the.com/sumo
two enormous men in diapers harnessing centuries of ritual to throw each other into the dirt
means A Japanese style of wrestling in which two heavyset competitors try to force each other out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with any body part besides the soles of the feet.
from From Japanese sumō (相撲), written with characters suggesting "to strike one another" or "mutual hitting." The word is generally traced to the verb sumau / sumafu, meaning to vie, struggle, or compete — fitting for a sport whose roots reach deep into Shinto ritual, where bouts were once offered to the gods as prayers for a good harvest.
- match length
- most last only a few electric seconds
- weight
- no limits, so heavier almost always wins
- salt throwing
- purifies the ring before every bout
- top rank
- yokozuna can never be demoted, only retire
- diet weapon
- chanko-nabe stew eaten by the gallon
grand sumo tournament — six tournaments yearly in japan since 1909, each with 42 wrestlers in top divisions
hakuho — mongolian yokozuna with 45 championship titles, dominated 2006-2015
ryogoku kokugikan — tokyo's national sumo stadium, opened 1985, hosts three tournaments annually