We had "nosebleed" seats but the arena was fairly small so we thought they were good seats for 3,100 yen (a little more than $31.00). Plus I had my close-up lens on the camera so I was able to get some up close and personal shots.
I thought I might be really bored watching a bunch of fat, almost naked men wrestle. However, most of what we watched was ceremonial. Two guys get in the ring and stretch and throw salt and stretch and stretch and throw some more salt...and finally wrestle each other for a few seconds until one is knocked out of the ring.
Tim's run-down on Sumo...
The rule that most people know is that the wrestler pushed (or thrown) outside of the circle loses. I was surprised to learn that if they touch the ground inside the circle with any part of their body (besides their feet of course) then they also lose. This allowed a few wrestlers to literally side step their way to victory. In one match the highly favored Sumo lunged forward and only caught "air" and belly-flopped onto the ground because his opponent simply faked him out and stepped to the side. Agility is the key to victory and those fat guys move FAST! The wrestling was definitely fun to watch. It is like watching linebackers hit each other without pads while wearing only their "jockeys". Each wrestler only has one match during each day of the 2 week tournament. At the end of the tourney, a new set of rankings is published with the top 30 earning $10,000 per month. If you fail to make the cut, you only get $700/mo. There are experience rankings, but everyone is in the same weight class. The more you can eat, the better you'll be at Sumo!VIDEO of Sumo
PHOTOS of Sumo
(fun to go through them quickly...looks like they're actually wrestling!)
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