Sumo Training

Sumo (相撲) has a tradition of over 2000 years. For Japanese it is more than a sport it's a contest between semi-gods. Sumo is intermingled in Japanese culture, especially with the Shinto religion. Shinto is the Japanese native religion, where Kami (nature gods) are honoured.

In the Sumo sport different Shinto traditions have been kept alive. The ring is covered by a huge roof, representing a rice barn, the ring has to be purified by salt and sake is offered by the referee to the Kami.

Only in the late '80 Sumo wrestling opened up. Some prefixed matches gave the sport a bad label and changes were made. The first foreign wrestlers were allowed. Nowadays the Nr 1 wrestler of Japan has the Mongolian identity.

Last month I was allowed to visit a Sumo training in a typical Heya (Sumo house). I gained enormous respect for these colossuses. The concentrate all their strength on one exact moment where they have to push the opponent out of the ring. There are 3 ways to win a Sumo camp.

1 The opponent surrenders

2 You push the opponent out of the ring

3 The opponent touches the grand with an other part of the body than the feet

I was imagining a wrestler would push me with all his might. I would probably end up flat against the wall!

Even some of them have a lot of muscles and fat, they still are very flexible, as you can see on the pictures.

Seeing them in action was an amazing experience!

The Sumo wrestlers on the pictures are from different rank. The ones with the white belt have the highest rank. One of them is even top 5 of Japan. All of the wrestlers on the pictures are Japanese, except one, he is Brazilian.