(ME by my son BEN…)

My photos of sumo practice, early morning

Woke up at 6 am… drove direction the sumo stable near Asakusa, about an hour away from home, to watch the practice. I did not go for a couple of years and I missed it…. . Also I wanted my children to experience this unique sport rules and history, I want them to be strongly connected to Japan and its culture as they have a quater of Japanese blood running in their veins!

It is very interesting, ana amazing experince. My husband Ken asked Ozeki Konishiki to explain to our boys his personal journey as a sumo westler… fascinating!

My friend Andrea McTamaney joigned us with her children. Also Nick Wood and Norico with his children, son Skye & daughter Aqua. Also some of my husband”s friends from the sport industry came with us.

It is a very intense sport, because it is very difficult to stay in the top rank, even if you succeed, you can be dropped to the lowest level with no consideration. The young sumos must wake up everyday at 4:30 am, prepare food then they start practicing before everyone else. The lowest the rank, the earliest nd the hrdest you have to work each day. There is no day off, it is a 7 days a week training event…. only a week afetr the tournament can they rest for a few days…

Somo wrestling is physically very hard, because most of them get injured and need to recover but even though, they must attend the daily practice, in order to keep their flexibility and to keep building muscle mass.

It is very stressing also to keep the weight always… and the mental has to be strong always or they loose confidence and they keep loosing…

AJK McTamaney photos….

Cassia and Kyle, Andrea’s adorable little twins….

Photos by my darling… singer Norico.com (Top 10-Finalist in 1999)