life for them.
Traditional rikishi outfit: a belt mawashi and a bun chonmage. What is quite remarkable for us outstanders, is the look of the rikishi during their fights.
This belt, called mawashi , is their official outfit. It is worn at all fights, whatever the time of the year. The most imposing ones weigh nearly 4kg for a length of 8 meters. Similar to samurais, wrestlers adopt the traditional bun to maintain their long hair back. Note that they can only cut their hair after retirement. As for the wrestlers of higher division, they distinguish themselves thanks to a typical hairstyle called oicho. Wrestlers wake up early about am and start exercising very early.
They warm up and then train intensively on an empty stomach so as to be very hungry by lunchtime. The session ends with a fight. The highest ranked rikishi fight last and they also go to eat first, accompanied by the stable leader. After a hard training session, sumo wrestlers take a bath. At lunchtime, they have to consume an impressive number of calories. For this purpose, they eat a high protein stew chankonabe accompanied by a lot of rice and they drink beer.
Then, after lunch, they get their hair done, finish their chores and then it's time for a nap, which is essential for storing proteins and fats. Far from the physical archetypal sportsman we all know, sumo wrestlers are particularly respected in Japan and even revered. Their enormous stature, their strength, their mental toughness and their exemplary sense of discipline, fascinate. These outstanding fighters and their strange rituals question us. Let's try to demystify the myth of these Japanese demigods.
The question of weight is an obsession for the sumo wrestler, as the bigger he is, the more power he will have to push or throw his rival. It also helps him during the tachai-ai first clash between the fighters , on which the victory often depends. In short, the weight will increase the strength of the sumo wrestler. However, a wrestler who is too fat will be slower, it is all a question of balance. The average weight of a rikishi is about kg for a height of more than 1m With its origin in the Shinto religion , sumo wrestling is estimated to have begun in the third century.
The first professional matches were used as a way to raise money for new temples and shrines in the s. Even the advertisements are paraded around the ring on fabric banners rather than big screens. Tickets go on sale three weeks before the start of the tournament and often sell out.
Alternatively, a limited number of balcony tickets are sold on the day of the tournament. As well as the arena, with seating for 13, spectators, it also houses a small museum with portraits of grand champions through the ages, as well as stalls offering food, drinks and souvenirs. The stadium is split into three sections, the ringside and box seats have traditional Japanese seating cushions on the floor , and the balcony seats farther back have chairs.
The ringside seats really are ringside — during particularly heated matches wrestlers can fall out of the ring and on to the spectators. During the pre-match rituals, the wrestlers attempt to intimidate their opponents and play up to the crowd. The wrestler who steps out of the ring first or touches the ground with anything other than his feet loses. There are no weight classes in sumo, so weight gain is an important part of training.
Sumo wrestlers live in heya training stables where they follow strict traditions that dictate their daily lives, from what they wear to what they eat. The top sumo wrestlers are celebrities in Japan ; they earn thousands of dollars a month, have fan clubs and retain their prestigious titles for life. The big-name sumo wrestlers start arriving from around 2pm. Finally, the wrestlers will squat, raise their legs, and stamp the ground repeatedly.
This is meant to scare bad spirits away that may be hiding in the dohyo. Rikishi also throw salt into the dohyo before each match to purify the ring and protect against injury.
They may do this in combination with the pre-bout dance for up to four minutes before beginning the fight. While this can seem like a lot of build up for a fight that generally only lasts a few seconds, these rituals are hugely important for the rikishi. Not only is the ritual an opportunity to enter the right mindset before the match, it is also a chance to size up and potentially intimidate your opponent. While mawashi may look silly to westerners, like over-sized thongs or diapers, they are a sacred and practical piece of equipment for sumo wrestlers.
Mawashi are the official sumo wrestling outfit, and are less like loincloths than they are like belts. The wrestler may also attach stiffened silk fronds to the mawashi, marking the parts that are illegal for their opponent to grab.
For many wrestlers, there is a great deal of superstition tied to their outfits, and they will change the color of their mawashi to influence luck. There is strategy to how tightly the mawashi is tied. Wrapping the mawashi more loosely, on the other hand, protects the wrestler from being thrown. Breaking any of these rules is grounds for immediate disqualification. Otherwise, the rules of sumo are very strictly observed: step one toe out of the dohyo and you lose; touch the floor of the dohyo with any part of your body that is not the sole of your feet and you lose.
A gyoji , the sumo equivalent of a referee, stands nearby at all times to ensure that all rules are followed and to determine the winner. The official gyoji uniform is an elaborate silk outfit that includes a special hat and several props.
More than daily training and diets, sumo wrestlers need to grow their hair long to form a topknot and are forbidden from driving their own cars. They also need to wear the traditional silk outfit, the chonmage , while in public, which makes them immediately identifiable. Sumo wrestlers live in a communal training stable known as a heya.
When they rise, eat, train, and sleep is all dictated by doctrine. Lower level wrestlers may have to do chores like cleaning and cooking, or even preparing baths for the senior wrestlers. Rikishi train intensely every morning, doing a variety of strenuous stretching, strength, and combat exercises.
While the wrestlers may not look muscular or flexible, they are actually incredible athletes. Their bodies need to be prepared to dish out and endure forceful collisions.
Learning to maneuver their heavy bodies takes a lot of practice and skill. Wrestlers do not eat breakfast.
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