Sumo words · Beginner

The words you will hear in your first match, grouped the way you meet them.

B · Beginner · 20 words · Step 1 of 2

Basic setup terms

Dohyo

The ring: a platform of clay about 6.7 m square and 60 cm high, covered with a thin layer of sand. Straw bales set into the clay mark an inner circle a little over 4.55 m across, which is where the bout is fought. A roof like a Shinto shrine's hangs above it, and the ring is partly rebuilt for every tournament.

Rikishi

A sumo wrestler. There are about 700 in professional sumo, from new recruits to the yokozuna. Each takes a ring name (shikona), and the rank decides how the hair is worn.

Mawashi

The heavy silk belt, about 9 m long and 80 cm wide, folded in six and wound four to seven times round the waist, which is all the rikishi wear. Many of the 82 winning techniques use a grip on it. The front strings are ornamental and may come off. In IFS rules, holding the front pouch or front vertical part is a prohibited move.

Basho

A grand tournament (honbasho). There are six a year in professional sumo: Tokyo in January, May and September, Osaka in March, Nagoya in July and Fukuoka in November. Each lasts 15 days.

Also called: honbasho, grand tournament

The ruleHow do sumo tournaments work?

Gyoji

The referee. The gyoji enters the dohyo with the rikishi, calls their names, signals the start, watches the bout and calls the winner. Gyoji have ranks shown by the colour of the fan tassel, and only the top-ranked, the tate-gyoji, referee yokozuna bouts. In IFS sumo the gyoji wears a white shirt and trousers and a black bow tie.

See also: Dohyo, Rikishi, Bout, Yokozuna

The ruleWho decides a sumo bout?

Shikona

A rikishi's sumo name. Some are taken from the sumo master or the birthplace, and many end in -yama (mountain), -kawa or -gawa (river), or -umi (sea).

Winning a match

Bout

A single contest. In professional sumo it is usually over in less time than the build-up to it. IFS rules stop a bout that lasts over three minutes and order a rematch (torinaoshi).

Also called: match
See also: Torinaoshi

Win condition

A rikishi wins by forcing the opponent out of the circle, or by making any part of the opponent's body except the soles of the feet touch the ground first. Touching down with a knee, a fingertip or the topknot loses, and so does a toe or heel on the straw bales. If the opponent is already falling and has lost balance (shinitai), a rikishi who touches down or steps out a moment earlier does not lose.

Tachi-ai

The start of the bout, when the rikishi charge into each other. In IFS rules the hands must touch down behind the starting lines and the gyoji calls 'Hakkeyoi'. A rikishi who jumps early is called back with 'Matta' and starts again.

Yorikiri

One of the seven basic winning techniques. The usual description is forcing the opponent back and out of the circle while holding the belt, which the JSA list does not define.

Oshidashi

One of the seven basic winning techniques. The usual description is pushing the opponent out with the hands and without a belt grip, which the JSA list does not define.

Kimarite

The winning technique that ends a bout. The JSA lists 82 and groups them as basic techniques, throws, trips, bends, twists and special techniques. It also lists five results that are not techniques. The IFS accepts 70 basic techniques and 10 more used since ancient times.

Ranking system

Banzuke

The official ranking sheet issued by the Japan Sumo Association before each tournament, revised after every one on the performance of the 15 days. It is written in a special calligraphy, with rikishi split into east and west though they do not compete as teams.

Yokozuna

The top rank, which can never be lost by demotion. A yokozuna who keeps performing badly is expected to retire. Promotion needs two tournament wins in a row at ozeki or an equal record, and the Association's judgement of character. A yokozuna must appear in the ring unless injured or ill.

The ruleHow does a sumo wrestler become yokozuna?

Ozeki, Sekiwake, komusubi

The ranks below yokozuna, in that order (ozeki, then sekiwake, then komusubi), with komusubi the lowest of the group called sanyaku. Below them are the maegashira.

Also called: sanyaku
See also: Yokozuna

Makuuchi

The top division, with up to 42 rikishi, ranked from yokozuna down through ozeki, sekiwake, komusubi and maegashira. About a quarter of them are in the top four grades. Its rikishi wear the elaborate oichomage topknot.

See also: Rikishi, Yokozuna, sanyaku, Maegashira

The ruleHow does a sumo wrestler become yokozuna?

Tournament terms

Tournament days

In a 15-day tournament each rikishi in the two top divisions fights once a day against a different opponent. Rikishi in makushita and below fight on seven days. The bouts run from the lowest ranks in the morning up to the yokozuna at the end of the day.

Championship

The winner is the rikishi with the best record of wins over losses in the top division, and receives the Emperor's Cup on the final day. Three further prizes (the shukunsho, the kantosho and the ginosho) go to rikishi with at least eight wins in fifteen.

Also called: yusho, Emperor's Cup
See also: Rikishi, Kantosho

Kachi-koshi

A winning record, more wins than losses. The booklet says ranks are revised on tournament performance, and that a winning or losing record moves a rikishi up or down is common usage.

Also called: make-koshi
See also: Rikishi

Amateur sumo

The sport as the International Sumo Federation uses the word: Japanese amateur sumo, with Japanese kept for terms of equipment and technique. It is open to men and women, who never fight each other, and the ring is 4.55 m across.

The ruleCan women do sumo?

I · Intermediate · 35 wordsNext: Intermediate words