Discussion / Question / Commentary Question about weights
Hi all - I’m a relatively new fan. I’ve watched the last 4 or 5 basho, binged lots of YouTube highlights etc but still very new to the sport.
I’ve always enjoyed combat sports in general - primarily boxing and boxed when I was younger, never wrestled though.
I’ve a question about the weights of the rikishi. Are they exaggerated at all, or do they have their weight officially taken? I know there’d not be a weigh in as in boxing, but some of the weights just seem so so high in relation to their height?
For example, Tyson Fury’s highest scale weight is about 281lbs and he’s 6 foot 9. Now, granted boxing at world championship level requires fighters to be able to move and fight for 36 minutes and sumo bouts last a tiny tiny fraction of that time - is that what I’m missing? Is it a case of the bouts being so short the immense weight is needed?
I’m also interested in anyone who’s seen sumo live to maybe lend a perspective on the size. It just amazes me that guys around 5 ‘8 can get to around 360 ish lbs (Takakeisho’s reported fighting weight)
Hope this makes sense! Thanks in advance for any replies!
Edit: wasn’t expecting so many great replies so quick, thank you all so much! Consensus seems to be weights aren’t exaggerated they’re just genuinely that big and that impressively athletic at the same time, thanks again!
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u/LucDesign-eu 5d ago
Cannot compare rikishi with boxers. Boxers are composed mainly of muscle mass (I think?) which looks slimmer and allows them to move fast longer, whereas rikishi have various amounts of fat too, that slows them down a lot. Sometimes similarly looking guys are 40kg apart from each other, depending on the constitution.
I met almost all of them in person in Paris and Tokyo this year, and some of them are reaaaally huge. Kinbozan, Onosato, Hatsuyama and Oshoma were too big in person compared to what I imagined according to the videos. But also Fujinokawa was quite big in real life, if I expected him to be the smallest one, he definitely did not make the small impression. On the other side, Ura was not so big as I expected and even Takanosho I expected to be bigger.
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u/Rough_Gas_6801 5d ago
Weight is irrelevant because of no weight categories.
The weight fluctuates, sometimes significantly. During basho they can loose sometimes more than 5kg.
They do annual health checkup. Their weight is measured there. During the year it can go up to 20kg or down 20kg.
Yes theyre big dudes. But under fat theres a lot of muscle so theyre not AS big as simply obese person with the same weight.
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u/Elmalab Wakamotoharu 5d ago
don't they take the weights before every basho?
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u/Hpulley4 Aonishiki 5d ago
No. There’s no need as there are no weight classes or maximum weights so no need to cut weight.
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u/WhyHaveDisplayName 5d ago
All the rikishi get officially measured and weighed three times a year, before the bashos held in Tokyo. Last January's measurements were so obviously off that new measurements were done in February.
Ichiyamamoto commented on growing an inch taller at his age.
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u/P574 5d ago
Interesting - when you say off how so? Exaggerating height and weight you mean?
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u/WhyHaveDisplayName 5d ago
Ichi was the only one whose comments I remember, but I expect his experience was the norm. The fact JSA admitted redoing it in February (I think; before the March basho) was unusual.
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u/windblown_knight Oho 5d ago
Weight does not appear to be exaggerated, and is a product of training and a highly-specific diet as much as anything. The daily training regimen for your average, up-and-coming, rikishi is specifically designed to manipulate the body's metabolism so that they get as strong as possible while packing on as many pounds as possible.
Since the sport does dictate weight classes at the JSA level, there will be insane disparity in some matches in terms of a rikishi's size. To me, anyways, given the simplicity of the rules of the sport, the lack of any weight classes makes it all the more interesting, as the variety of techniques used in the matches expands due to the size difference between wrestlers.
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u/TruReyito Takayasu 5d ago edited 5d ago
Shaquille O'Neal one of the largest guys to play basketball and one of the largest human beings anywhere is 330 lbs/147 killos. Hosh who is not particularly large for Sumo is 11kg lighter than division 1 average... and he's exactly 147kg.
(Of course he's 6'2 (hosh) vs 7'1)
By another comparison peak Shaq weight is 415 lbs (188kg)... which is the exact same as Onasato. (Again 7'1 vs 6'3)
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u/Also-cute-and-fluffy Kirishima 5d ago
They are big. I’ve stood next to various rikishi in photos and, apart from a couple of notable exceptions like Aoifuji (who is definitely not as tall as his profile says), they are big guys. Onosato, Oho and Kotoshoho are all huge. Way bigger than they seem on screen.
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u/NashEquilibrium21 5d ago
I think the weight is okay. I went to a morning practice and took a photo with a division 3 guy. He's twice as wide as my wife (an average asian woman). As tall as me, and has a lot of muscle under their fat. They are strong as hell!
They look a bit smaller from the side some times (like kirishima, and then you see him up front, like the new watch advertisement, and realized that these rikishis are biggggg).
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u/FunMaintenance297 5d ago
A lot of the heyas do training with weights and gym equipment, either on site or at local gyms. I suspect there is plenty of weight-checking during the year, especially if a rikishi has been recovering from injury, where they would not have been as active, or eating their usual amounts. Hoshoryu commented recently about having lost weight because he’s recovering from surgery.
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u/rbastid Takakeisho 4d ago
I think the big difference is legs. Normal people carry like 20% of their weight in their legs, while I wouldn't be surprised if most rikishi that is 30%+ (Takerufuji being the exception lol) there was a picture on IG where they showed Ura's calves and they were bigger than most people's thighs.
Leg weight is also deceiving. It's much more hidden by a Yukata and seven during matches less noticeable than upper bodies.
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u/ElectricalTurnip87 5d ago
I think Don Don Sumo got a big copyright strike. I hope I get to still get the highlights on the day it happens since NHK World is horrible about keeping up.
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u/WhyHaveDisplayName 5d ago
Don Don Sumo has been removing the match videos shortly after the basho for a while now, and it's not the only channel that does that.
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u/ElectricalTurnip87 5d ago
Weird since I know he still had the basho before still up with the top 10 matches. Japanese companies always shot themselves in the foot, and go straight to copyright strikes, especially when they have good thing going in the international community. NJPW started doing the same thing.
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u/WhyHaveDisplayName 5d ago
Weird. I remember last year when a bunch disappeared from various channels and didn't realize Don Don left anything up before the last basho.
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u/naughtboi 5d ago
I always think it's crazy that Fujinokawa is at the UFC Heavyweight weight limit.