We visited a Sumo wrestling "heya" (Japanese for room). This translates into English as "stable" - an organization of sumo wrestlers where they train and live. Sort of like the Geisha house for young ladies. This is the "heya" for young recruits, typically 15-16, straight from junior high school. They will live and train at the stable until they decide to retire. They have a disciplined regimen that begins early morning and includes hours of training, stretching (they can do a full center split and are quite flexible), eating an unlimited amount of chicken stock soup and vegetables and rice, twice a day, and sleeping.
Sumo wrestlers training is intense! We watched part of their morning session and they did more squats than most people do at the gym in a month. Attached is a photo of their squats and then leg lifts parallel to the ground at a side angle. My thighs hurt for them. They are developing "soft" muscles vs the hard muscles with their daily regiment. Underneath all that skin is a strong body. Why they would train that hard to be big and fat is beyond my comprehension!
After their morning training, they invited us to eat their daily soup of chicken, broth, and vegetables. It was delicious! This is a rare treat and not often offered to visitors. The Shangri La Hotel is our host for this trip and they have arranged more exclusive experiences than you could possibly imagine. We have been privileged to so much!
Enjoy the photos....the wrestlers were very amenable to the pictures.
I wonder if I could play better ping pong dressed like that?
ReplyDeleteYou are really getting the whole experience in Japan. Takako is back in town from Japan and would like to see you when you return. That should be fun.
Take care and see you soon.