It's pretty easy why gainers have a fascination with sumo wrestling. A career in which its encouraged for you to get as big as possible? How can you go wrong?
Unfortunately, life as a sumo is pretty awful. I had always wondered why I never saw a smiling sumo wrestler, but now its pretty apparent. Life is extremely regimented, and every hour of your day is dedicated to training or working. You have to live in what is essentially a commune, and are prohibited from doing many things like driving a car. But if you make it to the top and rise to the rank of Yokozuna, you can make a comfortable 2.8 million yen a month (just under 25000 usd).
Its a shame the sport is so steeped in tradition, otherwise it would be more appealing to young people. But I suppose it wouldn't be the same without it. That is its undoing, as the sport is becoming less popular in Japan. Mostly because young Japanese are not participating in such an offbeat lifestyle. Most of the top sumo wrestlers are not Japanese these days.
But the idea is still nice. It is for that reason I paint a very different picture of the sport in the world of my lion character. People get on my case for not sticking to reality, but where's the fun in that? Its nice to instead think of life as a sumo as being one where you get paid to simply eat, sleep, train (and occasionally have sex) with a dozen other enormous gainers. A life where can you become famous because of your size instead of looked down upon... That's what fantasy worlds are for, I suppose.
However, I was pleased to discover there is an amateur sumo league in the U.S. based in California. All of the fun of wrestling without the harsh lifestyle? Perhaps so. Unfortunately, their website goes down frequently, but there's a nice article Washington Post article about it here. I think, if we end up moving to California*, I will look into joining. That way, I wouldn't just be a gainer; I'd be an athlete.
(*That is, if Tuesday's election goes as planned. Get out there and vote, people! I don't want to have to move to Canada**!)
(**No offense to Canada though! I love Vancouver, but I love the Bay Area more, y'see~)
Sumo
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So, we (Californians) MAY be getting you as a new citizen here?!? WOW, really exciting!! It would be very cool to see you grow in ALL ways here.
ReplyDeleteouch! as a Canadian, that was like an icicle in my heart! It's not perpetually winter up here you know, despite the general (and wrong) misconceptions held by the people in the United States!!! Bloody Yanks! No wonder we like the British better.
ReplyDeleteI know you can eat yourself out of (US) football. I wonder if you can eat yourself out of sumo? Happy thought.....
ReplyDelete@ last post:
ReplyDeleteWell, during a match if you touch the ground with anything but your feet, you lose. So, if you grew to large to keep your gut off of the ground when you crouch, then I suppose you'd have to retire, eh? :3
Omg, move to Canada please. We'd love to have such a hot gainer up here.
ReplyDeleteThat'd be cool to see you as a real life sumo wrestler. ^^
ReplyDelete"Bloody Yanks! No wonder we like the British better."
ReplyDeleteThat would be because we Brits don't mind the ice I take it?
"if you grew to large to keep your gut off of the ground when you crouch, then I suppose you'd have to retire"
I guess that gives pear-shaped guys a double advantage - they have a lower centre of gravity than apple-shaped guys to begin with, plus their guts are smaller because of the extra weight on their legs, so they can get much heavier before they eat themselves out of the game.