Introduction to SUMO

yeah, a book like that would be really great. personally i'd love to see a book on sumo history. i want to learn more about some of the historic figures in sumo and get more in depth than wikipedia articles.

Yeah sumo predates Judo, Japanese jujutsu, karate, etc in Japan so really I guess any throwing, sweeping and tripping techniques in those arts probably got them from Sumo.
 
i thought i'd post these videos in this thread, just to bump it back up.

Kakuryu observing his tsuna being made:



his promotion ceremony:



and practicing his dohyo-iri under the tutelage of former Yokozuna Takanohana:


 
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Way to go Kakuryu! He definitely has very "smart" sumo and IMO will be a great Yokozuna so long as he's not a head case.
 
Way to go Kakuryu! He definitely has very "smart" sumo and IMO will be a great Yokozuna so long as he's not a head case.

yeah, his turnaround has been amazing. i'm a bit nervous about how he'll do as a yokozuna, and hope he can keep producing sumo at the level of the last two tournaments.
 
great picture of the three yokozuna from the recent jungyo event:

pm6tg.jpg
 
great picture of the three yokozuna from the recent jungyo event:

pm6tg.jpg

Damn, definitely three men you wouldn't want to mess with haha.

Thanks for the read TS - very interesting. I wouldn't mind doing a week of sumo just for the fun of it.
 
Yeah sumo predates Judo, Japanese jujutsu, karate, etc in Japan so really I guess any throwing, sweeping and tripping techniques in those arts probably got them from Sumo.

Yeah I got interested in Sumo because I saw some cool techniques similar to O Goshi but grabbing something else, I would like to do some crostraining maybe...
 
Damn, definitely three men you wouldn't want to mess with haha.

Thanks for the read TS - very interesting. I wouldn't mind doing a week of sumo just for the fun of it.

thanks, glad you enjoyed it!

and yeah, it seems like sumo would be really fun to try out briefly. i certainly wouldn't want to live the sumo lifestyle, but i think some useful stuff could be picked up.
 
for a bit of non-kakuryu news, a couple of former sumo sekitori competed in the IGF event yesterday.

former Hoshikaze (dismissed in the match-fixing scandal) against pro-wrestler atsushi sawada:


former Wakakirin (dismissed in a marijuana scandal) against bob armstrong:
 
There's an annual amateur Sumo tournament every year out in the LA area; does anybody here ever go?
 
There's an annual amateur Sumo tournament every year out in the LA area; does anybody here ever go?

i'm not sure. NHB7 may have, i'd ask him.

and he's also trying to set up a sumo club in Northern California, so anyone interested should let him know. here's the thread about it:

Northern California Sumo
 
This is a fantastic thread, thank you for all the effort you put into this.
 
Great video uploaded by p^2 (araibira) showing the creation of the dohyo which takes place before every tournament:

 
roy nelson doing sumo while in japan (at around 9:31 into the video):


25fki.jpg
 
that dohyo video is incredible. the amount of work and detail to it

got to respect their tradition
 
that dohyo video is incredible. the amount of work and detail to it

got to respect their tradition

yeah, it's so amazing to see the dohyo get built up and all of the tradition and ritual that goes into it.

and regarding roy nelson, i was trying to figure out what stable he went to, and i believe he was practicing at dewanoumi beya. and one of the rikishi he was practicing with was Towanoyama who has been competing since 1993 (!). and i believe twins Fujinoumi and Fujinohana were giving him tips in english.
 
There's an annual amateur Sumo tournament every year out in the LA area; does anybody here ever go?

Back when I was active in Sumo, I competed in several tournaments in the Los Angeles area. We held the US Nationals and North American championships there in the 1990s.
 
Why do they all seem to have long hair, when it is a disadvantage (as you said hair touching the ground means defeat)?
And don't people get hurt, when they're thrown outside the ring or even into the audience?
Would it theoretically be possible to win with a standing submission (guillotine choke or wrist lock e.g.)?

No, the person would have to throw the opponent to the ground or out of the dohyo. Someone actually got me in a standing guillotine choke once; totally unexpected and inadvertent for each one of us. He didn't know what to do - he should actually have cranked up on my neck and forced me out from the front, but he froze. I recovered, bent down, grabbed his inner thigh and knee and at the same time twisted out of the guillotine and flipped him sideways over my back. The sumo technique in the list of kimarite was sototasukizori.

Yes, people can get hurt but all in all, sumo is a very safe sport.
 
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