Sumo Wrestling

January 19, 2009
Today Jill and I experienced Japan's national sport, Sumo Wrestling! We took a train into Tokyo to a stadium that looked just like Key Arena (where the Seattle Sonics used to play). Inside there was a big sumo wrestling ring with two LARGE men in it waiting to slam into each other, and four more massive men sitting on the sidelines waiting for their turn to play king of the circle. To start the fight, or "bout", an official would enter the ring and sing something in Japanese. Then the wrestlers would enter and do a number of ceremonial actions including throwing salt into the ring to scare off evil spirits, spit out some water to clean their mouths, slap their large stomachs, and stomp the ground to smash the evil spirits. Then an elaborately dressed referee would take his place in the ring and the titans would collide. Some of the men would grab each others' garment and attempt to pick each other up, while others would slap like crazy and attempt to push the other out of ring, and some would go for the neck or try to out juke the other and hope to push them down from behind.
At the end of the tournament we saw the number one sumo wrestler, "Yokozuna" I think, pick up a man who weighed over 350lbs and throw him on the ground. A highlight for the crowd was when a referee was tripped

by one of the wrestlers and flew into a judge on the side of the ring- quite dramatic!
Stephen