"The First Rule of Sumo Fight Club is..."

Here on CR4's Sports, Fitness and Nutrition blog, I try not to discriminate against any particular sport. We've done a couple of baseball posts. A golf post. Last week we featured jai alai, which may have been the first (and possibly last) you've heard of the sport. As my loyal readers, you can expect the unexpected.

"Unexpected enough?" via Grid Skipper

Today we pay homage to sumo wrestling. In North America, it remains a gag sport, yet in Japan is respected as a grand martial art. And, if it's a martial art, you can be sure there is a lot of tradition behind it, along with some science and biology. You know that chalk throw thing Lebron James does before basketball games? Yeah, he stole that from sumos.

via Wine and Gold | The Best of Photo Journalism

"How much can you know about yourself, if you've never been in a fight...with a sumo?"

Sumo is practiced professionally only in Japan, but wrestlers come from buffet tables around the globe. The object of a sumo match is simple. Two fighters, or rikishis, enter a circular, unenclosed ring that is 4.55m in diameter. The sumos position themselves behind two parallel lines in the ring and when the signal is given, charge at their opponent attempting to knock them out of the ring or off their feet. Sumos are not allowed to grasp each other's flesh, and most certainly are required to cover their embarrassments with a mawashi. Losing your mawashi in a fight results in disqualification--and tons of gossip and giggles the next day at sumo school. When a sumo wrestler has won the grand championship, they are dubbed 'yokozuna.'

"The sixth rule of sumo fight club is no shirts, no shoes; only weird diapers and bad haircuts."

There is only one weight class for sumo wrestling: obese. In truth though, most sumos weigh around 350 lbs., but some can weigh as much as 500 lbs. While sumos are very hefty, their physiology is very different than that of your average couch potato. Most men accumulate girth as visceral fat, which is in the torso. Visceral fat afflicts muscles and organs, making them weak and prone to medical issues. Sumos however, develop subcutaneous fat which is better distributed around the body, and located just below the skin. This fat is easily accessed and does not affect muscle performance. It actually helps pad muscles and is an energy reserve.

Sumos also take time to cultivate subcutaneous fat. Typically, sumos train for six or more hours on an empty stomach. Training includes weightlifting, agility drills and fast-twitch muscle fiber exercises. This builds an enormous appetite which they later supplement with about 20,000 calories a day, heavily based in starches. This can add 5 lbs. of fat! The sumo usually naps after eating as well, allowing the circulating glucose to be absorbed as subcutaneous fat, rather than spent as muscle fuel.

via Bensix

"The seventh rule of sumo fight club is fights will go on as long as they have to, or until a sumo gets cranky and needs a snack."

We know that a sumo's mass is essential in beating an opponent, but it takes more than girth to become yokozuna.

Most sumo matches are complete within seconds. The small ring, large competitors and the ferocity of sumo makes it an exciting match for the yakuza to hustle to watch. (Just jokes friendly yakuza bosses. Please don't kill me.)

via Buffetoblogs

The match begins with the opponents charging at each other, aiming to make chest-to-chest contact. If a contestant suffers this blow to the neck or face, results can be catastrophic. The chest is the broadest and strongest area to embattle, as highly trained sumos can generate over 4,000 lbs. of force when they collide. The ideal angle for sumos to explode and charge at is 45°. This is the ultimate comprise between exploding horizontal momentum and upright balance. A well-trained sumo will know how to gain leverage against his opponents, using a good angle and his mass.

"A guy who came to sumo fight club for the first time, his a$$ was a wad of cookie dough. After a few weeks, he was carved out of wood a larger, tastier wad of cookie dough."

45°̊ is the ideal angle from which Olympic sprinters should begin their run as well (actually I wouldn't mind seeing Usain Bolt and a sumo run at each other). Sumos are trained well, but explicitly for sumo wrestling. Some sumo wrestlers have competed in mixed martial arts, but have found very little success. This is a video of Timberwolves forward Kevin Love boxing out a sumo from a rebound, and it's rather silly.

You're probably thinking the life of a sumo wrestler is glitz, glam and Iron Chef appearances, right?

Like any athletes, sumos take their training seriously. Surprisingly (psych!), sumos face severe health risks, especially after retirement. Arthritis and diabetes are amongst the biggest issues and sumos live to about 65 years old, 10 years shy of the Japanese average. Oh, and they are too fat to drive Japanese automobiles. Seriously, it's against the sumo wrestling rules. Finally, there is an annual tournament where sumos face off teamed up with babies. The first baby to cry wins.

via ummm, here...

So yes, while sumo may be a time honored and humbling Japanese tradition, even the Japanese have a sense of humor about sumo wrestling.

Resources

National Geographic - The Science of Obesity

Goo - Rules of Sumo