The following expressions all originate from sumo.

や お ちょう

八百 長This refers to a match or a competition, the result of which is set up beforehand. It comes fromや お やちょう べ え

the story of 八百屋の 長 兵衛 (Choubee the greengrocer) who also ran a sumo restaurant, and
who would always deliberately lose an Igo game with the president of the Sumo Association tohumour him.
し あい

ぜったい

や お ちょう

おも「あの試合は絶対に八百 長 だと思う」'I'm sure that that match was set up.'

むねか胸 を借りる
Literally 'to borrow someone's chest', this means you are given a workout by fighting a far
superior opponent, as in sumo.
こん どし あいむねか「今度の試合は胸 を借りるつもりでがんばります。」'We don't have a chance in this match, but we'll do our best and consider it as training.'

ひと

す もう

人のふんどしで相撲をとる
ふんどし (loincloth) is here used as まわし . This means to get ahead by using the ability ofothers.

ひと

す もう

独り相撲
Literally 'sumo wrestling with yourself' this refers to a situation in which someone struggles alone
and makes a big fuss with little result.

ドジどじふIn the Edo Period there was an expression 「土地を踏む」 which referred to a wrestler stepping
ふoutside the sumo ring. It has now become 「ドジを踏む」 which means to make a blunder. The
word is also used to refer to a person who blunders.
ほんとう「あいつは本当にドジなやつだな」'That guy is a real bungler.'A

ひがし ｖ ｓ にし

東 vs西
ひがしにし

In Sumo tournaments, all wrestlers are divided into two groups, 東 (East) and 西(West), andよだ

enter from either corner. Before each match the 呼び出し(ring attendant) calls out the names of
the competing wrestlers, drawing out his words.
「ひがーしー、むさしーまーる、にーしー、たかのーはーなー」

はっきよい、のこった
ぎょう じ

These phrases are yelled out by the 行 司(referee) during a match. 「はっきよい」（はっけよい is
はっ き よ う よ う

sometimes used but is not officially correct is said to be an abbreviation from 発揮揚々 , whichmeans 'lively, with vigour'.
「のこった」(literally 'it remains') is used to indicate that the fight is not over yet so the wrestlers
have to fight.
aしこ な

Each sumo wrestler has his own ring name or 四股名 . This name usually includes kanji which
うみやま

has the connotation of 'big' or 'strong'. 海(ocean) and 山(mountain) are very common inりゅうりきしまなみ

ふ じ

wrestlers' names. Other examples are 龍 (dragon), 力(power), 島(island), 波(big wave), 富士
へ や(Mt. Fuji). The other part of the name usually indicates the 部屋(stable) to which the wrestler
おやかたbelongs. This is derived from the ring name of the 親方(stable master), with names such as
たかこと ち よあさしょうりゅう

しこ

貴 ,琴,千代 . The kanji in the name of the Mongolian champion 朝 青 龍 comes from the 四股な名 of his master. Sometimes the name of a wrestler's hometown or his real name is used. Theののkanji or kana 乃 ,之 ,ノ (all are equivalents of the particle ) often connects these parts to form asingle name.
しこなMake your own 四股名 !の やま

かね の うみりゅう

たか の みなとeg. ジョン乃山、金 ノ海、ボンダイ 龍 、貴乃 港に ほんみなと（ 港 = harbor）

かくとう ぎ

日 本 の格闘技ブーム(Martial Arts Boom in Japan)
Recently martial arts have been enjoying a boom in Japan. The main current of this boom is
そう ご う か く と う ぎ

called 総合格闘技 or mixed martial arts, in which athletes from various martial arts of theworld fight together. As well as contestants from pro-wrestling, karate, kickboxing and so on,
よこづなじゅうどう

there are also former sumo 横綱 and Olympic 柔道 gold medallists. Stadiums where these
tournaments take place such as Tokyo Dome, which accommodates over 55000 people, arealways full, with young women among the enthusiastic fans.

K-1 is one of the most popular mixed martial arts in Japan, in which contestants of fullcontact martial arts from all over the world such as karate, kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do andMuay Thai fight together. Australian kickboxer Stan 'The Man' and karate champion Sam
Greco have also taken part in this tournament.

PRIDE (http://www.pridefc.com/) is the most popular 'ValeTudo' (anything goes) type oftournament, which includes a wide variety of martial arts such as Brazilian jujitsu.

Created by Kazuhiro Isomura