[April 20, 2015] Sports teach us many lessons in leadership and Sumo wrestling is one sport that is fundamental to understanding attributes of successful leaders as any other. Some sports teach us about manhood and the Japanese team game of the Sumo is one that requires its participants to be strong, dedicated, and respectful. In short, Sumo wrestling is a manly sport.
Sumo (相撲,) is a full-contact wrestling sport where one wrestler (rikishi) attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring (dohyō) or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet.1 The history of the sport spans many centuries and many of the traditions have been incorporated into modern professional Sumo. For example, most sumo wrestlers live in a communal setting where their daily lives are dictated by those traditions; such as hair style, dress, diet, ritual purification, strength training, etc.
“The body is the reflection of the spirit in its physical expression, and its problems are the dramatization of the struggles of the spirit that gives it life.” – David R. Hawkins on Sumo Wrestling
As children, many of us have developed a distorted picture of the sumo wrestler as a fat, dumb guy who lumbers around a dirt floor with another person exactly the same, pushing one another around. Such oversimplifications cover up the reality of the value sumo represents in Japan and in other countries where it is practiced. This is a highly popular sport in Asian nations for many reasons; highest among them is the honor of being a sumo wrestler and their connection to ancestral warriors.
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[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumo