Sumo Practice by Will

Friday, 18th May 2007

Sumo Practice

by Will

Tomozuma Sumo Stable
Sumo wrestling is an ancient part of Japanese culture with its origins dating back to the 8th century. Sumo is still a very popular sport in Japan, with roughly 700 professional wrestlers competing. Typically, Sumo bouts only last a few seconds with the loser being pushed out of the ring or toppled by their opponent.
In the early hours of the morning, these Sumo Wrestlers in Tokyo, Japan commence a gruelling training session. After several hours of stretches and exercises, they enter into a fast paced “King of the Ring” session where one Sumo wrestler fights the others, one after the other, until he is defeated. The victor then takes over and fights all challengers until he himself is defeated. With around five wrestlers rotating at a time, it is an exhausting exercise and you realise that these guys are impressively fit! Gradually the smaller, more junior wrestlers drop out and they are replaced by more senior wrestlers. This shot is off two of the mid-sized wrestlers colliding.

Equipment: Canon EOS 1D Mk II

Will

I am a keen travel photographer… I particularly enjoy travel, nature and wildlife photography.

Travel Photography

11 Comments

junior_z Says:
May 18th, 2007 at 3:34 am
great story behind the excellent photo! very moving, dynamic, and emotional.
Alex Says:
May 18th, 2007 at 2:59 pm
If these two were big horned sheep you would hear a CRACK! (when colliding) Was this more of a thud?
Paul Indigo Says:
May 18th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
You caught them at just the right moment, before the gigantic clash. Thanks for the informative note.
Photo Buffet Says:
May 18th, 2007 at 5:08 pm
A well-timed action shot!
Jon Eisenberg Says:
May 19th, 2007 at 4:49 am
Great action shot.
Eli Shams Says:
June 8th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Love the compo in triangle and subject. Great caption too.
Matt Burrard-Lucas Says:
June 21st, 2007 at 7:44 pm
Nice action – clash of the titans!
Sarah Says:
July 11th, 2007 at 7:10 pm
I wish we could have a later shot too. The suspense in this photo makes me wonder how the struggle went.
su Says:
May 14th, 2009 at 8:06 am
Great capture and thanks for the story, it always adds to the shot for me.
renee Says:
September 13th, 2009 at 7:25 pm
fun shot!
mike Says:
September 27th, 2009 at 10:28 pm
Fun to watch.