Sumo

London —The largest international sumo showcase in history. shook London this week, highlighting more than 40 wrestlers in 100 matches featuring powerful palm strikes, impressive slaps and an unforgettable lightning-fast overarm throw. The final championship clash of the Grand Sumo Tournament was a battle of giants: a Goliath against a slightly smaller Goliath.

Crashing with the force of a few tons and throwing clay into the air, the 330-pound Hoshoryu Tomokatsu seized the blue silk belt: the mawashi. – by 420-pound Onosato Daiki. The momentum carried the heavier man to the edge of the ring, then Hoshoryu eliminated him, sealing a perfect 5-0 record in just 10 seconds. The crowd of 5,000 inside London’s sold-out Royal Albert Hall erupted in cheers.

“I’m glad I made it through the five days injury-free,” Hoshoryu said backstage after claiming the championship trophy.

He hadn’t planned a celebration, but told News themezone he’s ready to go wherever his career takes him.

“If someone decides we’re going to do this in America, of course I’ll be there,” the 26-year-old said.

To young Americans watching and dreaming of entering the sacred sumo ring, his advice was based on self-discipline and perseverance.

“You must work hard to be a sumo wrestler if that is your dream. Everyone has dreams, but only you can achieve them,” he said.

Sumo is a life of devotion. Wrestlers typically begin training around age 15, the minimum age to join a heya, or stable, where they live communally and train full-time with a stable boss, a retired wrestler. To outsiders, sumo may seem like a sport, but to its practitioners it is a way of life shaped by 1,500 years of ritual and discipline, rooted in Shinto prayers for a bountiful harvest.

London’s Royal Albert Hall, better known for the echoes of The Beatles, Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen than for the slaps and grunts of enormous muscular men, was transformed into a place of reverence to reflect that.

“I’ve worked here for 11 years and this is one of the most exciting weeks I’ve ever been a part of,” said David Gamble, the venue’s head of programming, who gave News themezone a special behind-the-scenes tour.

“We’ve had teams, craftsmen in the UK create this 1.5-tonne roof,” he said, pointing to the huge hanging roof above the ring reminiscent of a Shinto shrine. “It’s more than a sport…we had a ring blessing ceremony where the Sumo Association blessed the ring the same way they would at all their shows in Tokyo.”

He explained that the few rows of red mats surrounding the ring were the most coveted and the most risky.

“You’re really going to have to stay focused because at any moment there could be a 400-pound sumo wrestler coming at you, so there’s no time to check your phone,” Gamble said with a smile. These seats are “the most expensive, the best and the most dangerous.”

Great fighters meant great logistics. The place brought 10 tons of clay to build the sacred ring, the dohyō, and had to obtain almost a ton of rice. Athletes consume up to 10,000 calories a day, mostly in the form of a protein-rich stew called chanko-nabe..

The heaviest sumo wrestler ever recorded remains Konishiki Yasokichi, the Hawaiian-American who weighed 633 pounds at his peak. He competed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1991, when sumo first ventured beyond the shores of Japan; the last time the hall hosted this sport until now.

This week’s event marked the first overseas sumo tournament in 34 years, and only the second in history. The more than 40 “rishiki” (not all from Japan, but also from Mongolia and Ukraine) stopped many people in their tracks in front of Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, crossing Abbey Road like the Beatles and at the “Harry Potter” attraction on platform 9 3/4 of King’s Cross station.

When Hoshoryu raised his championship trophy, the ornate Emperor’s Cup, flown in from Tokyo, the moment symbolized more than victory. It was a celebration of an ancient Japanese tradition that found new life (and new fans) far from home.

In:

• sumo wrestling
• London