A Sumo Bout Is Usually Over in Seconds
Sumo is Japanese wrestling. The ritual takes far longer than the fight.
Sumo is the Japanese form of wrestling in which a competitor loses by leaving the ring or touching the ground with anything but the soles of his feet. The proportions are startling: the pre-bout ritual of salt-throwing, stamping and facing off can run four minutes, while the bout itself averages around five seconds and rarely exceeds thirty. Almost all of what an audience watches is ceremony. The salt is thrown to purify the ring, a practice from the sport's Shinto origins.
- Japanese wrestling. *A sumo bout.*
- A wrestler. *A sumo wrestler.*
- Dohyo — the ring. *The dohyo.*
- Rikishi — a wrestler. *A rikishi.*
- Japanese — *sumo*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | sumo | Sumo. |
| Compound | sumo wrestler | A sumo wrestler. |
| Japanese | rikishi | A wrestler. |
| Japanese | dohyo | The ring. |
| Japanese | yokozuna | Grand champion. |
- The sumo bout lasted six seconds.Sport.
- Salt purifies the ring.Ritual.
- A yokozuna is a grand champion.Rank.
How a bout is lost
- Stepping or being pushed outside the straw ring
- Touching the ground with anything but the soles of the feet
- No weight classes — a small wrestler may face a much larger one
- The ring is 4.55 metres across
- Over eighty named techniques are officially recognised
Japanese *sumo*, recorded in English from the 1800s.
How long does a sumo bout last?
About five seconds on average, while the preceding ritual can take four minutes.
Why do wrestlers throw salt?
To purify the ring, a practice descending from sumo's Shinto origins.