Ok, so you’ve watched the preview ya. *wink* At least you’d have a decent idea of what I’m about to share with you… *laugh* Hayakawa san and I arrived at the arena at about 4pm just in time to catch the final 2 divisions of ‘better’ wrestlers.

Well, basically there are 6 divisions in sumo in the order of ranking – Makuuchi, Juryo, Makushita, Sandanme, Jonidan and Jonokuchi – Makuuchi being the top most division of professional sumo. What you would probably see on NKH channel are the Makuuchi division wrestlers at fight and not the other lower ranking divisions. A new professional sumo wrestler would start at the Jonokuchi division and work his way up (with the number of wins he has) to the top Makuuchi division. *smile*

In the Makuuchi division alone you have different ranks starting from the general rank called the maegashira, and the top title holders (sanyaku) which comprise of komusubi, sekiwake, ozeki and yokozuna (grand champion). Yokozunas are usually ozeki(s) who have won the championship to 2 consecutive tournaments, so they’re the best of the best. Don’t play-play yo! *grin*

introduction of wrestlers by division before a match. love their sexy outfits! Haha

There are 6 Grand Sumo tournaments each year which are called the honbasho. And out of the 6, 3 are held in Tokyo at the place I went to, while the others are held in Osaka, Nagoya and Fukuoka. The tournaments run for 15 full days each, starting and ending on a Sunday. Each wrestler in the Makuuchi and Juryo divisions have only 1 match per day while the lower ranking ones have 7 in the span of the 15 days (meaning average of 1 match in every 2 days or so). Each match day is structured so that the hightest-ranked wrestlers compete at the tail end of the day, and just in time for when Hayakawa san and I arrived! Hehe.

One interesting thing to note though is that there are no weight divisions in sumo which means a wrestler could potentially face an opponent twice his size or weight!

So now that you basically have an idea of what the divisions are, let me tell you a little bit of what I learnt about the interesting rituals you see before each match. *wink*

The aim of a sumo match is to force an opponent out of the ring which is 4.55 metres across, or to make any part of his body (except the soles of his feet) touch the ground. There is a referee and a few judges watching the action to call the winner and each match is very brief – averaging a few seconds – although some exciting matches can go up to 2 or 3 minutes. Wrestlers are not allowed to pull hair, gouge eyes or strike with a closed fist and those familiar with Judo would probably be familiar with sumo since Judo originated from ancient sumo throwing techniques. *smile*

Before a sumo match you’ll see the 2 opponents first face the audience, clap their hands and perform a leg-stoping exercise to drive evil spirits away from the ring after they are introduced. Stepping out of the ring into their respective corners, each wrestler is then given a ladle-full of ‘power water’ (chikara-mizu) to rinse his mouth, followed by a ‘power paper’ tissue (chikara-gami) to dry his lips. After that, both wrestlers step back into the ring, squat facing each other, clap their hands and then spread them wide (traditionally to show they have no weapons). Returning to their corners, they each pick up a handful of salt which they toss onto the ring to purify it.

Finally the wrestlers crouch down at the starting lines (shikiri-sen), each trying to stare his opponent down. When both wrestlers place both fists on the ground on or behind the shikiri-sen, they spring from their crouch for the initial charge. In the upper divisions, they almost never charge on the first occasion. Instead, after staring they return to their corners for more mental preparation. More salt is thrown whenever they step back into the ring. This can happen a number of times (about three, or even more in the case of the highest ranks) until on the last occasion the referee informs them they must start the bout. The total length of time for this preparation is around four minutes for the top division wrestlers, but in the lower divisions they are expected to start more or less immediately. *smile*

The attached video is the last match of the day, with 2 of the highest ranking sumo wrestlers, the yokozunas. Hope you’ll enjoy it more now that you understand the sport a little better. Hehe. Tomorrow I’ll post up pics of the heya (a place where sumo wrestlers live and train) I visited and my new BIG sumo friends! Hehe.

Lotsa love from Japan! xxx