Sumo

Went to a sanctioned Sumo match today at the local university. There were a couple out of town competitors (as far away as California), but it was as I suspected; about 20 spectators. I found out about it because there was a story on the news last night. Too bad there weren't more spectators. But, I'm not surprised. Who wants to go see sweaty fat men grapple each other in their underwear? Most folks around here see that every night at their own family gatherings. That might be a bit harsh, but Idaho is not known for its forward thinking or acceptance of anything other than cowboys and christianity. In typical Idaho style, the overall winner received a gift certificate to Wal-Mart.

The wrestlers were appreciative of the turnout, however meager, and the guy from California said so also. The meet was intersting to watch, not as exciting as watching the pros on television, less spectacle, and the converted basketball court had very few angles from which to shoot. I didn't shoot but a handful of photos, and most of them turned out rather poor.

Did you know that the best Sumo wrestlers aren't from Japan? They're from Mongolia, according to the wrestlers (two of which had trained in Japan for some months). There are 87 countries that have official Sumo teams and competitions. Sumo wrestlers (pro) don't eat breakfast, but arise early in the morning, work out, then have a big lunch. The upper rank wrestlers then go take a nap while the lower ranked wrestlers continue to train. Then a big dinner and back to bed.

I started back to the gym this week. I'm not a big gym-goer, but I'm not getting enough exercise. The hardest part is getting over that initial body-rejection hump when your body keeps telling you "I think that's enough, what do you need all this torture for, anyway?". Once that's over it gets easier.

I wish there were more events like this around here. Next week, I guess I'll go to the car races.