Who said there was no more live sport going on at the moment? Those who have preaching that message have clearly overlooked what is going in Japan, and it's a big one.
SUMO Haru Basho 2020 has taken the country by storm over the past eight days, but don't worry because it's not too late to hop aboard the bandwagon. Luckily for all us sports fans, there's still six days left to play with.
What's more, it's all being uploaded straight onto YouTube.
Now we know what you're thinking, that sumo wrestling isn't really your bag. But we guarantee it won't disappoint if you give it a chance.
The rules of the sport are very straightforward:
- Two (usually rather large) fighters step into the circular ring. The object of the sport is to attempt to push your opponent outside of the ring, or knock him to the ground. If any part of his body touches the ground outside the rope, you are declared the winner.
- The following are prohibited during the bout: Hitting with closed fists (slapping is permissible), choking, grabbing the crotch area of your opponent. After that anything goes.
Looking beyond the fairly simple rules, the culture surrounding sumo wrestling is incredibly complex. You can dive deeper into it here.
Haru Basho is the second major sumo tournament to take place this year, with six taking place annually. It is these tournaments that are used to decide the rankings, and potentially crown a 'yokozuna', the grand champion.
In order to be crowned yokozuna, a fighter must win at least two consecutive tournaments. As of 2015, it had only been done 71 times in the long history of the sport.
There's plenty of old school tradition and pageantry surrounding the pre-fight buildup, but the action really get going once they slap skin in the middle of the ring. Just incase you're still not convinced, here's just one example of a thrilling fight from the tournament going on right now.
Well, at least sumo wrestling is still going on (with no fans). pic.twitter.com/8NjMOwKwnZ
— Jeff Eisenband (@JeffEisenband) March 14, 2020
That's the next six days sorted anyway.
