history of sumo wrestling

Sumo wrestling is an ancient sport that dates back over one thousand five hundred years years. Japanese legend has it that the actual origin of the Japanese people as a race depended on the outcome of a sumo wrestling contest.

The Japanese people on the islands of Japan are said to have established their claim to these islands when the god, Take-mikazuchi, won a sumo match against the chief of a rival tribe.

During the Nara Period in the eighth century sumo became part of the ceremonies of the Japanese Imperial Court. A wrestling festival was held each year that included dancing and music in which the winning Sumo wrestlers took part.

The 1st sumo wrestling matches took the form of a ritual dedicated to the gods with prayers for a bountiful harvest. They were performed along with sacred dramas and dancing within the walls of the Shinto shrines.

Early sumo matches was rough. Sumo combined parts of wrestling and boxing with very few or no rules. But at the Imperial Japanese Court rules were introduced and techniques developed so that it became more regulated and resembled the sumo wrestling of today.