The sumo community here’s pretty low-volume / dormant, but things pick up a bit for the Japanese tournaments that happen several times a year. For the next couple weeks I’m going to be posting daily collections of videos about the May tournament that just started in Japan.

Imagine a pair of US football linebackers crashing against each other. But they can also slug each other in the face with open-palm strikes, do arm-locks, or throw/trip each other, and they’re not wearing any padding just wrestling belts. And there’s a priest urging them on, because they’re really doing all this for the gods of Shinto.

Check out this intro video and then swing by the sumo community for tournament update videos! Feel free to ask questions.

  • BertramDitore@lemm.eeEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    If anyone’s interested in sumo but doesn’t know where to start, I recently watched Shiko Funjatta! (Sumo Do, Sumo Don’t!) and really enjoyed it. It’s a lighthearted show about the struggle of keeping a very old college sumo club running in the modern era. Serves as a very cool intro to the sport, but it also has great drama and an excellent cast.

    • Sergio@slrpnk.netOPEnglish
      4·
      3 days ago

      I love that series! I’ve watched it twice!

      Did you know there was an earlier movie with the same name that’s a prequel to that? It’s kind of hard to find, but there’s a video on youtube of a couple drunk Texas sumotori watching that movie. (it takes them 5 minutes to figure out how to run the movie lel). The video was copyright-stricken in the US and Canada, but you can still see it if you’re in another country or have a VPN: https://youtu.be/Aij5PTNHdvY?t=290

      • BertramDitore@lemm.eeEnglish
        4·
        3 days ago

        Yes! I haven’t watched the movie, but apparently a few of the older cast members on the show were also in the movie. I’ll definitely check it out!

  • tuckerm@feddit.onlineEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    A few months ago I couldn’t sleep, so I turned on the TV and flipped through the regular old channels for the first time in probably about 15 years. There was a sumo tournament on NHK (Japanese public broadcaster) and I was immediately hooked. I’ve been following each tournament since then. For anyone who’s curious about it, matches are very easy to understand if you just want to watch the sport, but if you decide to starting looking up more information about the history behind these events, there is so much to read.

  • HubertManne@piefed.socialEnglish
    6·
    3 days ago

    I have never been into it but the very first ultimate fighter, back when it had few rules, had one and woa. He lost due to a suspicious thing where the entrance gate game open causing a reset but without it he 100% would have won. It was amazing as the other guy was not exactly small and got a full on kick on him. I mean as best your going to get with full force and the sumo shrugged it off like nothing and then he caught him with what seemed like a casual slap that winged him and you would have thought he was hit by a truck. gracie never faced him but I doubt he would ever have been able to get a lock on him. Wish he had competed the next year.