If you decide to travel to Japan , there is an activity that you cannot miss: an evening of sumo. Sumo is much more than two big men in some kind of diapers that want to get out of some kind of tatami. From the ancient Greeks to the Aztecs, wrestling has played a very important role in history. Modern sumo is a continuation of ancient traditions but, it has also evolved to become a different wrestling .
This fight originally arose as a religious ceremony to the Shinto gods. Shintoism, the main religion of Japan, continues to play a very important role in sports, and many games and activities are dedicated to the different gods. Sumo was often used to settle controversies in the imperial courts, rather than resort to nasty bloodshed and violence .
Today, championships are organized in odd – numbered months of the year, and can be enjoyed in different areas of Japan. The wrestlers go up in the ranking based on their performance, until they obtain the most important prize that is Yokozuna’s . Once a fighter reaches the Yokozuna ranking, he will never lose it, but will have to retire once his performance begins to decline.
The rules of sumo are very simple: two men face each other on a kind of 15-foot ring-shaped mat. The first to leave the zone or to touch the ground with any part of the body other than the feet, loses.