Little vs big: Judo vs sumo.

**Pakeha** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 4:22am

Takanoyama Shuntaro (AKA: Pavel Bojar), a 200 lb Judo player from the Czech Republic, competes at the elite level in Sumo.

Japanese

Watch Now!

**erezb** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 5:45am

Wow, he is fucking amazing!
I also really like watching sumo..i think those neck thrusts they do are brutal..

**Azatdawn** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 10:03am

That's pretty cool. I'm actually a little surprised they let him compete in the first place. Goes to show what I know about Japanese culture...

I wonder if a guy like him being there changes the way sumo wrestlers train. Probably not, though.

**NeilG** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 11:20am

Originally Posted by Azatdawn

That's pretty cool. I'm actually a little surprised they let him compete in the first place. Goes to show what I know about Japanese culture...

Foreigners have been competing in sumo for a long time.

**Azatdawn** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 11:53am

Originally Posted by NeilG

Foreigners have been competing in sumo for a long time.

Yeah, not the foreigner part. The fact that he's a comparatively small Judo guy that gets his wins in a not very sumo way made me wonder.

**Pakeha** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 6:23pm

from the wikipedia blurb.

Takanoyama Shuntaro (born 21 February 1983 as Pavel Bojar) is a sumo wrestler from Prague, Czech Republic. He is the first man from the Czech Republic to join the professional sport in Japan.[1] He reached the third highest makushita division in 2004, but due to his light weight he had difficulty in regularly beating his opponents, despite his skill.[2] However, in May 2011 he finally earned promotion to the sekitori ranks. After becoming only the third new sekitori since 1958 to pass through juryo division in just one tournament, he made his debut in the top makuuchi division in September 2011.

apparently his biggest problem is putting on weight. Wish i suffered from that....

**Mr. Machette** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 6:28pm

It's pretty cool seeing the smaller man display such solid technique.

Even cooler is seeing the big guy go for a throw and not being able to lift the Judoka more than an inch or two off the ground.

Now THAT is a well developed base!

**Permalost** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 6:35pm

Originally Posted by Azatdawn

Yeah, not the foreigner part. The fact that he's a comparatively small Judo guy that gets his wins in a not very sumo way made me wonder.

well, sumo traditionally doesn't have weight classes, so any sized person could compete (but obviously it generally helps if you're huge). Also, sumo shares a lot of techniques in common with judo and I'll bet a sumo fan could identify the judo moves he did as sumo moves as well.

**Pakeha** · Posted On: 8/30/2012 7:29pm

Originally Posted by Permalost

I'll bet a sumo fan could identify the judo moves he did as sumo moves as well.

having read about him a bit more he has trained sumo with in respected stable so labeling him as a "judo guy" is a big overstatement. But he looks like that because he relies on throws etc because of his size.

the wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takanoyama_Shuntaro