“It ain’t the meat, it’s the motion.” — Maria Muldaur
On Friday, June 8, 2018, for the first time ever, sumo came to Michigan. The event was billed as “Sushi, Sake and Sumo,” and it was held at J.W. Marriott in downtown Grand Rapids. It was put on as part of the Grand Rapids Asian Festival.
As people came into the hotel and made their way to the big room, drumming set the mood. There were multiple drummers. The drums were on stands, with the drum heads arranged perpendicularly to the floor. The drums were large and loud, and the drummers pounded out thunderous single notes with huge drumsticks.
The master of ceremonies was Andrew Freund, director of the US Open Sumo Championship. Andrew translated, refereed and provided information, explaining the sport and answering questions from the crowd. He even wrestled a little, giving his weight as 170 pounds, but acquitting himself impressively going against attendees.
There were demonstrations, explanations and a round robin tournament. Some fortunate few of the crowd were selected at random and given the opportunity to get in the ring with the wrestler of their choice, or, at least in a couple cases, the emcee of their choice. I was not lucky enough to have been selected, though I would have very much welcomed the chance. The crowd was estimated to be somewhere in the neighborhood of 1,200.
I’d given Mrs. Basura the option to join me for the evening, but she declined. I was with my friend, John, who had wrestled at East Grand Rapids High School, and at Grand Valley State College. He enjoys watching the sport of freestyle wrestling, (as opposed to WWE pro wrasslin’). He was interested to see sumo competition, which is much different than free style wrestling as seen in schools and the Olympics.
Sumo is fought in a 20-foot ring. A win occurs when the opponent steps out (or is thrown out) of the ring, or touches the wrestling surface with any part of his body besides the soles of his feet. I use the masculine pronoun, although there is a growing level of competition among women, at least in US sumo.
In Grand Rapids, there were three men representing the sport, all of whom had achieved high levels of accomplishment.
Yamamotoyama, familiarly called Yama, has been successful in his career in Japan. His listed weight is 600 pounds, and he is the heaviest Japanese sumo wrestler in history. He has what appears to have a very affable demeanor.
Byambajev Ulambayer, called Bamba, is from Mongolia. He tips the scales at 378 pounds. Bamba shaves his head, unlike his fellow sumo athletes. He is familiar to many as the man in the Geico commercial, where viewers are invited to find it surprising to see a large sumo wrestler in a figure skating competition. With encouragement from the crowd, he reprised that role with his pantomime of holding, then freeing a baby bird. It was Bamba who answered a question from a woman in the audience: “You guys all look powerful and kind of intimidating, but do you like to cuddle?” Bamba replied affirmatively, and suggested that his room number could be provided to those interested in verifying his response.
Takeshi Amitani was is listed as 5’7” and 250 pounds. He looked fit and very quick. He is the Japanese University Champion and the winner of a U.S. Open Sumo Championship. He held his own against the bigger men. His overall career record was provided as 108 wins against 6 losses.
The wrestlers all seemed to attract the attention of women in attendance. Yama might rest a moment on a chair, perhaps when the other wrestlers were engaging each other. When he would do this, I noticed that women would approach him and rub his back or his arms. This happened frequently. He would smile in a warm, relaxed way, and seemed to bask in the attention.
There were celebrities from Japan, one of whom stationed herself at the DJ stand. She was introduced as an actress, and model, and was involved in Anime, that is, Japanese animation.
After the sumo event concluded, the wrestlers went out into a hallway outside the main room, where professional photographers had arranged a set, and, for a donation to a charity, one could pose for a photo with the three combatants. It was all for a good cause.
Following the round robin tourney, won by Bamba, individuals were selected at random to wrestle. This was usually, but not always, done in a light hearted way. Among the contestants were children and women. Occasionally a strong looking young man would enter the ring, and would be dealt with expeditiously.
The sumo ring was taken down, and the DJs cranked up the music. The dance floor, which was where the ring had been, was filled with young people shaking it up, and there were bottles of sake on all the tables available to the crowd. Some, including this reporter, found they enjoyed sake more than they might have guessed. Bamba came out in a kimono, and danced for a while, until the photographers prevailed upon him to accommodate the long line of people paying for photos.
The music was to continue until 2 a.m. but John and I left at about 11:30 p.m. and got a cab back to our respective homes.