Big as a Buddha, but slammin’

We went to a sumo training stables this morning to watch a dozen wrestlers work out their moves before the big national tournament that begins in a couple of weeks.  It was a two hour drill where black belted trainees faced off before white belted professionals inside a prescribed circle lightly dusted with fine dirt.  When they weren’t slamming into each other to execute a hold that would force one of them out of the ring, they were shoving each other back and forth as a sort of leg exercise.  The pairing up and shoving back and forth was constant.  It didn’t take them long to work up a sweat.  

Before the workout, Kiki, our Japanese tour guide, handed out a sheet explaining how we were supposed to behave.  No shoes, no standing, no talking.  So it was two hours seated on cushions watching the big guys in a circle catching their breath after colliding with a smack and a grunt to wrench each other to the periphery of the ring. The thing about sumo wrestling is that their ample girth makes almost impossible to grab the opponent’s legs and gain leverage.  When a sumo wrestler hits the ground it’s because he’s allowed the other guy to let him slip out of a grasp and be pushed down by the shoulders.  So the idea is to clutch and never let go as the legs gain purchase.  This doesn’t provide many opportunities for fancy arm maneuvers.  It’s a brief collision and then a stomach-extended body mass struggling to maintain a balance.  Big bellies, sure, but it’s all about the legs.  The legs are elephantine.  Slam, grunt, groan, slip—it’s over.

One aspect that I found interesting was that the sumo wrestlers weren’t as big as I thought they would be.  No one was the size of a NFL lineman.  Not many guys looked like they were much over 300 pounds.  In the front row of our viewing group there was a row of what looked like WWF wrestlers.

Although they didn’t have the waistline, they were larger than the sumo wrestlers.  I suppose they were there to observe the style and perhaps pick up on a few tips while showing support to a group of athletes who weren’t doing choreographed antics. 

At the end of their two hour training session the wrestlers formed a sumo conga line and were led in a simple two-syllable chant.  No ego dance, just a chorus of grunts.  And then posing for photo ops with the guests.