Sumo training

We wanted to see some sumo wrestling while in Tokyo but as the tournaments don't start until January we went to some early morning training at a sumo stable instead.

I had always assumed that sumo wrestlers were just big fat men who used their weight to win a match but I quickly realised my error when we witnessed the physical demands of the training!

Young sumo wrestlers build up their muscles by lugging huge bags of weights around the training ring. Then they spare with older and larger wrestlers. This often involved the smaller sumo having to push his opponent across the ring which he tries to make as difficult as possible. Many of them almost collapsed from the physical strains.

There were also training bouts with sumos trying to force one another out of the ring.

Our guide told us that sumo wrestlers eat large hot pots twice a day containing vegetables,
Fish and meat. It certainly seems to do the trick.