相撲 SUMO

Recently Beth and I had the pleasure of attending a “class” on Sumo wrestling. We found out about it from a flyer which stated that we could choose to either watch or participate. The night of the event we met up with some other foreigners (“gaijin”) and made our way to the Wakayama Sumo Grounds. On the walk there, most in our group were quite resolute on just watching, but when we arrived, the Sumo coach who was to host the class made it quite clear that at least any men in our group were to either participate or leave. He did not reinforce the polite or shy Japanese stereotype.
The men were motioned toward a small locker room that was more like a hallway in which we all scrambled to find our little space to get naked while introducing ourselves to each other. The big Sumo guys stood at the end of the lockers, and as we folded up the last of our clothes they motioned for us to come get fit for our Sumo attire. I think it is called “mawashi” and it is made of a long strip of tough canvas. Apparently it must be worn tight in order to avoid any potentially embarrassing moments. So here I am, standing naked with this huge guy reaching through my legs with a piece of canvas with which he then proceeded to give me the biggest wedgie I have had in recent years. Then he wanted to wrap it around my waist, and instead of asking me to turn he simply whacked me on the shoulder hard enough to make me spin. The women were able to keep their gym clothes on underneath the mawashi. Soon we were all suited up, feeling the cold sand with our feet, and ready to wrestle.
There were some stretches, explanations, and demonstrations that we were lucky to have translated into “Eigo” (English). For those of us who had never seen Sumo before, we must be some of the few people to have seen Sumo for the first time at very close range, even if it was only a demonstration.
It was then time for us to try wrestling with the big guys. Who should be lucky enough to go first? The man surveyed the room with his finger which landed on Beth. She seemed a bit nervous, but she managed to beat the guy by virtue of his charity. The real competition began when we were set loose on each other. I battled with two different gaijin and both times I was getting my but kicked and at the last minute I was able to pull a quick switcheroo and get lucky. I considered these to be hollow victories but I have been told that this is what it is all about, especially for the little guys. After a few rounds, it was time to get dressed and we all enjoyed some “kimichi” which is the hearty soup eaten by Sumo wrestlers. The wrestlers eat it just before bed, to avoid burning the calories. Good food and crap beers were had by all. All in all, this was probably one of the more “out of the comfort zone” kind of experiences we have had so far, but aren’t those often the best?