'Sumo' is Japanese for 'mutual striking' — one of the world's oldest sports, retaining Shinto ritual origins.
A form of heavyweight wrestling practiced in Japan, in which a wrestler wins a bout by forcing an opponent out of a marked area or by making them touch the ground with any body part other than the soles of the feet.
From Japanese 'sumo' (written 相撲), a compound of two kanji: the first character (相, so/ai) meaning mutual, together, each other — evoking two parties facing one another; the second (撲, boku/mo) meaning to strike, to hit, to beat. Sumo is therefore literally 'mutual striking' — two people hitting each other — the most direct possible description of a grappling combat sport where the goal is to force your opponent out of the ring or to the ground. Sumo wrestling has ancient origins in Japan, with records of ritual matches dating to the Nara period (8th century CE); early sumo was
Sumo is Japan's national sport and one of the world's oldest organized sporting traditions, with records dating to at least the 8th century. It retains its Shinto religious character: the ring (dohyō) is a sacred space, purified with salt before each bout. Wrestlers throw salt, stamp their feet (to drive away evil spirits
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