ex corde

Introducing: Sumo! The weirdest sport in the world (besides underwater basket weaving) and one of the most fascinanating I have ever seen. The match I went to was the last one this season. There are four main matches. One for every season. This one was the winter one. Because this was the last one (with the top bracket of sumo wrestlers and everything) the emperor came. My group was sitting behind him a ways so we only got to see the back of his head. All the ceremonies were facing our way, though. These guys looked normal size from where I was (and I was back a ways). Can you imagine how big they were up close?




We arrived a little while before the top bracket wrestled. Here they are all parading onto the ring. They had to go in two groups. I liked their skirts though I'm glad they took them off when they were competing. The guy on the left in the front read off each of their names while they bowed and left.


This is the grand champion. He got his own little introduction ceremony in which he gave various displays of his strength. Such as: swinging a bow around himself, one at a time lifting his legs and stomping on the ground. When his foot came down the audience would yell heartily as if saying "oh! what an exceptional foot samp!" He ended up winning against his opponent. It was a tough call, though. In sumo when they're wrestling no part of their body can touch outside the circle or touch the ground (well, except their feet, of course!). If that happens that wrestler loses. Companies even put money on the matches. This is shown by guys carrying banners for each company around the ring before the match. Whoever wins the match gets the money and splits it with his company. As the matches got higher and higher up the tier the banners went from being three to 13 and 20. There were a lot of expensive matches!


One part I found especially fascinating was the way they started. This is a match between a Bulgarian and a Japanese. The Bulgarian is extremely popular among the foreigners here. He is one of few foreigners to make it into the top bracket of Sumo wrestlers. He won this paticular match. Anyways, the start is mutual. The guy in front is a sweeper, they usually get out of the way. The guy in the back is there to officiate and be the final judge on who wins. The two wrestlers just come to some kind of agreement as to when they start. If one starts early he is charged a high fine. That alone would make me nervous.

It was a good time. There were scads of foreigners there. If I get a chance I definately want to see it again. One of my sensei's is crazy about Sumo. She absolutely loves it, knows all the wrestlers' names and which one she likes. It's funny to watch since she's usually the more formal of my sensei's.