Re: [SUMO] Rikishi's Income UP

["Brett D. DePaola" <depaola@phys.ksu.edu>]

Bob Simmonds wrote:

>>At 12:29 PM 10/21/97 -0700, Abe wrote:
>>>.... so that it is much more attractive to the younger prospect
>>>sportsmen competing against professional baseball, soccer and other
>>>existing and planned professional sports in Japan.
>
>      Seems to me we have to consider body types here...I have seen very few
>  rikishi...Terao, Mainoumi, Kyokudozan, who seemed likely to succed in any
>  other sport except American football or other forms of wrestling...not that
>  i have anything against higher pay for them!>

Body types can be developed.  Before I actually started getting the
opportunity to watch live sumo, (starting from the 15 year olds at
8am!) I had always thought that sumo attracted mainly the chubby kids.
Not true!  The 15 year olds I've seen competing are typically very
skinny kids.  The point is that many of today's upper level rikishi
started out with "normal" bodies, which were developed for sumo.  If
these guys as kids had been attracted to other professional sports,
they would have trained differently and their bodies, in many cases,
would have certainly developed differently.

Regards, 

Brett