It has been 34 years since sumo came to the Royal Albert Hall, but last weekend dozens of sumo wrestlers returned to London to compete in the Grand Sumo Tournament. Pictures flooded social media of these giants of sumo sightseeing around London. While they may look completely out of place crossing Abbey Road, or riding a Lime bike around, that completely changes when they enter the sumo ring.
I was lucky enough to have tickets to the penultimate night of matches. Having never seen sumo before, I went in not knowing what to expect, and came out feeling both in awe and thoroughly educated. It seemed there was a real mix of sumo knowledge levels in the audience. Some people came in full merchandise supporting their favourite wrestler, and others (like me) came knowing next to nothing.
The tournament organisers certainly knew their audience would consist of many, somewhat ignorant, English people, and thus the tournament program was a brilliant introduction to the basics of sumo. With pages full of information on each contestant, the history of sumo, and a detailed guide to the different winning moves, it was impossible to feel you were in the dark.
Sumo matches themselves are very short, typically lasting between 10-60 seconds. To win, a contestant (known as a rikishi) must force their opponent out of the ring, or cause them to touch the ground with any part of their body besides the soles of their feet. One of the most interesting aspects of sumo is the lack of weight classes. 200kg giants will frequently go up against 100kg (slightly smaller) giants. This made for some brilliant matches, the highlight of my evening being when one rikishi, who was only a year older than myself, beat an opponent over 60kg heavier than him. The audience certainly enjoyed supporting the underdog as the atmosphere in the venue was absolutely electric during this match.
While the matches are short, plenty of time is taken observing the ancient rituals of sumo. Sumo has an ancient history tied to the religion of Shinto, and matches were historically performed to ask the gods for a bountiful harvest. Each evening, the tournament opened with a ring-entering ceremony, and before each match, rikishi would stamp their feet and throw salt to cleanse the ring of evil spirits.
I may have not known what to expect going into it, but I thoroughly enjoyed both the display of sporting prowess and the insight into ancient Japanese religion and culture – if ever you have the opportunity to go see sumo, take it.
Image via Lilia Harris