EDITOR'S NOTE: That the Japanese are avid sports-fans is apparent from the extreme popularity of baseball these days, but the Japanese love for sport is deeper than that: the national games have become a part of Japanese culture. Below is the first in a series of three articles on the most national of the sports: Sumo, Judo and Karate, in order that the foreigner in Japan may reach a fuller understanding of this most important facet of Japanese life.

    COMBAT, close to the hearts of all peoples, was fostered early in Japan but, different from other nations, when civilized into sport, wrestling and not boxing became of the highest importance.
    One of the reasons for this may be the Japanese mode of living; they usually squat or sit on the thighs when at rest and have thus developed powerful legs and hips in comparison with those peoples in the habit of sitting on chairs. Japanese wrestling is the natural outcome of a contest between two men each wishing to overthrow the other by a utilization of his strongest power, his legs. It is highly probable that the art of sumo (pronounced s'mo and never soomo), or Japanese wrestling, has existed among the people since the origin of the race.
    The first historical instance occurred in the second-century. Sumo, at this time, though a developed art was frowned upon by the nobles; lords might fight with swords but never engage in vulgar wrestling. However, one Taimano Kehaya, a nobleman noted for his stature and strength, begged the emperor permission to wrestle, presumably in order to show off his prowess. The emperor finally consented, thus establishing a precedent, and a bout was arranged with a well-known wrestler named Nomino Shikune.
    The day of the match arrived and Taimano Kehaya, arrayed in his most sumptuous loin-cloth, marched off to the contest. There he was knocked down, kicked in the ribs and finally stomped to death by the irate Nomino Shikune. All of this put the art of wrestling back several centuries.
    Continuing in royal disfavor, sumo was mostly practiced by the financially lower classes until the twelfth century at which time the decadent royal court at Kyoto found it pleasant to affect an interest in the sport and many nobles attached wrestlers entourage along with dwarfs, famous prostitutes, actors and the more personable of the younger plebeians.
    When the Heian court collapsed and the Shogun moved the capital to Edo, the art of wrestling, having decayed amid the former surroundings, became a military instead of a decorative art and was at once encouraged and patronized by the militaristic nobles.
    It was at this time, quite late in its development, that sumo became formalized, much in the manner of Western boxing. Umpires were appointed who drew up a system of rules outlawing many of the common practices.
    Forty-eight falls were decided upon as fair: twelve kinds of straight throws; twelve lifts; twelve kinds of throws over the back and twelve twists. Practices no longer condoned were: jumping on the fallen foe; crushing throats; kicking in the face and more vulnerable body areas; breaking bones; pulling hair and untying the opponent's loin-cloth.
    The wrestling stage was also standardized. Originally the contestants wrestled on the ground, then it was decided to raise the platform so that more spectators might see. Eight large flat bales of rice were laid in a square thus forming the dimensions of the present ring - eighteen feet on each side.
    The formalization of sumo likewise intensified the marked aesthetic aspect of the sport. It is indicative of the Japanese character that their most strenuous sport, sumo, should be as aesthetically coherent as their most subtle art, noh, for example. The same ritual is observed, the same symbolism intended and the same artistic entity preserved in both.
    Thus, the peaked roof over the stage is supported by four pillars, each representing a season, precisely as in noh. Likewise, the bunting which stretches from the spring to winter pillars symbolizes the four seasons and their cycles. Both of these conventions stem from the time when wrestling was a form of supplication of a then purely agricultural people. Too, the floor of the ring is made of hard clay but over it is thrown a layer of sand, representing, it is supposed, the ephemeral soil itself.
    The actions of the wrestlers, even when not in battle, is prescribed and adhered to. Once in the ring their every step is ordained by custom and tradition, again as in noh. The movements of the umpire, too, are equalled in intricacy only by the highly esoteric fan code through which he informs the devotees of the various falls and decisions.
    In costume the wrestler also adheres to tradition. Upon entering the ring each wears a straw, paper and cloth girdle which may be traced back to early fertility rites. The highest reward a wrestler may attain is a girdle made of a large bleached rope the phallic origin of which is not in the least disguised.
