Injuries of Sumo 101

One of the most surprising aspects of sumo for first-timers is the violence of sport. The notions of loving pandas that gently bounce off each other from the ring vanish when the first thunder of a harite (slap of the round house) echoes in the beams of the arena. It is also common that the jaws of those who watch a training session open in shock to see for the first time a fighter receive kawaigari (loving and tender care). In sumo, that is the term for exhausting post-combat push sessions that leave the fighters covered in dirt, gasping for air and barely able to stop. As might be expected in a physically intense sport, injuries are always present.

In fact, success at the highest level is usually a measure of how much pain a fighter can tolerate. Crooked wrists, fractured fingers, partially torn LCAs, and similar injuries that would put athletes in virtually any other sport out of service for weeks or months are recorded, and a soldier is applied. Medical treatment is available, of course, but the rikishi are notoriously macho and are not willing to abandon a tournament.

In part, it is the result of each lost game counted as a loss, but it also reflects the sumo mentality adopted by the coaches and the common training of the fighters: "If you cannot fight, it is better that you resign". The process is as important as the result in the national sport of Japan, and if you cannot enter the ring every day, you are not respecting the sumo in the minds of many of those inside. It's a big reason why Kisenosato's lost tournaments weighed so much in the yokozuna. There is a feeling of shame in not fulfilling your responsibilities as a rikishi. All this is something that affects many rikishi long after their retirement. It is rare to find a former veteran who is not dealing with constant pain as a result of his life in sumo.

By: Preeti Narula

Content: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2019/05/16/sumo/sumo-101-injuries/#.XN061BQzbIU