HEWC Book

A new dohyo is created for each tournament. Five judges called shinpan dressed in black
kimono, sit below the dohyo and around the ring. These judges are former rikishi themselves.
A referee, or gyoji, dressed in an elaborate kimono stands at the edge of the ring
and officiates the bout. At the end of the bout, the gyoji points to the winner. In a particularly
close bout, any of the five judges can dispute the call made by the referee. In this
case, a conference, called a mono-ii, is held inside the ring with the gyoji and five shinpan
to discuss the match. In modern times, television instant replay is used to determine the
actual outcome of a match when in dispute.
A rikishi loses a match when any part of his body other than the bottoms of his feet touches
the dohyo or when he is pushed or thrown outside of the ring. In the middle of the ring
are two white lines called shikirisen. These lines are the starting points of each rikishi for
each bout. When a judge gives the signal for the rikishi to fight, both rikishi crouch behind
their respective shikirisen and face each other. When both rikishi place both hands
clenched in fists on or behind the shikirisen, the bout begins. The tachi-ai, or initial charge,
is extremely important in gaining the advantage and momentum over your opponent.
During the actual bout, a rikishi may use any technique or maneuver except pulling his
opponent’s hair, hitting his opponent with a closed fist, boxing his opponent’s ears, choking
his opponent (although he may push at the throat), or grabbing his opponent’s mawashi
in the crotch area. Rikishi use all sorts of techniques during the bout; however, a rikishi’s
style can usually be classified as one of two styles: oshi-zumo, or a tendency to push your
opponent out of the ring, and yotsu-zumo, a tendency to grab your opponent’s belt and
force him out of the ring. The truly best rikishi are adept at using both styles to beat their
opponents.
As explained on www.sumotalk.com
* Where is the sport most popular?
Japan
*Who are the current world champions?
Byambajav Ulambayar from Mongolia. Byamba is 6’1” and tips the scale at 360 pounds
and has won back-to-back Sumo World Championships and is going for his ninth straight
win at the U.S. Sumo Open on August 8th in 2015. He has won the World Sumo Championship
four times in a row. Byamba eats somewhere in the range of 4,000 calories a day to
keep his shape.
*Organizations, Websites and facebook:
The International Sumo Federation: http://www.ifs-sumo.org/ifs-contact.html
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InternationalSumoCommunity