Sumo strategy is a fascinating blend of physics and finesse. Common sense dictates that the bigger, more powerful wrestler will win, every time. Bulk up and you’re unstoppable. That is how Konishiki made a name for himself, after all. But what we find is diminishing marginal gains from that strategy as the body breaks down. Injuries and health issues pile up with increased burden on a fragile frame of bone and sinew, driven by the cardiac power plant.
The most massive Goliath must have some sort of capacity for offense. He cannot beat his opponent by standing in place. He must attack and get that great mass moving in a direction, from which it is difficult to stop — even himself. Thus, all hope is not lost for the smaller, lighter wrestlers for whom agility is their most valuable weapon. The basic choice is to shove and push the opponent backward or grab them and grapple, often with leverage provided by a hold on their mawashi, armpits or abdomen.
Conceptually, this is usually simplified to the old oshi/tsuki versus yotsu debate. Oshi (押し) means, “push,” while tsuki (突き) means “thrust,” so they really fit together for what we refer to as “pusher-thrusters.” Yotsu (四つ) refers to the four arms or points of contact for the pair of grapplers, idealized as four hands gripping the mawashi.
Raw size and strength meet balance, misdirection, and efficiency of force. These crucial tools help level the playing field. This is why the heaviest rikishi often do not advance from the lower divisions — though neither do the lightest. So, wrestlers often specialize and focus on perfecting their preferred strategy, honing it in such a way to know how to react to their opponent’s attempts to defend or counter-attack. Keep this in mind when you see the “utchari” move in the video below.
Over the decades and centuries, the sumo-science of “how to win” has ultimately been formalized into eighty-two official kimarite with the most common being the most basic: oshidashi and yorikiri the pusher-thruster’s “good old” push out and the grappler’s force out. There are also five “non-techniques” which are basically used when someone loses on accident…like by accidentally taking a knee or accidentally stepping out.
The Basics
These videos from Konishiki introduce us to the most common methods of winning. Over the past two years, the methods covered in this first video accounted for the decisive move in 75% of all top division bouts (excluding fusen, or no-contests, obviously). The second video introduces a few of the most common grappling techniques which, when added with those from the first video, have accounted for 91% of wins. So, if you know these, you’re in a really good place and ready to dive a bit deeper.
Grappling Moves
The last part of this second video goes into some detail of strategies of “cutting” the belt, or wresting your belt from your opponent’s grasp. Another term you will hear used frequently is “ottsuke,” which is a way of using your arm to apply pressure to your opponent’s arm to prevent him from gaining a hold on your belt. You can either lock on and squeeze or press out to block that arm from getting a grip. If you trap it inside your arm, you can often twist and create a kotenage counter-attack. You often hear kotenage translated as an “arm bar.”
Combo Moves
This final video shows a couple of flashier combo moves, including uchimuso, which has been used four times by Aonishiki during his rise in the top division. Konishiki then discusses sumo styles with some clips from his career. If you can spot these moves in real time, you’ve got a better eye than I. It usually takes a slo-mo replay for me.
Links to some great official sources are here: The Japan Sumo Association has a full list of them in Japanese with (tiny) pictures. The NHK has a great resource here, in English, with videos narrated by some familiar voices. Frankly, that’s a lot. It’s always good to break it down to those which are most often seen, and that’s what Konishiki did here.