History of sumo wrestling

Like many aspects of Japanese culture, the roots of sumo are buried deep in myth and legend. Some of the oldest texts in Japanese, dating from about the year 900, contain the word "sumo," suggesting that the sport predates the written language. But unlike modern sumo, these early unarmed matches had few rules and were largely unregulated, leading modern scholars to believe that the term “sumo” originally referred to any unarmed combat, even some that went to the death.

As Japanese civilization developed, so to did sumo. Originally, matches were won by throwing an opponent off his feet. Loose loincloths were worn, and there was no set area in which the match was to take place. It was not until the Tokugawa Shogunate in the 17th century that the sport came to resemble its modern incarnation, with elaborate ceremonies, specially-designed belts and a defined ring.

- One wrestler pushes his opponent out of the ring

- One wrestler forces his opponent to touch the ground with any portion of his body other than his feet

- One wrestler disqualifies himself by using an illegal move, such a boxing the ears or striking with a closed fist

Matches generally only last a few seconds, and during this time, a typical wrestler will employ around 25 specific techniques. Some matches do run on for minutes, and due to the exhausting nature of competition, the "gyoji," or referee, may call a water break, for the two competitors to recover. Despite the brevity of most matches, they are all preceded by an elaborate ceremony, and at the highest level of competition, several minutes of false starts, as the combatants try to gain a psychological edge.

The organization of professional sumo is extremely regimented. There are six classes of wrestler, from the lowest-ranked "Jonokuchi" to the highest-ranked "Makuuchi." Wrestlers begin their career by joining a stable, in which members of each class live. The lower-ranked wrestlers make only a subsistence wage, and perform many of the menial chores around the stable, dressing only in a thin cotton robe and "geta," or wooden sandals. The two highest classes of wrestler are very well-paid, however, and dress in elaborate but traditional Japanese style, complete with a stylish topknot.

Individual wrestlers compete in six yearly tournaments called "Basho." These consist of 15 matches per wrestler for the higher classes, and 7 for the lower, in a round-robin format. At the conclusion of the two-week long event, the wrestler with the best record is declared the winner of his division. In the event of a tie, the wrestlers with the best records will compete again to determine a winner. Promotion through the sumo ranks is based on performance in the bashos.

Though a sumo that regularly finishes tournaments with a winning record can expect to rise though the ranks of sumo, there are special titles given only to consistently dominant performers. 33 wins over 3 tournaments will usually land a wrestler the honor of being made an "Ozeki." However, the quality of the wins is considered as well. If too many of a wrestler’s victories came through dodging an opponent, or through fighting defensively, a special title may not be bestowed.

The highest honor a sumo may receive is the title of "Yokozuna." Unlike other sports, Yokozuna is not granted as the result of any championship, but is bestowed only after consistent domination of the sumo world, with both excellent technique and "hinkaku," a sort of combination of dignity and grace. Many prominent Ozeki never rise to Yokozuna because of a deficiency in "hinkaku." At some times, there are no actively competing Yokozuna, and at other times, there have been as many as 3.

Despite sumo’s thoroughly codified system of rules and centuries-old history, much of the world knows little about it, and many do not even consider it a sport. However, sumo is practiced at some level in over 50 nations across the globe, and the sport’s global governing body, the Internation Sumo Federation, is pushing to make sumo an Olympic sport in the near future.