A History of a Long Tradition: Sumo Wresling - Essay Example

Sumo Wrestling Sumo is the national wrestling f Japan. There are six major sumo tour nts each year. Sumo has no weight class. The large stomachs f the competitors assure them a low center f gravity. The wrestlers wear only loincloths. As they crouch and prepare for the opening charge, both hands are out in front f them. The highest rank in sumo is yokozuna. Sumo wrestling is one f the oldest sports in the world. And sumo wrestlers are among the biggest athletes around. They are superstars in Japan, where sumo is a national pastime. A sumo wrestler is an awesome sight. In football, a 300-pound lineman is a mounster on the field. But he easily could be an underdog in a sumo match. The heaviest sumo wrestlers weigh 450 to 550 pounds, sometimes more. Unlike a football player, a sumo wrestler has no helmet, pads or uniform. A belt that barely covers his midsection is all he wears into the ring. The ring itself is a clay base surrounded by a narrow circle f straw. It is only about 15 feet in diameter. The object f a sumo match is to knock an opponent off his feet or out f the ring. A match begins with the two wrestlers crouched much the same way a football lineman sets up for the snap. At the referee's signal, they uncoil and slam into each other. Bigger wrestlers use their bodies like bulldozers to drive an opponent out f the ring. The smaller ones must rely on quickness and leverage to overcome a larger opponent. A match may last only 20 to 30 seconds. Some last an even shorter time. (Hall 1-7) A Long, Proud Tradition Sumo is a distinctly Japanese sport. Its modern history stretches back some 300 years. But for the first time, a foreigner holds the title f grand champion. He is an American from Hawaii named Chad Rowan. He wrestles under the name Akebono, which means "the dawn." At 6-foot-8 and 466 pounds, Akebono is one f the larger men in sumo. But he is trim compared to the largest wrestler, another Hawaiian named Konishiki. He stands about 6 feet tall and weighs 575 pounds. To maintain his size, Konishiki consumes about 19,000 calories a day. That could easily be a week's worth f calories for an average person. (Schilling 21-26) Eating plenty f food is important to a sumo wrestler, but being big is not the key to winning. Wrestlers must develop skills and techniques--and huge muscles. To do that, they train extremely hard. Before a match, wrestlers toss salt and stomp their feet. This ritual is intended to purify the mind and drive away demons. Sumo's rituals have evolved out f the Shinto religion. According to legend, the first sumo match occurred 2,000 years ago between two feuding gods. Growing in Popularity Several years ago sumo was considered a dull, old-fashioned sport. Today its popularity is growing faster than a wrestler's waistline. Millions in Japan watch the matches on television. "There aren't many people more exciting to the Japanese than a sumo champion," says Gordon Berger, a professor at the University f Southern California who teaches Japanese history. "The top wrestlers are on a par with sports and movie stars in the United States." (Kubota 1-10) Sumo fans do not lose their interest in the sport when they leave Japan. Motohiro Matsuda moved to the United States six years ago. He bought a satellite dish for his home in St. Louis, Mo., to pick up broadcasts f sumo tournaments 7,000 miles away. His 9-year-old son, Yu, a Cub Scout in Pack 492, is a fan too. "I like to pretend I'm one f them," Yu says. His favorite wrestler is Takahanada, a baby-faced bruiser swarmed by fans throughout Japan. Takahanada and his brother Wakahanada might be the most popular sumo stars. There is another difference between sumo and many American sports. These wrestlers remain a modest bunch even after a victory. They do not jump and shout with joy. "Don't expect high-fives in sumo," Berger says. "Don't even expect a smile." A sumo champion remains humble and reserved. That is the sumo tradition. Sumo wrestling - a history The sport, like its participants, has endured numerous falls and rises through the centuries. Sumo probably derives from Mongolian, Chinese and Korean wrestling, but has been in Japan for 1,500 years. A 13th century text says an imperial succession was once decided by a match. Early on, sumo was incorporated into Shinto purification rituals, after which it became court entertainment. By the 14th century, professional performances were being held. Over the years, there have been women wrestlers, including a renowned nun, and a variant so bloody that the sport was briefly banned. Carvings, paintings and historical records show that the wrestlers were always the largest men available, normally plucked from farms, and for centuries they have disported themselves in traditional loincloth and topknot. When Japan opened itself to the outside world and the modern age in the 19th century, the government f Emperor Meiji ordered topknots to be cut, including the ones worn by samurai--but not those f sumo wrestlers. (Pilon 53-54) In the 1930s, when Japan's militarists gained strength, they swathed sumo in the robes f nationalism and mystical purity. Sumo, and even more so judo, became symbols f Japan's unique national spirit, and that mystique is something the sumo establishment still labors to maintain. "The way f sumo teaches rikishi [wrestlers] the correct etiquette and how to build character," says the J.S.A.'s Sakaigawa, the sport's most powerful figure. "By following the way f sumo, one is cleansed." Akiyuki Nosaka, a novelist and sumo aficionado, says the sport is fundamentally dependent on the notion that it touches something precious in the Japanese soul. "This is the tatemae [facade] and honne [hidden truth] f sumo," he says. If the wrestlers "admit that they're strictly entertainers, their entire world will fall apart." (Wetherall) Which is why the disclosures by Onaruto and Hashimoto so shook the sumo world. Onaruto had risen to the top third rank f sumo wrestlers before retiring in 1975 to start his own stable. That positioned him as one f the 105 elders f the sport. Money problems forced him to sell the stable in 1995, and his fellow stable masters snubbed him by failing to hold a grand retirement party. In his bitterness, he agreed to blow the lid off his former colleagues in a series f 13 articles, published in the Shukan Post, describing his 38 years in the game. Hashimoto, 56, a wrestler turned restaurateur, agreed to collaborate. Works Cited Berger, Gordon (Professor f History). Available at: http://college.usc.edu/faculty/faculty1003095.html Hall, Mina., The Big Book f Sumo: History, Practice, Ritual, Fight. 1996 Kubota, Makoto., Sumo. San Francisco, Chronicle Books, 1999 Pilon, Juliana Geran., Sumo-Wrestling At Turtle Bay. National Review, 9/25/1987, Vol. 39 Issue 18, p53-54 Schilling, Mark., Sumo Still Socko. Variety, 9/3/2007, Vol. 408 Issue 3, p21-26 Wetherall, William., Striking sensitivities in sumo. Available at: http://members.jcom.home.ne.jp/yosha/minorities/Sumo_sensitivities.html Read More