Sunday, April 9th marked the 2006 US Sumo Open at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Jeremiah had been wanting to see live sumo for years and I was curious, so this provided the perfect opportunity for investigation. We started the day off right with a Sapporo and some cold sake, but didn’t get any sushi due to the long line and unexpected demand. We found a good viewpoint and settled in for a day of ogling nearly naked men.
A sincere apology from Jeremiah:
“Sorry if some of the photos are a bit risque, there is only so much creative cropping in the world.”
The event began with traditional Japanese dancers dressed in Kabuki style garb, complete with the powder white face makeup. This was followed by traditional Taiko drumming, which sounded very tribal, almost like a call to battle for the sumos. Before starting the wrestling, all of the sumos paraded around the crowd, many proudly hoisting their homeland’s flag. The competitors were diverse, with the USA, Mongolia, China, Norway and Germany all represented, just to name a few. The USA and Mongolia got the biggest cheers from the crowd by far. Then on to Sumo!
The US Sumo Open is an amateur event and featuring three weight classes (light, middle, heavy) for both men and women. The sumos ages ranged from 16 to over 40, so it seems as if sumo has no bounds. Rules go as follows:
In order to win a match, a wrestler simply needs to push their opponent out of the ring or get them to touch the ground.
Slapping and tripping are allowed (definitely makes things more interesting).
Sumos can grab each others’ belts to gain leverage (can you say, “Atomic Wedgie?).
Referees wear all white (except for a black bow tie), including short white gloves that look similar to the ones girls wear to cotillion.
Upon entering the ring, the wrestlers must bow to one another and perform a ritual of hand gestures, a sign of respect to the opponent they intend to smash.
The male lightweights, who max out at 187 lbs, began the day. The matches were rapid fire and if it lasted one to two minutes, it was considered a long one. In the lightweight division, many of the wrestlers were able to pick each other up by their belts and hoist their challenger out of the ring. Watching this, I wondered if the same would be true for the heavyweights soon to be in the ring. At the end of the day, Mongolia’s Erdenebileg Alagdaa took home the lightweight gold (and some prizes including sake and beer).
The male middleweights, weighing up to 250 lbs, followed. This class of men included a deaf wrestler and one who had his armed taped to his side because of an injury, allowing him to wrestle with only one arm. It was interesting to see the tactics that each wrestler used. In some cases, all a wrestler would need to do is catch his opponent off guard push him down quickly before the other wrestler knew what was happening. Others needed to grapple, push and slap their way to victory. Both approaches were entertaining, but as you could guess, the crowd favored slapping and slamming. In the middleweight division, Odd Magnus Severinsen from Norway won (and yes, “Odd” is actually his first name). During his matches the crowd cheered, “Odd, Odd, Odd” which you don’t get hear everyday, unfortunately.
The heavyweights, 250+ lbs, made their way onto the ring next. There were 14 competitors total and their weight ranged from 253-480 pounds. The crowd was especially spirited during these matches, having some of the more inebriated patrons reprimanding anyone momentarily standing up with a slurred “down in front!” The heavyweights, appeared to use the “grab the belt” leverage tactic much more than the others. A pair of sumos often brought over 700 pounds inside the ring, which definitely made these guys the most exciting to watch! They also seemed to intimidate each other before a match by pounding their chests and slapping their faces like animals. Koichi Kato from Japan, who was the world champ and had won the US Sumo Open Gold previously, took down every wrestler with ease, so it was no wonder that he again walked away with the gold.
The female sumos entered the ring just before the finals for all the men’s weight divisions. Though there were only a handful of wrestlers, they showed that sumo is not only a male sport. These female competitors showed their skill with every match and a deservedly received a great response from the audience. I think that some of the crowd was more interested in watching them, actually, rather than the men.
By the close of the day, I had learned a lot about not only sumo, but about the people wise enough, curious enough, and in some cases drunk enough to experience something new. Until next year
