Sumo

Sumo, or sumo wrestling, is today a competition contact sport wherein two wrestlers face off in a circular area. Winning criteria are fairly straightforward: 1. The first wrestler to touch the ground with any other part of his body than his feet and one fist will lose. 2. The fitst wrestler to set foot outside the circle will lose. Matches are usually last only seconds, as one wrestler is quickly ousted from the circle.

Sumo wrestlers are ranked in a system dating back hundreds of years. The highers rank attainable is that of Yokozuna, grand master, a title held at the moment by two men: Musashimaru and Takanohana. The sportsmen themselves are renouned for their great girth as body mass is a factor in sumo.

The sport is mainly practiced in Japan, where it originated, but other wrestlers of other nationalities participate, indeed the yokozuna Musashimaru was born in Hawaii.

The sumo tradition is very long, and even today the sport includes many ritual elements from when sumo was used in the Shinto religion.