Stereotyped Martial Arts: Sumo

​There are many misconceptions and stereotyping in the Martial Arts community.  

​I recently went out to get groceries and was wearing one of my Dojo’s karate t-shirts.  A man commented about my shirt and asked where I got it?  I said it was my Dojo’s t-shirt.  He was perplexed that it was my shirt AND that I do karate.  When I asked why it was so hard to believe he said, in his exact words…

​“Well… you—um— don’t look like you work out often.”

I’m not going to lie, I got my feelings hurt.  
​I’ve run into many misconceptions concerning Martial Arts but none are as prevalent as the stereotyping of body image.  The two largest forms of exposure for Martial Arts is movies and Mixed Martial Arts such as UFC.  It’s natural that the general public would automatically assume all female practitioners would look like Ronda Rousey.

Ronda Rousey former Olympian and UFC Champion...

Kenpo Girl: mother and karate instructor that likes cake.... and ice cream.

The truth is stereotyping can be found in every system. ​

 Kenpoists are stereotyped as large middle aged men who love Elvis and Kung Fu practitioners are viewed as tiny Oriental people that wear pajamas.  The only way to break stereotyping is educating yourself and not judging a book by its cover.  

​When I attended the 2016 Dragonfest in California I was introduced to the US Sumo Federation which demolished all misconceptions and stereotyping I had of Sumo.  I had the honor of meeting Trustee Bill Gossett and Treasurer Americus Abesamis whom is also an actor and amateur Sumo competitor.

​I learned the United States sent a team to the 1st World Championships in 1992 and created the US Sumo Federation, a non-profit organization serving as the governing body for amateur Sumo in the United States.

I was completely shocked to find out that Sumo was so popular in the United States that it would warrant an Organization such as the USSF.  The USSF might be considered a small organization compared to other Martial Arts but they currently have over 600 members which includes approximately 100 active adult athletes and with about 100 active youth in competitions.  There are numerous active sumo clubs in 15 states.  They even have active students or Rikishi in states that do not have an established club yet.

​I had a hard time wrapping my head around those numbers. 
Whenever I thought about Sumo with my naïve mind; I pictured huge, obese, scantily clad Japanese men wrestling each other. I was blinded by one of the oldest stereotype of Sumo…

Size

The image I had in my mind had been painted by the Professional Sumo in Japan.  In professional Sumo there are no weight divisions.  Hence the theory—the bigger you are the better you will do.  The amateur Sumo has different weight divisions for the Rikishi.
​  

Tom Zabel, President of the USSF further explained,

​“During our competitions and demonstrations we show people that our athletes come from a variety of ethnic, cultural, and sporting backgrounds. Many athletes come to the sport with a background in judo, freestyle wrestling, other grappling sports, bodybuilding, football, and mixed martial arts.

Sumo is a contact sport and can be very rough. That roughness keeps some people away and attracts others. An average match lasts just a matter of seconds. It’s amazingly explosive –that’s the reason people love to watch it. The burst of energy and adrenaline makes sumo as physically and mentally intense as any sport can be.”

Definitely not a sport or Martial Art for a lazy person.  The USSF is trying to break all stereotypes of Sumo, especially to achieve their ultimate goal…
​

GOLD

​Yes the ultimate goal of the International Sumo Federation (IFS) is to make Sumo an Olympic sport. The IFS has had to make some adjustments, which are changing the face of Sumo.
​
Any new sport admitted into the Olympics has to be open to both male and female.  Thus, women are now invited to compete. The first female World Sumo Championships were in 2001.  The USSF sent a full ladies team to the 2015 World Championships for the first time.

Mr. Zabel says,

“The biggest obstacle is the stereotype that sumo is for men and especially for the “big” men. It is slowly becoming more popular with the ladies, mainly due to the fact that they see that there are weight divisions and that there are some very athletic women that do sumo. It’s not just for “big” people.”

These are the battles of stereotypes the USSF and the IFS has had to battle.  

The reason they are winning is because they have found the best way to reach out to people is through education.  The USSF does demonstrations to help educate the public of their sport and culture.

To some it will always be some that will want to judge a book by its cover.

  It’s easier in their mind set to draw up conclusions rather than to take time to educate themselves.  You can’t fix stupid and it will drive you nuts trying too.

​I study karate to level the playing field in the event I must defend myself and my son.  Remember, it takes 25 pounds of pressure to break a smaller bone, it takes even less to break the nose, to pop out an eye ball or to simply crush the groin.  I don’t plan on over powering an attacker.  I plan on breaking them.

​My Sifu always says, “Karate was made for women.  It’s an equalizer.”

Don’t let anyone discourage you because you aren’t what they expected.  Do what is best for you.  Hold your head up with pride because you are one of the few making the attempt to better yourself.

I'm Jesalyn. 
I’m a single mother. 
I’m an artist and writer.
I fall into the Bantamweight division and like to eat cake.
I am one of the many faces of Martial Arts…  

And proud of it.