I saw me some Sumo...

Hey all,

Sorry about the lack of posts lately; the heat and humidity have kept me pretty close to home, and thus, rather boring.

BUT, today was AWESOME! After a short 4-hour shift at work, a friend and I went to the Sumo Tournament here in Nagoya. And WOW, was it a great experience! Definitely an "only in Japan" day.

Sumo, for those who don't know, is a traditional Japanese sport where two extremely large men in very try to defeat their opponent by either knocking him to the floor or sending him flying somewhere into the stratosphere. Or into the judges sitting outside the ring. And while you'd think that 350-pound men would move pretty slowly, they really do - the bouts don't usually last more than ten or fifteen seconds. The bouts are accompanied by lots of pageantry and sybolism, from the brightly-colored aprons (kesho-mawashi) that the sumos (rikishis) wear when they first enter the area, to the elaborate cleansing and preparation for each bout. All in all, it makes American football look like a fast-paced sport! But the bright colors and the crowd's anticipation made the whole thing sooo exciting!

So, without further ado, here's some of the things I saw today at the tourney. I hope you enjoy them...

-Thom

The dohyo, or ring, where the bouts are held. There are no supports or poles, so all the spectators can have a good view of the bouts.

If your opponent manages to knock (or carry) you out of the ring, you lose.

"My mawashi has tassles." "Yeah? Well, so does mine!"
"Okay, cut it out you two."

On your marks, get set...

Two referees, or goyji, in traditional garb.

Before: Primed.

After: Victory belongs to the guy in the red.
Defeat belongs to the guy in the white.

Please return to your seat, sir.

"Charge of the Light Brigade" this is not.

The Georgian (frmr. Soviet state) who was tied for first place at the beginning of the match.

Nagoya's own son.

Japan's other Self Defense Force.

Yokozuna (grand champion) displays. Note the belt; it comes in one size: huge.

Muttonchop POWER!

Either the Jedi Council or a judges conference; I forget which.

Figure 1. Potential energy

Figure 2. Kinetic energy.

This match lasted over a minute!

An object at rest will remain at rest...

...unless acted upon by an outside force.
The guy in blue was tied for first place, but was defeated in this round.

And now, a word from our sponsors...

Preparing for the last bout of the day. The highest-ranked rikishi is on the left.

In the end, the hero remained victorious.

Ending the day with the traditional bow-twirling display called Yumitori-shiki.
Just don't call it "girly".

Let me know what you think! Leave comments through the link at the bottom of the post.