Japanese Sports

+Sumo

This is traditional Japanese wrestling
and in 1909 was established as the national sport.
In ancient times, it was practiced as agricultural and Shinto rituals,
so it still today includes many ceremonial elements.
In a sumo match, two wrestler's wearing only a sumo wrestler's loincloth enter the ring,
and they fight until one either leaves the ring or touches the ground
with any part of his body other than the bottom of his feet.
The Japan Sumo Association puts on six annual tournaments of the professional sumo per year,
and these are broadcast on both television and radio.
Since the 1960s, overseas tours of the tournaments of the professional
sumo have frequently made, and have become so popular internationally that
an English sumo magazine called "Sumo World" is avidly read
in a number of countries. In addition,
the accomplishments of foreign wrestlers recently have attracted attention.

+Judo

Judo is one of Japan's representative techniques of hand-to-hand combat.
About one hundred years ago KANO Jigoro reshaped traditional martial
arts and developed judo as a sport through the establishment of Kodokan Judo.
The key point of judo is to overwhelm an opponent
by taking advantage of his force and weight.
Judo techniques can be roughly divided into two categories:
throwing techniques and grappling techniques.
The color of participants' belts shows rank which indicates physical ability.
For example, those of the fifth class, the lowest rank, wear a white belt,
those the first to the fifth rank wear a black belt,
and those of the ninth and the tenth rank, the highest ranks,
wear a red belt. After World War áU,
judo spread everywhere in North America and Europe and became
an official Olympic event. The International Judo Federation was founded
in 1951 and currently 152 member nations(by Augus1992)

+Kendo (Japanese fencing)

Kendo is somewhat similar to fencing.
It originally was propagated as a discipline
for warriors and took its current form from around
the middle of the Edo Period(1603-1867). In a kendo match,
the two combatants wear protective outfits resembling armor(yoroi)
and attack with bamboo swords. They score points
by hitting their opponent's head, trunk, forearms or charging
at their throat with the bamboo sword.
The match lasts no more than five minutes and the winner is
the first to score two out of three points.
Kendo is well known overseas as a sport that can discipline mind and body.
The International Kendo Federation was founded in 1970 and currently has 31 member nations(by August 1992).