Sumo

Ok, so you know that sport we've all seen on TV or in the movies with large, nearly naked men wrestling in a small ring... that often seems kind of strange... well, it has reinforced my theory of "with knowledge comes appreciation"! As I mentioned early, when Hitoshi came to visit us on Wednesday, he explained to us all about Sumo and last week I went to a lecture about it at the university. It's actually really interesting! And if you know what's going on, and why, it's quite enjoyable to watch!
Of the official Sumo league tournaments that happen 5 times a year, they happen once in Nagoya, in July. So on Katsutoshi's recommendation I watched some of the competition on TV (the first time I've watch TV here) last Sunday afternoon. This morning I went with Ikue-san to a small temple near her apartment that is also a Sumo house. They wrestlers practice from 6:30am-10:00am there. There was even a foreigner wrestling there, which is quite rare. He is from the Czech Republic.
For those of you who are interested in knowing some facts about Sumo, please read on... but I do warn you than some exact details may have got lost in translation, so please excuse any mistakes if you know otherwise...
The name Sumo is actually derived from the Chinese characters for "naked" "hands" and "dance". It originated from Shintoism (the Japanese native religion) from the legend of a village that tried to coax the sun god out of a cave by dancing and making merriment. When she got curious and finally peeked out, "Sumo" (the first god of Sumo) pulled a huge rock away from the entrance of the cave, to let the light out.
From there, it evolved into a sport which has become Japan's national sport. In old times, the wrestlers' muscular, fat bodies were considered beautiful, they were the "hot stuff" of the times. To prepare for a match the wrestlers throw salt on the ring for cleansing, pat their bellies, clap there hands (which are remnants of religious traditions) and stare at each other until the "right moment" and strike. Back then, the wrestlers could take as long as they wanted... sometimes days until they had the "feeling", but now, a referee initiates the fight after about 4 minutes.
The wrestlers' belts are made of a length of approximately 2-foot wide and 20 foot-long piece of cloth. Nothing can be worn underneath it and if the knot comes undone during the match, that wrestler looses. One tactic they sometimes use is to try to undo the other wrestler's belt. The belt cannot be washed either, only hung out to air. If it gets dirty, they just fold it differently and eventually get a new one.
There is no punching with fists or grabbing of top knots (their hair). Kicking is not permitted, except for tripping of the legs. Slapping and bear-hug back-bending is only allowed in the pro-games and not the junior leagues.
There are various techniques of grabbing, pushing and even clapping to distract the other. The objective is to push the other wrestler out of the ring or throw him to the ground. If you're interested, watch some clips on YouTube!