# Anyone else like Sumo Wrestling? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 20, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992 "2000-01-20T19:47:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/1 "2000-01-20T19:47:00Z")
So who’s gonna win the Hatsu Basho? Miyabiyama is my choice. ## This is an excellent resource to find out all about sumo. Its a great sport! [www.sumoweb.com](http://www.sumoweb.com) -Frankie Lack of charisma can be fatal ---
**Author:** ![Mullinator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c2a13f/32.png) [@Mullinator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mullinator)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/2 "2000-01-20T19:55:00Z")
Along with Australian Rules Football and the World’s Strongest Man competitions, Sumo is one of life’s great guilty pleasures. As a bonus, my wife loves to watch all 3 of them, so we can get pretty pumped up. As for the Hatsu Basho, I am always rooting for Takanohana. * * * My sig line is currently unavailable. Please check this post in 1 hour when we resume our broadcast day. ---
**Author:** ![MadPoet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8c91f0/32.png) [@MadPoet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MadPoet)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/3 "2000-01-20T20:39:00Z")
I like sumo wrestling, but am not much for watching it. Used to have an informal sumo club in high school, but it died out. * * * [http://www.madpoet.com](http://www.madpoet.com) Computers have let mankind make mistakes faster than any other invention, with the possible exception of tequila and handguns. ---
**Author:** ![PrivyQueen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/85e7bf/32.png) [@PrivyQueen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PrivyQueen)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 8:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/4 "2000-01-20T20:43:00Z")
> [@](#): > > As for the Hatsu Basho, I am always rooting for Takanohana. Me Too! I’ve watched his last few Basho’s and this guy is great. I got into watching Sumo during Japanese class in college. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/5 "2000-01-20T21:12:00Z")
Do you know anywhere in the states they show real Sumo on TV? Sometimes they have that dumb american shit on ESPN 2 but, I want the real deal! * * * -Frankie Lack of charisma can be fatal ---
**Author:** ![Sylence](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b19c9b/32.png) [@Sylence](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylence)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/6 "2000-01-20T21:40:00Z")
I like sumo wrestling. One of the few sports where it pays to be really BIG. 🙂 – Sylence * * * I don’t have an evil side. Just a really, really apathetic one. ---
**Author:** ![CanadianSue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@CanadianSue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanadianSue)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/7 "2000-01-20T21:43:00Z")
I dont mind Sumo wrestling, cuz those guys make me feel really really really small! * * * We are, each of us angels with only one wing,and we can only fly by embracing one another ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/8 "2000-01-20T22:13:00Z")
I caught it a couple of times on ESPN2 last year and really enjoyed it. I’d like to learn more about it, especially when I can see more of it on the tube. * * * Plunging like stones from a slingshot on Mars. ---
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/9 "2000-01-20T22:56:00Z")
Frank- That website above has quite alot of good info on it. And links to others with more info. * * * -Frankie Lack of charisma can be fatal ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2000, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/10 "2000-01-20T23:48:00Z")
I grew up in Hawaii, so we were all really proud of Akebono. Had some small clubs in the area-- wrestling at the park gazebo on Saturdays, that kind of thing. I miss it in a way. ---
**Author:** ![Frankie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/258eb7/32.png) [@Frankie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frankie)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2000, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/11 "2000-01-21T17:58:00Z")
Yah Musashimaru is Hawaiian too. He just became Yokozuna, he’s my favorite but he had to pull out of this basho due to injury! Oh well! 🙂 * * * -Frankie Lack of charisma can be fatal ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/12 "2000-01-22T02:53:00Z")
I must confess that I am mystified. The first time I saw sumo, I thought for sure it was a Saturday Night Live gag. I started laughing my ass off. I soon realized that I was actually watching a bone fide sports program. I studied it with morbid curiosity, like it was a road accident. Even to this day, sumo looks to me like two severely porky guys in jock straps lunging into each other for about 12 seconds and then calling it a day. But there have been enough posts here to make me think that a lot of people really dig sumo, so please tell me what I am missing. Is there actually some cunning strategy, some high level of skill involved- or is it really just a shoving contest between two enormous guys? What exactly was it, that first time you saw sumo, that made you say to yourself "that’s totally fascinating!! ---
**Author:** ![Lissa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/85f322/32.png) [@Lissa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lissa)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/13 "2000-01-22T04:40:00Z")
I love sumo! Don’t know all that much about it, but when has that ever stopped me from answering a question? \*\* opus, \*\* there actually is a lot of skill involved in sumo. From what I understand, there are a lot of different techniques involved, and different types of moves. There’s thousands of years of history behind this sport, so I’m sure there are a lot of rituals and rules that I don’t know about. What I do know about it, I learned from \* Memoirs of a Geisha\* which has a nice section describing the different techniques of sumo. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2000, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/14 "2000-01-22T05:01:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by opus: > Is there actually some cunning strategy, some high level of skill involved- or is it really just a shoving contest between two enormous guys? What exactly was it, that first time you saw sumo, that made you say to yourself "that’s totally fascinating!! Three things that I like about sumo: 1. Very often, it’s the _smaller_ guy who wins, because he keeps cool and uses his brain to apply superior tactics. 2. A lot of it’s psychological–before those 12 seconds, you’ll see the two sumo wrestlers glaring at each other, squatting down but then getting up again (false start), going back to the side to throw more salt into the ring (don’t ask me why), doing that wide-legged, slow motion stomping thing–it’s all about psyche-ing the other guy out. You’ve _got_ to have _cajones_ to stare down a 400-pound, mean-looking Japanese, Hawaiian, or Tahitian and then actually _throw_ yourself at the big dude in an attempt to push him out of the ring. 3. Each bout is short and easy to understand. * * * _Exits, pursued by a bear_ ---
**Author:** ![capybara](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/capybara/32/202_2.png) [@capybara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/capybara)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2000, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-else-like-sumo-wrestling/12992/15 "2000-01-23T06:56:00Z")
Think of it as greco-roman wrestling with more inertia.