Training

The first requirement for a student to qualify to become a sumo is a weight class which he must pass before being accepted to train as a sumo wrestler. Sumo training centres also called stables or heya go from school to school to convince young men to join them and one day become sumo greats. Recruits, usually teenagers are taught rules, etiquette basic techniques and history of the sport. Needless to say, the training to become a sumo wrestler comes with a strict sense of discipline and as rigorous as the rikishi glare-offs. There is no turning back when one enters the training school total commitment is expected from every enrolee. Hierarchy and rank is strictly enforced and observed in every Japanese organization, sumo schools are of course one of these institutions who give much importance to rank.

The junior rikishi, the lowest ranked recruits and usually the youngest, must get up earliest at 5 in the morning. Their sleeping quarters are communal dormitories. They are expected to do the menial chores of the stable, cleaning, assisting in the cooking of meals especially lunch. For most of the day, the chores occupy them. They are not allowed to go out of the stable at any time of the day though sometimes they are asked to act as manservant for the stablemaster or a sekitori in their social functions outside of the stable. Rikishi are not usually permitted to have breakfast but are prescribed to take a nap after an enormous lunch. This regimen is believed to be effective in gaining weight.

Drop out rate at the Junior Rikishi stage is high. Naturally because of the tedious jobs they are required to perform. The discipline and perseverance to play subordinate to anyone is hard enough, coupling it with morale lowering chores, chances are they give up.

Sekitori spend most of their time in training, the chores are left to those who succeed them in junior rakishi. The skitori is now privileged, having the junior rikishis prepare their bath, or hold his towel for him for when he needs it. In the afternoon, the sekitori would sometimes be compelled to go out and attend to their fan club or go out with their sponsors with a favoured junior rikishi in tow. They are also given their private room or apartment if they are married.

High protein meals for optimum weight gain are the regular diet for these aspiring heavyweights. For centuries it was believed that the larger the wrestler’s girth, the greater his chance of becoming a grand champion. In the earlier days, force feeding was imposed upon the men. Health problems have plagued Sumo wrestlers for decades and many weight related ailments which are a direct result of rapid and excessive weight gain resulted to stables formulation of weight training to create slimmer yet equally powerful wrestlers.

Upon entering the heya, the rikishi are expected to grow their hair long to form a topknot, or chonmage, similar to the samurai hairstyles of the Edo Period. Furthermore the students are expected to wear traditional Japanese dress when in public.

Usually the type and quality of the dress defines a wrestler's rank. Rikishi in Jonidan and below are allowed to wear only a thin cotton robe called a yukata, even in winter. Geta, a wooden pair of sandals, that produce a clopping sound when one walks is the prescribed footwear. Wrestlers in the Makushita and Sandanme divisions can wear a traditional short overcoat on their yukata and are allowed to wear straw sandals, called zori. The sekitori can wear silk robes of their own choice and the quality of the garb is significantly improved. They also are expected to wear a more elaborate form of topknot on formal occasions.

Wrestlers adopt another name upon admission, this is called the shikona. They are named either by the stable master or relatives who encouraged them to enter the school.