Men and women slapped, pulled and leg-swooped each other while competing in the televised 14th annual “U.S. Sumo Open” sumo-wrestling event on Saturday at Cal State Long Beach’s Walter Pyramid.
The competition had competitors from 14 different countries, such as Mongolia, New Zealand and Russia. Some of CSULB’s wrestling club members also competed in the event.
Cameron Shepherd, president of CSULB’s wrestling club, competed in the middleweight class competition and made it past the preliminary round. Shepherd said that it was an “awesome” experience to compete against other sumo wrestlers with different skillsets.
He also said that his wrestling background “really helped him a lot” in being able to take down the other competitors.
“I’m glad I received an applause for being a CSULB student,” Shepherd said.
During the matches, some of the most common tactics the challengers used to win included tactics such as “Shitatewaza” (underhook or underarm technique), “Sotomuso” (outer-thigh-propping twist down) or “Mitokorozeme” (triple-attack force out) their opponent. Each match ranged from about 10 to 40 seconds.
In order to continue the sumo-wrestling theme, the event had vendors who sold a “Sumo Protein Set” meal, which consisted of chicken and garlic-soy-sauce-flavored edamame, which are prepared soybeans still in their pod.
Special guest Yamamotoyama “Yama” Ryuta, a retired sumo wrestler, served as head judge throughout the event.
“For my entire life, since early childhood, I have competed in sumo all over Japan,” Yama said in the event’s program. “I won many championships in elementary school, middle school, high school, university and Japanese professional sumo.”
Yama is the “heaviest Japanese human being in history, at 600 pounds,” according to the event’s program. Although Yama may have weight to help him compete in sumo, he emphasizes that success in sumo wrestling is not about size.
“Much more important than weight are serious training, discipline and especially the desire to win,” Yama said in the event’s program.
Tiffany Wu of Garden Grove, who was among the audience, found out about the event through website LivingSocial.
“This is my first sumo event,” Wu said. “I’m here because it’s something different to experience.”
“U.S. Sumo Open” ended with open competitions in which sumo wrestlers battled across class divisions. By then, most of the audience had left.
The competition is scheduled to air Oct. 14 on NBC’s television network from 5 to 7 p.m. and 8 to 10 p.m. Pacific Time; 8 to 10 p.m. and 11 p.m. to 1 a.m. Eastern Time.
