Wrestlers begin a sumo match with their fists on the floor. Then, the mountains collide. Both men throw absolute death at each other — grabs and strikes, hands latched on to the other’s belt. Suddenly, one of the Goliaths has an advantage. The fighters, known as rikishi, bully one another around the ring until a throwdown ends the match. It’s been six seconds and the Japanese crowd is going wild. However, this joy is not felt across the Pacific. Here in the United States, they are not seen as athletes.
Sumo, at least in Western culture, is almost seen as a joke. TV shows laugh at fat Japanese men who grab each others’ diapers and fail to see the sport as sumo. Sumo wrestlers are more than just athletes — they are physical specimens. Think about how hard it is for a 300-pound offensive lineman in football to recover after messing up a block, and compare that to how a sumo wrestler contorts his frame to save himself from being thrown out of the ring and losing the match. Mountains should not be able to dance with that much grace; they should not be able to charge like a bull and break each other’s skulls from their impacts. Sumo wrestlers are built for absolute perfection in their sport: big and strong, yet quick and nimble.
But this doesn't fully reflect what makes a truly great rikishi: a knowledge of the game. We talk about the value of court vision for basketball players and awareness in quarterbacks. In sumo, it’s about dominance of knowledge — knowing yourself and your opponents inside and out. “How are they going to attack me? How am I going to attack them? How am I going to stop their attacks? How are they going to stop me?” These are all incredibly important questions that must be asked in any form of fighting, but in sumo, they define the quick style of the sport. Strikes, footsweeps, dodges, pushes, pulls, scoops, throws and trips are all important tools in the arsenal of a great wrestler, and knowing how to use and when to implement each technique is a sport in its own right.
Sumo is a cultural event in Japan. Tournaments last days, taking part in the most prestigious venues; the winners of such tournaments are treated like master craftsmen. The top sumo wrestlers in Japan are treated like celebrities and become idols to many. Japanese children dream of one day competing in Ryōgoku Kokugikan in front of their adoring fans. In Japan, sumo is the sports culture. It’s a way of celebrating an art created in a long-forgotten time, yet also celebrating the Japan of today. Every odd-numbered month a great wave floods Japan as a new sumo tournament begins.
