As I've said before, I typically go to bed around 7:30. I'll lay in bed and watch a program to get sleepy and usually turn off the TV and be asleep by 8:30 or 9:00 at the latest.
It's actually pretty amazing the channels I get for free over-the-air. Channel surfing the other night I came across NHK Japan and they were broadcasting the highlight matches of the Grand Sumo tournament currently going on over there.
I started watching out of curiosity. Other than the stereotypical portrayals in movies or commercials I had never actually seen it before.
I have to admit: I'm getting pulled in.
The rules are simple: Push the other guy out of the ring or make any part of his body other than the bottom of his feet touch the floor. But it gets interesting. Most matches last only a few seconds. Other matches last a few minutes.
The amazing thing to me is how fast they are even at their size and how there is no size class. There are some matches where one wrestler is half the size (or less) than the other. They use their quickness to win.
The last match last night was really amazing: The two wrestlers had gotten locked together and were pivoting for position when one of them suddenly shifted his leg inside the other guys leg and in one lighting fast, fluid motion flipped him over his hip.
But as I said before the rules are simple: Whoever hits the floor of the ring first loses. The wrestler that pulled off that brilliant move had his knee touch the ground just a millisecond before the wrestler he tossed crashed hard on his back.
They had to go to the instant replay to call it.
Anyway, I looked it up this morning and here's NHK's page on it that I'll be reading up on for a while as soon as I'm done here.
www3.nhk.or.jp
It's actually pretty amazing the channels I get for free over-the-air. Channel surfing the other night I came across NHK Japan and they were broadcasting the highlight matches of the Grand Sumo tournament currently going on over there.
I started watching out of curiosity. Other than the stereotypical portrayals in movies or commercials I had never actually seen it before.
I have to admit: I'm getting pulled in.
The rules are simple: Push the other guy out of the ring or make any part of his body other than the bottom of his feet touch the floor. But it gets interesting. Most matches last only a few seconds. Other matches last a few minutes.
The amazing thing to me is how fast they are even at their size and how there is no size class. There are some matches where one wrestler is half the size (or less) than the other. They use their quickness to win.
The last match last night was really amazing: The two wrestlers had gotten locked together and were pivoting for position when one of them suddenly shifted his leg inside the other guys leg and in one lighting fast, fluid motion flipped him over his hip.
But as I said before the rules are simple: Whoever hits the floor of the ring first loses. The wrestler that pulled off that brilliant move had his knee touch the ground just a millisecond before the wrestler he tossed crashed hard on his back.
They had to go to the instant replay to call it.
Anyway, I looked it up this morning and here's NHK's page on it that I'll be reading up on for a while as soon as I'm done here.
GRAND SUMO Highlights - TV - NHK WORLD - English
NHK WORLD TV offers a sumo highlights show for sumo fans around the globe.
