see a sumo wrestling match

they have this in l.a.! who knew? now i just have to find an upcoming event

I loved it as much as I thought I would – the pageantry, the sheer skill and grace and athletic abilities – oh, this totally rocked.

i wanna watch sumo tour

The first professional Grand Sumo tour in CA in decades is going to occur in Los Angelos June 7 & 8, 2008. This is the real deal – all wrestlers are professional Grand Sumo wrestlers from the Nihon Sumo Kyokai (Japan Sumo Association). It happens that I have to be in Riverside, CA (about an hour away) for business that wraps up the day before. I’m going to go! I bought the ticket today, and I am sooo excited! I thought I’d have to wait until I could afford my dream trip to Japan before I’d get to see a “real live professional Japanese” Sumo match.

I’ve got more than enough “reward points” in my travel programs to cover the additional hotel stay.

I am just absolutely thrilled about this!

Although I really want to see Sumo in Japan, it’s going to be a while before I can take that trip. I’d like to see if there are any good sumo wrestling events in the USA that I could attend in the interim…

Hooray for the internet, which makes searching for this kind of thing much easier!

Even if the yokuzuna had been a naughty boy and was under stable arrest in Tokyo. They’re so graceful once they get up onto the douhou (sp?), reminded me of long legged water birds that look so awkward and out of place when walking on concrete and then suddenly, everything about them makes sense when you see them landing in a rice field. The best part was definitely the free tickets to the beer party the night before where we got to meet the sumos and ask the ouzeki questions like “but what do you actually eat?”

We only went for the last 3 hours… the competition lasts for 2 weeks, 10am-6pm. We went on the second to last day.

It was really interesting, I thought! A great experience.

i witnessed the second half of yesterday’s sumo tournament in nagoya. seats were somewhat in the back but i could still see pretty well. the pace is completely different from other sports, which lends the arena a more relaxed and social atmosphere. i watched three hours of bouts, and didn’t even realize i was watching the yokozuna battle it out until after it was over. my only regret is that i didn’t know more about sumo going in. next time i’ll go for a front row seat!

Only a month to go until the pros come to Asahikawa, so in the meantime, I cycled out to my favourite elementary school (7 kids in total), and tried my best to hold back laughter at the sight of the vice head in full (scanty) sumo attire. Learnt some interesting things about the history, tried out a couple of moves with the kids (my favourite being the armpit thrust, which just tickles), but mostly just tried not to laugh at poor Kato Sensei.

Not quite a sumo match, but it’ll do for now.

apparently, the boss of the sumo team coming to Asahikawa in August was born in Aibetsu (the village where I live), so my boss, having “contacts”, has just called me over and presented me with two tickets for a beer party with the wrestlers the night before we go to watch them!

How’s that for a bonus?!

I knew living in inaka had its benefits!