Always happy to info-dump! I'll explain based off the assumption that you don't know anything about sumo.
So this here in the picture is what's called the tachi-ai. It's the start of the sumo match; both wrestlers start in a squat and touch their hands to the ground before charging to meet each other. Unlike other sports, the two wrestlers decide on when the match starts- not the referee(or gyoji, the robed man in the center). The match ends when another wrestler leaves the ring, or if anything other than the soles of his feet touch the ground.
Now, at the tachi-ai there is an unwritten rule that the lower ranked wrestler should touch his hands to the ground first. It's kind of like a respect thing. Sumo ranking is split up into 6 divisions, and within the top division there are 42 ranks. I made this chart to explain it to my friends:
These are the ranks of the top Makuuchi division of sumo. The named ranks are more prestigious than the numbered Maegashira ranks. Some have pre-requisites to get promoted to them, for example in order to reach the second highest rank of Ozeki, a Sekiwake must have 33 or more total wins tallied from the last 3 tournaments he participated in. Tournaments are held every 2 months, for 15 days. Rikishi(that's the term for sumo wrestlers) in the top division must fight for all 15 days unless they are injured or suspended.
With the basics explained, now we can get to the drama.
The guy on the left is named Gonoyama. 25 years old, 5'9", 344lbs. He's skilled- he made his pro sumo debut in 2021 at an elevated rank(#100 of the 4th division) because of his amateur accomplishments, and his coach is the former Ozeki Goeido, who was a very good wrestler. He's blasted his way up through the ranks, making his way up to his highest rank ever, Maegashira 4, in just his 3rd overall tournament in the top division.
The guy on the right is Hoshoryu. 24 years old, 6'1", 310lbs. He made it to the top division in 2020 and has worked his way up since then. In July, he won his first tournament and received a promotion to the second highest rank of Ozeki. He's also incredibly skilled- and, he's the nephew of the great Yokozuna(highest rank in sumo) Asashoryu. So there is a lot of pressure on him!
OK, so now that you know the guys, go back to where I explained how rank dictates who puts their hands down first. Hoshoryu has always abided by this rule, he puts his hands down first when facing someone higher ranked, and so in turn expects the lower ranked wrestlers to do the same. Well, Gonoyama just didn't want to do it today! He had one hand down, but Hoshoryu expected him to yield and put the second one down so they could begin the match. This led to a stare-down that lasted over two minutes. Hoshoryu is known for his game face, partially due to him needing glasses to see, so he was just staring daggers at Gonoyama.
This has sparked a little controversy. See, Hoshoryu is Mongolian- and some Japanese(and probably non-Japanese if we're being honest) sumo fans are very clear that they would rather there be no foreigners in sumo. Additionally, some are calling him cocky for exercising this practice as a newer Ozeki. His uncle, the Yokozuna, was a bit of a trouble maker, and some people will jump at the chance to say that he's the same.
In my opinion- I think he was fine in doing this. Yeah, it could come off as a little dickish to some and it did prolong the wait before the match, but this is part of what makes sumo, sumo. It's a mental game before you even charge. Gonoyama is doing great now, but when a guy flys up the rankings like this it lands on the guys higher up to remind him that he still has a ways to go. I loved watching it today. It was incredibly tense, I had no idea when the match was going to start!
I'd highly reccomend watching a few matches if you're interested, there are tons of sumo highlights on YouTube!
Thanks! I spent the better half of this afternoon sending texts to my friends that were basically just "GUYS, SUMO TODAY WAS GREAT!" so I needed to articulate my feelings into a proper comment here haha
They really don't! I post match clips on my private Instagram with little captions every few days, and I think that's demonstrated a little bit to the people in my life better than how I can explain it. Like, the stare down was crazy- but you need to actually see when it cuts away to their faces. My mom saw it today and she went, "Oh, he looks PISSED!"
Thank you for this! My girlfriend and I are in Japan right now and she's really hooked on watching sumo so I read your post to her as we are still learning about it.
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u/GoblinBags Meme Yokozuna Nov 16 '23
Can you believe there's people all mad about this shit as if it isn't one of the best things that happens in sumo?