Editing Sumo (section)

==Rules and customs==
[[Image:Azumafuji vs Tochinishiki 1953-10-29.jpg|thumb|[[Azumafuji]] defeating [[Tochinishiki]] via the "overarm throw" (''[[uwatenage]]'') technique, 1953]]
The elementary principle of sumo is that a match is decided by a fighter first either being forced out of the circular ''[[dohyō]]'' (ring) (not necessarily having to touch the ground outside the ring with any part of the body), or touching the ground inside the ring with any part of the body other than the soles of the feet. The wrestlers try to achieve this by pushing, tossing, striking and often by outwitting the opponent.<ref name="winning">{{cite web |url=https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/sumo/sumo02.html |title=Winning a Sumo Bout |work=Kids Web Japan |publisher=[[Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Japan)|Ministry of Foreign Affairs]] |access-date=16 May 2020 |archive-date=August 7, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200807170721/https://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/sumo/sumo02.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Japan Sumo Association]] currently distinguishes 82 ''[[kimarite]]'' (winning techniques), some of which come from [[judo]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Kimarite Menu|url=http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/kimarite/index.html|publisher=[[Japan Sumo Association]]|access-date=20 January 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709042119/http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/kimarite/index.html|archive-date=9 July 2009}}</ref> Illegal moves are called ''[[kinjite]]'', which include strangulation, hair-pulling, bending fingers, gripping the crotch area, kicking, poking eyes, punching and simultaneously striking both the opponent's ears. The most common basic forms are grabbing the opponent by the ''[[mawashi]]'' (belt) and then forcing him out, a style called {{nihongo3||四つ相撲|yotsu-zumō}}, or pushing the opponent out of the ring without a firm grip, a style called {{nihongo3||押し相撲|oshi-zumō}}.

The ''dohyō'', which is constructed and maintained by the ''[[yobidashi]]'', consists of a raised pedestal on which a circle {{convert|4.55|m|ft|abbr=on}} in diameter is delimited by a series of rice-straw bales. In the middle of the circle there are two starting lines (''[[Glossary of sumo terms#S|shikiri-sen]]''), behind which the wrestlers line up for the ''tachi-ai'', the synchronized charge that initiates the match.<ref name=BBOS>{{cite book |last=Hall |first=Mina |title=The Big Book of Sumo: History, Practice, Ritual, Fight |publisher=Stone Bridge Press |year=1997 |isbn=1-880656-28-0 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/bigbookofsumohis00hall}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.kheliyad.com/2019/10/sumo-wrestling-heavyweight-japan-part-1.html |title=what is Dohyo |last=Pathade |first=Mahesh |website=Kheliyad |access-date=March 9, 2020 |archive-date=March 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200317172654/https://www.kheliyad.com/2019/10/sumo-wrestling-heavyweight-japan-part-1.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The direction of the match is incumbent on the ''[[gyōji]]'', a referee who is supported by five ''[[Judge (sumo)|shimpan]]'' (judges). In some situations, a review of the ''gyōji''{{'}}s decision may be needed. The ''shimpan'' may convene a conference in the middle of the ring, called a ''[[Glossary of sumo terms#M|mono-ii]]''. This is done if the judges decide that the decision over who won the bout needs to be reviewed; for example, if both wrestlers appear to touch the ground or step out of the ring at the same time. In these cases, sometimes video is reviewed to see what happened. Once a decision is made, the chief judge will announce the decision to the spectators and the wrestlers alike. They may order a bout to be restarted, or leave the decision as given by the ''gyōji''. Occasionally the ''shimpan'' will overrule the ''gyōji'' and give the bout to the other wrestler. On rare occasions the referee or judges may award the win to the wrestler who touched the ground first. This happens if both wrestlers touch the ground at nearly the same time and it is decided that the wrestler who touched the ground second had no chance of winning, his opponent's superior ''sumo'' having put him in an irrecoverable position. The losing wrestler is referred to as being ''[[shini-tai]]'' ("dead body") in this case.<ref name="NHKQA">{{cite news|author=Morita, Hiroshi|url=https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/sumo/qa/|title=Sumo Q&A|work=[[NHK World-Japan]]|access-date=December 25, 2020|archive-date=December 7, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207164607/https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/tv/sumo/qa/|url-status=live}}</ref>

The maximum length of a match varies depending on the division. In the top division, the limit is four minutes, although matches usually only last a few seconds. If the match has not yet ended after the allotted time has elapsed, a ''mizu-iri'' ([[Water stop (sports)|water break]]) is taken, after which the wrestlers continue the fight from their previous positions. If a winner is still not found after another four minutes, the fight restarts from the ''tachi-ai'' after another ''mizu-iri''. If this still does not result in a decision, the outcome is considered a ''hikiwake'' ([[Draw (tie)|draw]]). This is an extremely rare result, with the last such draw being called in September 1974.<ref name="Sharnoff">{{Cite book |author=Sharnoff, Lora |title=Grand Sumo|publisher=Weatherhill |year=1993 |isbn=0-8348-0283-X}}</ref>

A special attraction of sumo is the variety of observed ceremonies and rituals, some of which have been cultivated in connection with the sport and unchanged for centuries. These include the ring-entering ceremonies (''dohyō-iri'') at the beginning of each tournament day, in which the wrestlers appear in the ring in elaborate ''[[Mawashi#Keshō-mawashi|kesho-mawashi]]'', but also such details as the tossing of salt into the ring by the wrestlers, which serves as a symbolic cleansing of the ring,<ref name="NHKQA"/> and rinsing the mouth with {{Nihongo3|power water|力水|chikara-mizu}} before a fight, which is similar to the ritual before entering a Shinto shrine. Additionally, before a match begins the two wrestlers perform and repeat a warm up routine called ''shikiri''. The top division is given four minutes for ''shikiri'', while the second division is given three, after which the timekeeping judge signals to the ''gyōji'' that time is up.<ref name="NHKQA"/>

Traditionally, sumo wrestlers are renowned for their great girth and body mass, which is often a winning factor in sumo. No weight divisions are used in professional sumo; a wrestler can sometimes face an opponent twice his own weight. However, with superior technique, smaller wrestlers can control and defeat much larger opponents.<ref>{{cite web |title=Rules of Sumo |work=Beginner's Guide of Sumo |publisher=[[Japan Sumo Association]] |url=http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_joho_kyoku/shiru/kiso_chishiki/beginners_guide/rules.html |access-date=June 26, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070601161839/http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/ozumo_joho_kyoku/shiru/kiso_chishiki/beginners_guide/rules.html |archive-date=June 1, 2007 |df=mdy-all }}</ref> The average weight of top division wrestlers has continued to increase, from {{convert|125|kg}} in 1969 to over {{convert|150|kg}} by 1991, and was a record {{convert|166|kg}} as of January 2019.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201902190008.html|title=SUMO/ Heavier wrestlers blamed for increase in serious injuries|date=19 February 2019|newspaper=[[Asahi Shimbun]]|access-date=8 March 2019|archive-date=February 28, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190228121536/http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201902190008.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>