This has to be one of the most fun combat sports to watch. Over the past couple of years I've gotten pretty deep into watching it, I'll try to explain some of how it works for the majority of people that just see big fat dudes pushing each other:
- There's 4 big tournaments a year that each last 15 days. Each wrestler has one match on each day. The wrestler with the best record at the end wins. If a rikishi (sumo wrestler) has a winning record (8 wins or more) they will be be eligible to increase in rank. If they have less than 8 wins, they will lose rank.
- Rules: Touch the ground, you lose. Get pushed out, you lose. Slaps, grabs, throws etc are OK. No punching/kicking.
- There's different styles of sumo. Some rikishi are all about belt grabbing and working trips/throws (the Mongolians tend to be real good at this), some are more "pusher/thrusters" and slap the shit out of their opponents and try to push them out of bounds. Wrestlers have their favorite grips/strategies and try to go for those. There are NO weight classes. The smallest guy in the top division (Midorifuji) is about 5'7 and 230 lbs.
- Their names aren't their real names, its kind of like pro-wrestlers. "Midorifuji" means "purple fuji". "Tobizaru" means "flying monkey." "Shirokuma" means "White Bear," etc.
- There's different ranks, yokozuna being the highest (there's one of those right now - a huge Mongolian dude), followed by Ozeki (there's a small handful of these guys), then Sekiwake, and a handful more. The top division is the top 5 levels of ranking. There's a lower division (think B-league) that has the lower ranked people. People get promoted/demoted each tournament similar to European soccer leagues.
- Mongolians tend to dominate. There's a whole bunch of solid Mongolian rikishi that have a real knack for it, probably due to Mongolian wrestliing in their home country having a similar rule set. In the top division there's a guy from Kazakstan, Russia, and of course a plethora of Japanese dudes.
- How to watch: NHK Japan puts out a really good reel of all the day's matches. It skips lots of the pageantry which can make the full show tedious. Link to current show:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0rfCek-_t4
Some of my favorite wrestlers:
Tobizaru - smaller guy, unorthodox, relies on speed and trickery. MMA equivalent of maybe Shinya Aoki. Will likely never be Yokozuna but always puts on a show.
Onosato - HUGE dude, very young, this is his first year in the big leagues. Great physicality, largely regarded to be one of the next Yokozuna. Improving footwork, fun to watch. MMA equivalent of maybe young Ubereem.
Midorifuji - undersized rikishi, very fast, very good technique. Watching him dump dudes 2x his size is immensely satisfying. MMA equivalent: maybe BJ at Welterweight
Takerufuji - Not gigantic but super strong. Has sort of a powerlifter build, and solid technique. Also new to the top division, fun to watch. He sustained an ankle injury and is on the mend. MMA equivalent: Young Brock.
Check out the show "Sanctuary" on Netflix if you want a fun but ridiculous dramedy about Sumo. It was legit good, my wife cried at part of it.
- There's 4 big tournaments a year that each last 15 days. Each wrestler has one match on each day. The wrestler with the best record at the end wins. If a rikishi (sumo wrestler) has a winning record (8 wins or more) they will be be eligible to increase in rank. If they have less than 8 wins, they will lose rank.
- Rules: Touch the ground, you lose. Get pushed out, you lose. Slaps, grabs, throws etc are OK. No punching/kicking.
- There's different styles of sumo. Some rikishi are all about belt grabbing and working trips/throws (the Mongolians tend to be real good at this), some are more "pusher/thrusters" and slap the shit out of their opponents and try to push them out of bounds. Wrestlers have their favorite grips/strategies and try to go for those. There are NO weight classes. The smallest guy in the top division (Midorifuji) is about 5'7 and 230 lbs.
- Their names aren't their real names, its kind of like pro-wrestlers. "Midorifuji" means "purple fuji". "Tobizaru" means "flying monkey." "Shirokuma" means "White Bear," etc.
- There's different ranks, yokozuna being the highest (there's one of those right now - a huge Mongolian dude), followed by Ozeki (there's a small handful of these guys), then Sekiwake, and a handful more. The top division is the top 5 levels of ranking. There's a lower division (think B-league) that has the lower ranked people. People get promoted/demoted each tournament similar to European soccer leagues.
- Mongolians tend to dominate. There's a whole bunch of solid Mongolian rikishi that have a real knack for it, probably due to Mongolian wrestliing in their home country having a similar rule set. In the top division there's a guy from Kazakstan, Russia, and of course a plethora of Japanese dudes.
- How to watch: NHK Japan puts out a really good reel of all the day's matches. It skips lots of the pageantry which can make the full show tedious. Link to current show:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J0rfCek-_t4
Some of my favorite wrestlers:
Tobizaru - smaller guy, unorthodox, relies on speed and trickery. MMA equivalent of maybe Shinya Aoki. Will likely never be Yokozuna but always puts on a show.
Onosato - HUGE dude, very young, this is his first year in the big leagues. Great physicality, largely regarded to be one of the next Yokozuna. Improving footwork, fun to watch. MMA equivalent of maybe young Ubereem.
Midorifuji - undersized rikishi, very fast, very good technique. Watching him dump dudes 2x his size is immensely satisfying. MMA equivalent: maybe BJ at Welterweight
Takerufuji - Not gigantic but super strong. Has sort of a powerlifter build, and solid technique. Also new to the top division, fun to watch. He sustained an ankle injury and is on the mend. MMA equivalent: Young Brock.
Check out the show "Sanctuary" on Netflix if you want a fun but ridiculous dramedy about Sumo. It was legit good, my wife cried at part of it.
