JAPANESE WRESTLING

Evening Star, Issue 20310, 19 October 1929, Page 5

JAPANESE WRESTLING

“SUMO" AND ITS CHAMPIONS Like most foreigners; I had thought that Japanese wrestling was what' is known as “ jiujitsu,” or, more correctly, “judo,” the principle of which is, in the words .of Lafcadio Hearn, defeating your opponent’ by his own device whereby the bottom dog is enabled to change places with the top ' using slippery pliancy . and secret plot against the straightforward aggression of simple innocence (writes a correspondent of ‘TheTimes’). Consequently, when 1 used to see in the shops statues of huge fellows, proudly displaying naked paunches -that - looked like’ abnormal cases, of dropsical displacement, and was told that they were wrestlers; 1 used to assumo that they belonged to a bygone age. So they did, 1 but now that i have seen a wTestling match, I know that they belong also to this age. For. “judo”’ is : a, method of self-defence. The real wrestling is called “ sumo,” and is a very different matter, ’ Its champions are huge, niountainously-bellied giants, sometimes 7ft and more m height, and 35st in weight, who disdain all those miserable sleights whereby an innocent human elephant is brought humiliatingly to the dust by a bantam-weight. Assuredly the chief charm in Japanese wrestling is its simplicity. The wrestling ring (“dohyo”) is as round as : anything Giotto could show. No man can possibly become a wrestler unless in the first place he looks like one. These big, simple-lboking fellows stand out in every w r ay from all the commonplace life around, as Mount Fuji soars above the plain. Their training consists almost entirely in letting the hair grow like Samson, eating and drinking rather more than Eossible, and hardening the body by urling it at any movable masses of stone and wood that may be found. The mere technique ol twists and throws is quite subordinate to this.

Ever since its origin about 2,000 years ago “ sumo ” has boon closely associated with religion, and the Japanese temples promote a wrestling match when their funds are low. In any case, most wrestling matches take place in the grounds of a temple. One fine day, a large tent was erected in the grounds of our chief temple, with a wooden gallery running all round it inside, whereon the wealthier patrons squatted, the poorer ones squatting upon the ground. The temperature was some 90deg in the shade, and Jed to a general discarding of almost all apparel, foreign and native, with untidy results. For, in addition to the discarded clothes and footwear, there was a litter of buckets containing beer and “sake’ in ice, with disembowelled boxes of rice and cakes and meats, while busy attendants were tumbling their way here and there in response to eager demands for “ korisui ” (sweetened ice) and grapes or other fruit.

In professional wrestling all the wrestlers engaged in any particular contest belong to one oi other of the great wrestling companies or schools, in addition to fees, those schools arc financed by generous admirers, and even during a match there are frequent interruptions while it is announced that this or that patron has given to a favourite giant or to the school in general, say. ten bottles of “sake,” five sacks of rice, a barrel of “ shoyu ” sauce, a few legs of pork, a 10-yen note, or a new ceremonial apron. The schools are managed by ex-champions, called 1 toshiyon,” and consist in several scon of novices called “ fundoshikatsugi ” because they carry the belts of tbe remaining members of the school, who are about two score fully qualified wrestlers called “ sumoyori.” The deity of the school is the champion, who bears the name of “yokozuna,” and not only ranks as a “ daimyo ” entitled to carry a sword, but also wears in his ceremonial dress a belt of twisted rope and paper streamers, the Shinto symbol of divinity. A contest is a long series of bouts between pairs drawn from two parties belonging to the East and West of Japan. The serious business fills the last two hours of the day. The ring, built up on sixteen bales of rice, is surmounted by a canopy supported on four differently coloured posts. A hush has been sounded by the clack of the wooden “hioshige,” and we notice that the_ officials in the ring, who have grown gradually in splendour, have now reached their zenith. Facipg each other diagonally and seated with their backs _ against a post, are two of “ toshiyori,” arrayed in full Japanese ceremonial dress of rich material, except for incongruous straw boaters, which are highly popular in Japan, The umpire is remarkably dignified in a magnificently embroidered dress of the Kamakura period of 700 or 800 years ago, and carries as his badge of office a beautifully lacquered fan or “ gunbai,” like that which the generals of antiquity used to direct their troops. Even the little fellow, exactly, like a wizened precentor, who announces the names of the contestants in a simpering voice, glancing coyly the while at his fan, seems a shade less shabby. Once more the clacking of the “ hioshige,” and the Eastern band of giants enters in stately procession to be formally introduced. A dozen Titans approach, any one of whom is a spectacle of awe. Their massive faces are surmounted by great knobs of black hair; their huge, knotted arms, like trunks of oak, are held put rigidly ; the vast compass of their extensive paunches is encircled ■with, a long, beautifully embroidered kesjio-mawashi,” or apron. They form a silent mountainous circle round tbe umpire while their names are chanted, and then file solemnly out. The ceremony is repeated with the giants from the West, and then there is a special introduction for the champion, the “yokozuna,” which is as impressive as the most solemn religious ceremony. He is not the biggest wrestler, perhaps 6ft Gin, but is the handsomest and most gracefully developed. , After this, the wrestlerstroop back, without the aprons, and, in an almost stark nakedness, seat themselves on the ground around the ring, where they tower above the spectators like a gigantic range of monoliths. %

The object of the wrestling is to deposit yom opponent outside a ring, apparently about 12ft in diameter, by means of one of the duly specified forty-eight falls. Sometimes the bout is so quickly over that about one and a-half falls suffice, but occasionally the bout lasts a tense five or ter minutes. Before the bout, the opposing wrestlers stretch then' great legs menacingly, and sprinkle a handful of salt in the ring to drive out evil spirits. Many are the false starts, for each wrestler must draw his breath at exactly the same instant, and, . between each attempt, they return to their corners for a fresh handful of salt to throw down. 1 cannot help wondering if the ’champion is ever allowed to be defeated. Certainly, I must admit that on this occasion the most beautiful piece of work came from him. His opponent, a much heavier fellow, had

apparently got him well launched on his mighty paunch with a most successful lift- m view, when a sudden twist by the champion, deposited the weighty one, outside the ring.