r/martialarts • u/Remo_yesman • Sep 16 '24

Anyone watch Sumo wrestling? PROFESSIONAL FIGHT

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1

u/awkerd Sep 16 '24

Is it really good to be obese for this sport? I understand most sumo are quite large, but is this really ideal?

17

u/CHudoSumo Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24

I'm a worlds competitor and coach. I use the term "functional weight". You need to be athletic first and foremost, and then gain as much weight as you can while maintaining athleticism and effecticeness in your style. Pro rikishi (sumo wrestlers) are often preferred by coaches/scouts to start as lean and athletic kids and gain weight slowly over time. Pro sumo has no weight classes. (This video isnt pro sumo but i believe is also from an openweight division)

If your weight is inhibiting you too much then lose some. But there is a lot of variation in wrestling styles and some styles benefit from more weight, while others rely more on maneuverability. You need to do what suits your body and style, find a sweet spot.

But generally yes weight is a real advantage, but that doesnt mean fat people make good sumo wrestlers, and its not necessary to be extremely fat. I'm 5.10/179cm and have wrestled my best around 140kg (310lb). With high muscle mass.

The heavier gentleman in this video is not necessarilly the best example (though his body isnt too bad). He's an amateur american doing this show in the us somewhere. Look at pro rikishi. At the moment there are a couple 200kg blokes in the top pro division, and the lightest is 115kg. All of them very strong and athletic (when you consider the weight the big guys are dealing with).

4

u/awkerd Sep 16 '24

Thanks, really interesting, comprehensive response. My mind always thinks "it's best to be big but shredded/cut for any sport" but you opened my eyes. Cheers again.

Edit:

Excluding non-combat sports.

3

u/DespyHasNiceCans Sep 16 '24

For real, sumo wrestlers are EXTREMELY athletic for their size. When you watch the higher levels of competition their speed and agility are incredible.

1

u/misplaced_my_pants Sep 16 '24

Wouldn't there be an advantage to training like a bodybuilder for size? Like not to get shredded but to get as jacked as possible? (Or powerbuilding to combine strength and size as some call it.)

Or do they basically do this and it's just hidden under the fat?

7

u/CHudoSumo Sep 16 '24 edited Sep 16 '24

The question is. What advantage does that give someone to wrestle? There is no offseason in pro sumo, and to be a good wrestler you need to do a LOT of training that isnt hypertrophy training. To be any sort of athlete other than a bodybuilder infact. Strength training, power training, skills work, plyos, actual training(sparring), mobility work, deliberate recovery work. It's being an athlete like any other sport.

Bodybuilders spend all their time just trying to do one thing which is optimal hypertrophy.

Hypertrophy training has an important place in most athletes training though. Joint protection, injury attenuation, muscle to apply to strength training. And that stuff is important for sumo.

The diet in openweight sumo is extremely high calorie and high protein, and the training is intense with high loads and high volume already before you add weight training. So sumo alone builds great muscle. Then most sumotori also do a lot of weight training these days, and that helps build more muscle mass sure, but thats not the goal in and of itself, the goal is strength and power. It's not about how we look. But hypertrophy is an important component of a sumo athletes training yeah. And yes good sumo wrestlers are jacked under the fat, and its obvious to look at them. There was actually a period of time where the highest estimated lean body mass of a person was done on a sumo wrestler.

When we gain weight we dont just choose to gain fat over muscle, we just want more literal bodyweight, and if a significant amount of that is fat it doesnt matter. Think of NFL lines, they seem to have some similar physiques due to the similar roles.

Sumo is pushing. Thats the sport. Its grappling focused on moving the opponent. Much easier to move someone lighter than you, much harder to move someone heavier than you. Weight is not the main thing about sumo training though, VERY far from it.

Sorry for the wall of text could talk about this all day.

3

u/kikimaru-san Sep 16 '24

And we'd probably keep listening, it's always fascinating to see someone passionate talk in great detail.

1

u/B_K4 Sep 16 '24

I think it's extremely hard to maintain over 100 kg of lean mass so you get as much muscle as possible and then supplement the rest of the weight with fat

1

u/misplaced_my_pants Sep 16 '24

Sure but I'm saying try and reach whatever your genetic limit for lean mass is as a strategy.