    The entrance of the wrestlers, is indicative of the marked degree of standardization imposed upon the sport, by comparison with which Western wrestling seems impromptu. At the beginning of the matches all wrestlers taking part assemble in a circle in the ring and together remove their ceremonial girdles. This is followed by a mutual oath after which they take their seats, at the east and west of the stage - positions retained from the time when wrestlers were separated into east and west sections of the islands.
    When one's turn for battle arrives he carefully enters the ring and performs the customary ablutions. He rinses his mouth with water and then, with a single large piece of paper, wipes his lips, face and entire body. He then throws a handful of salt onto the ring as an act of purification as salt has, agriculturally, a strong sterilizing power and serves, in this case, as an agent of exorcism.
    Each warrior then faces the other and, raising one foot then the other, brings them down forcibly onto the ring floor. This is supposedly symbolic of the ancient warrior's expectation of trampling his foe to death. Cups of water, analogous to our handshake, are exchanged and each wrestler rinses his mouth. Immediately they assume the first stance which is on the haunches, facing the other.
    The extreme size and apparent obesity of the Japanese wrestler has long seemed incongruous to the West, used to lithe slim athletes. The reason lies in the diet of the fighter and the fact that weight is extremely necessary in sumo.
    The match, today, has been refined into a struggle for balance in which the purpose is to remain on two feet yet overturn the enemy. Weight is important for this. During the battle if any part of the wrestler other than the soles of his feet, even be it but a finger, touches the ring he is at once disqualified.
    But power is needed as well as weight. From earliest youth the nascent sumo wrestler receives the most intensive training. Limbs are beaten with clubs to make them powerful; shoulders and thighs are butted against wooden posts. In line With training they are, morally, required to refrain from every excess except gluttony which is fostered.
    In the actual matches every bit of former training is needed. From the first, at a flick from the referee's fan, the wrestlers assume the second stance, the equivalent of the get-set position of Western athletics. The referee now carefully watches until the breathing of one is in exact accord with the other, so that neither may have the slight but important advantage of relaxation over the other. At a third movement of the fan the wrestlers charge for each other. Often the accord of breathing will not have been simultaneous and then the match will be declared foul, a new one, using the same wrestlers, beginning at once.
    Each match is of necessity short, lasting only as long as it takes for one wrestler to force the other from the ring or to the floor. Again according to rigid formula the wrestlers bow to each other and leave the ring to be succeeded by two more, the entertainment continuing all day, finals being played in the Western manner on succeeding days.
    While on a performing circuit their life is almost celibate. They have no regular ritual of training such as do Western boxers or wrestlers because it is quite difficult for a fine sumo wrestler to get out of training but, all the same, the daily schedule is strenuous.
    He rises at 7 a.m. and practices with others until noon at which time he eats his customary enormous lunch. Matches start from one and usually continue to four at which time the wrestlers are finished for the day. For relaxation they prefer the most innocuous pastimes such as chess, pool, watching baseball or social dancing at any of the local dance halls. Occasionally they visit geisha where sumo are great favorites.
    At present, however, sumo as both an art and a business is having a difficult time as it is under the complete domination of the Sumo Kyokai, an association of former military men who, through the government, still exercise complete control over the wrestlers.
    During the war it was decided that they would make good soldiers despite the fact that the training of sumo is not conducive to the accepted sort of military warfare. They refused to obey and got away with it through their extreme popularity. The government retaliated by localizing their wrestling activities, restricting them to their various home prefectures, and by refusing them the necessary needed rations.
    Now, though they get their rations, plus 10,000 yen apiece for a 13-day exhibition, they are still controlled by their war-time bosses. There is much dissent in sumo circles at present, the wrestlers believing that their sponsors are war criminals and should be purged; the war criminals believing that this is their job and their own business.
    Still, despite the civil strife the sumo wrestler carries on the strenuous business of training and engaging in exhibitions.
    Sumo is perhaps the most national of all the Japanese sports as it combines an extreme amount of virility, not to be confused with Western toughness, with a surprising amount of aesthetic sensibility. Thus sumo may be said to be an exact expression of the Japanese people, whose character it reflects so greatly.