Sumo Sumo Sumo!!!

            My friend asked if I wanted to go a sumo tournament on January.  Her friend had gotten the little 4 person tatami mat seating area and of course I said yes! Sumo is not really my thing, I see nothing great about it but it’s supposed to be an amazing experience and is very Japanese.  And I actually ended up really liking it!

We started off with the traditional soup the wrestlers eat daily that was being sold in the stadium.  It was realy good but tasted the exact same as this soup both my parents make with the leftover turkey carcass and all the fixings.  It brought back some good memories.  Then we went to our little area. It really was tiny and we barely fit.  We shoved our shoes and coats into this little hole under the tatami mat behind us. I sat in the front with my friend so we were able to lean our legs over the railing when our legs fell asleep.

I was really surprised about how many non-Japanese wrestlers there are.  Many from Eastern Europe - men from Bulgaria, Czech, Russia, and more.  We were trying to figure out how they came to be.  Did they watch sumo at home as kids and think – yes, I will do that?  Anyway, they were all really good.  The Czech guy was actually pretty good looking and was thin compared to the others.  More muscled than fat.   He stood like he thought he was a Greek god and had a nice butt! Both my friend and I were very impressed ;) Hahaha!!!

The bouts themselves are really interesting.  They spend all this time getting ready, crouching down, throwing salt, walking around in a huff, and the fight lasts less than 1 minute – some less than 30 seconds.  Some just go down. Some are thrown off the mat onto the audience members with the closest seats beside the judges.  One wrestler just stepped back and the one that lunged at him face-planted! HAH!

The higher up their status and skill the longer it takes between bouts.  They crouch, put their fists down and then one gets up in a huff and they both go to their corners, towel themselves off (from what, I don’t know), throw salt, and do it again 3 more times until they finally lunge.  It’s pretty awesome and funny to see how they act and how they fight.  It’s not just fat guys pushing each other around.  There is skill to it (more than I obviously know) but it was entertaining and very interesting. 

I was surprised I liked it so much and will probably go again next time it comes around.  Totally worth it!  Maybe next time the cute butt Czech guy will be there… *wink wink*