We went to watch our first Sumo match right before we left for China. There are six Grand Sumo Tournaments a year - only 1 in Nagoya (every July). Each tournaments goes for 15 days, starting about 8:00am and lasting until about 6:00pm each day. The day starts out with beginners, and ends with the most popular and highest-ranked sumo wrestlers. It was a long day, but very fun!
You sit on mats on the floor (the purple mats behind us). If you want an actual seat, you have to sit in the back few rows of the stadium.
The ring (dohyo), made with clay and sand.
Sumo wrestlers gather in a circle around the referee in the ring-entering ceremony. Wrestlers wear an embroidered silk 'apron' for the ceremony, which I read costs between $3,000-$5,000!
The winner of a sumo bout is either: 1) the first wrestler to force his opponent to step out of the ring, or 2) the first wrestler to force his opponent to touch the ground with any part of his body.
There are no weight divisions in sumo wrestling... so weight doesn't matter, and sometimes a wrestler will face an opponent twice his own weight. Do you think this little guy had a chance against the big one? Actually, the little guy won.
You sit on mats on the floor (the purple mats behind us). If you want an actual seat, you have to sit in the back few rows of the stadium.
The ring (dohyo), made with clay and sand.
Sumo wrestlers gather in a circle around the referee in the ring-entering ceremony. Wrestlers wear an embroidered silk 'apron' for the ceremony, which I read costs between $3,000-$5,000!
The winner of a sumo bout is either: 1) the first wrestler to force his opponent to step out of the ring, or 2) the first wrestler to force his opponent to touch the ground with any part of his body.
There are no weight divisions in sumo wrestling... so weight doesn't matter, and sometimes a wrestler will face an opponent twice his own weight. Do you think this little guy had a chance against the big one? Actually, the little guy won.
Welcome back to Nagoya, it's very hot though, there is still a lot of fun things to do here, cosplay festival in OSU(31/July, 1st/Aug), and so on.
ReplyDeleteAnd In September We have SILVER Week holiday too. Enjoy!
very interesting.
ReplyDeleteWow! How cool for you to experience that!
ReplyDelete