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The following expressions
all originate from sumo. |
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八百長 |
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This refers to a
match or a competition, the result of which is set up beforehand.
It comes from 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 to humour him. |
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「あの試合は絶対に八百長だと思う。」
'I'm
sure that that match was set up.' |
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胸を借りる |
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Literally
'to borrow someone's chest', this means you are given a workout
by fighting a far superior opponent, as in sumo. |
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「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.' |
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人のふんどしで相撲をとる |
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ふんどし
(loincloth) is here used as まわし .
This means to get ahead by using the ability of others. |
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独り相撲 |
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Literally
'sumo wrestling with yourself' this refers to a situation in
which someone struggles alone and makes a big fuss with little
result. |
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ドジ |
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In
the Edo Period there was an expression 「土地を踏む」
which referred to a wrestler stepping 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. |
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「あいつは本当にドジなやつだな」
'That
guy is a real bungler.' |
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東vs西 |
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In
Sumo tournaments, all wrestlers are divided into two groups,東(East)
and 西(West),
and 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」
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はっきよい、のこった |
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These
phrases are yelled out by the 行司(referee)
during a match. 「はっきよい」（はっけよい is
sometimes used but is not officially correct is said to be an
abbreviation from 発揮揚々
, which means '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. |
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Each
sumo wrestler has his own ring name or 四股名
. This name usually includes kanji which has the connotation
of 'big' or 'strong'. 海(ocean)
and 山(mountain)
are very common in wrestlers' names. Other examples are龍(dragon),力(power),
島(island),
波(big wave),
富士(Mt. Fuji).
The other part of the name usually indicates the 部屋(stable)
to which the wrestler belongs. This is derived from the ring
name of the 親方(stable
master), with names such as 貴 ,琴,千代
. The kanji in the
name of the Mongolian champion 朝青龍 comes
from the 四股名 of
his master. Sometimes the name of a wrestler's hometown or his
real name is used. The kanji or kana 乃 ,之
,ノ (all
are equivalents of the particle ) often connects these parts
to form a single name. |
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Make
your own 四股名 !
eg.
ジョン乃山、金ノ海、ボンダイ龍、貴乃港 港
= (harbour) |
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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 called
総合格闘技
or mixed martial arts, in which athletes from
various martial arts of the world fight together.
As well as contestants from pro-wrestling,
karate, kickboxing and so on, there are also
former sumo よこづな
and Olympic 柔道
gold medallists. Stadiums where these tournaments
take place such as Tokyo Dome, which accommodates
over 55000 people, are always full, with young
women among the enthusiastic fans. |
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K-1
(http://www.k-1.co.jp/)
is one of the most popular mixed martial arts in Japan, in which
contestants of full-contact martial arts from all over the world
such as karate, kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do and Muay 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 of tournament,
which includes a wide variety of martial arts such as Brazilian
jujitsu. |
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Section
coordinated by Kazuhiro Isomura |
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