sumo sunday april 10th

Sumo parade - junior league


The thing I love about sumo, I think, is how pure and beastial it is. This is the warm up, where both sumo wrestlers thump the ground as hard as they can in a show of muscle and power. It's supposed to say, "watch out!" to his opponent...much like how roosters puff up their feathers before going into battle...don't ask me why I thought of that :)

The second trick of sumo, is deliberately false-starting, to throw your opponent off-guard and disrupt his rhythm. Here the wrestler returns to the side of the ring to receive some kind of water blessing after yet another false start.


Another roosterfluffingfesthers ritual before the bout - nonchalently flinging a saltstorm into the ring...



And then suddenly in the blink of an eye, whoosh, they're off!!






Watch where you push me mate...

Another wrestler gets knocked out...