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Sumo (相撲) is a competition contact sport where two wrestlers or rikishi face off
in a circular area. The sport is of Japanese origin and is surrounded by
ceremony and ritual. The Japanese consider Sumo a gendai budō: a modern
Japanese martial art, even though the sport has a history spanning many
centuries.
The Sumo tradition is very ancient, and even today the sport includes many ritual
elements, such as the use of salt for purification, from the days Sumo was used
in the Shinto religion.
Winning
The winner of a Sumo bout is mainly determined by two rules:
1. The first wrestler to touch the ground with any part of his body other than the
soles of his feet loses.
2. The first wrestler to touch the ground outside the circle loses.
On rare occasions the referee or judges may award the win to the wrestler who
touched the ground first; this happens if both wrestlers touch the ground at more
or less the same time and it is decided that the wrestler who touched the ground
second had no chance of winning as, due to the superior sumo of his opponent,
he was already in an irrecoverable position. The losing wrestler is referred to as
being shini-tai (“dead body”) in this case.
There are also a number of other rarely used rules that can be used to
determine the winner. For example a wrestler using an illegal technique (or
kinjite) automatically loses, as does one whose mawashi becomes completely
undone. A wrestler failing to turn up for his bout (including through a prior injury)
also automatically loses (fusenpai). After the winner is declared, an off-stage
gyoji (or referee) determines the kimarite (or winning technique) used in the bout,
which is then announced to the audience.
Matches often last only a few seconds, as usually one wrestler is quickly ousted
from the circle or thrown to the clay. However they can occasionally last for
several minutes. Each match is preceded by an elaborate ceremonial ritual. The
sportsmen themselves are renowned for their great girth, as body mass is often a
winning factor in sumo, though with skill, smaller
in a circular area. The sport is of Japanese origin and is surrounded by
ceremony and ritual. The Japanese consider Sumo a gendai budō: a modern
Japanese martial art, even though the sport has a history spanning many
centuries.
The Sumo tradition is very ancient, and even today the sport includes many ritual
elements, such as the use of salt for purification, from the days Sumo was used
in the Shinto religion.
Winning
The winner of a Sumo bout is mainly determined by two rules:
1. The first wrestler to touch the ground with any part of his body other than the
soles of his feet loses.
2. The first wrestler to touch the ground outside the circle loses.
On rare occasions the referee or judges may award the win to the wrestler who
touched the ground first; this happens if both wrestlers touch the ground at more
or less the same time and it is decided that the wrestler who touched the ground
second had no chance of winning as, due to the superior sumo of his opponent,
he was already in an irrecoverable position. The losing wrestler is referred to as
being shini-tai (“dead body”) in this case.
There are also a number of other rarely used rules that can be used to
determine the winner. For example a wrestler using an illegal technique (or
kinjite) automatically loses, as does one whose mawashi becomes completely
undone. A wrestler failing to turn up for his bout (including through a prior injury)
also automatically loses (fusenpai). After the winner is declared, an off-stage
gyoji (or referee) determines the kimarite (or winning technique) used in the bout,
which is then announced to the audience.
Matches often last only a few seconds, as usually one wrestler is quickly ousted
from the circle or thrown to the clay. However they can occasionally last for
several minutes. Each match is preceded by an elaborate ceremonial ritual. The
sportsmen themselves are renowned for their great girth, as body mass is often a
winning factor in sumo, though with skill, smaller