European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 22, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday april 22 2007 living Large us tournament gives sport of sumo greater exposure o q cd c i o o co d attention american people the sport of the future is sumo a contest of great guile and strength of heart and mind that seems to offer nothing but exciting possibilities for a nation prone to pack on a few extra pounds at the us sumo open at the los Angeles sports Arena two weeks ago the largest Pun both intended and not Amateur sumo contest in the country 50 combatants battled in the circular ring grunting and slapping and shoving each other to the wild squeals of a crowd that booed and cheered for both master and underdog it was wrestle mania with supersize me styling a and nothing about it was fake Here Are some things we Learned about us sur no first of ail in Ameri Ca the sport is still dominated by for Eigners and Immi Grants Best of All the mongolians some of the athletes snack most heartily during their Breaks there is also a time out called for lunch they carry heaping piles of noodles very popular As they str twaddle around in their Bath Robes like Tony Soprano going Down the driveway to get his morning paper one of the big Gest crowd teasers of the Day turns out to be a Blond norwegian named Hans Borg 6 feet 2 331 pounds who showboat around the ring loosing the crowd of 2500 with raised fists the kind of performance that would never happen in tradition bound Japan the birth place of this ancient ceremonial mar tial Art in a Brief interview ringside with Borg we ask the to obvious question sumo Norway Whala i am a special Guy from Norway Borg says and grins with mock men Ace no one like me this is a Guy who would definitely not fit into the Middle seat on any Commer Cial Airliner but then you look Down at his legs and see pure rippling muscle logs says one of his opponents after he was Flung airborne from the ring by Borg he comes at you like a fully loaded freight train sumo Here is fought in weight Divi Sions lightweight up to 187 middleweight up to 253 and heavy weight Over and when we say Over we mean Over there were matches in which the combined mass of the two wrestlers topped 800 pounds and the sport which has olympic aspirations includes women six competed saturday and they fought like welled tigers in America he thinks sumo should be an olympic sport but predicts it wont happen any time soon Why not i think the problem is the attire in not sure the world is ready for big Guys with their Cheeks hanging out Ash the buttocks it does take a Little to not sure the world is ready for big Guys with their Cheeks hanging Art Morrow English teacher and sumo wrestler on the Odds of sumo Ever becoming an olympic sport Kelly Gneiting gets compares sumo to the Washington Post set for a bout at the us sumo open at the los Angeles sports Arena Gneiting a former truck Driver Speed chess a lot of sumo bouts Are Over in three seconds he says having weight divisions Means that getting used to in sumo a Spectator is sumo is not just the sport for the biggest exposed to a wide landscape of Fleshy boys on the Block consider Art mor jiggling muscular Bottoms because the Row Bald and bespectacled English teacher from Palm desert Calif who at 42 and a Mere 185 pounds was an obvious underdog people ask me what Are you doing this weekend and when i Tell them in going to get my butt kicked in an International sumo tournament there not sure if they want to believe me says Morrow who mostly did get his rear handed to him but with a lot of class for 10 years Morrow had lived in mat the stereotype explains Murrow is that sumo is big fat Guys fighting in diapers we hate that term there not diapers if anything there More like thongs Murrow like All the women and about a fourth of the men is wearing spandex gym shorts beneath his a Wash he says he would gladly go commando sans shorts but his a Wash is a club Belt meaning it is shared among wrestlers so for personal Hygiene As much As anything else i fight with the shorts Murrow says wearing nothing but his Kawashi is former truck Driver Kelly Gneiting 36 now a statistician for the Navajo nation Gneiting is a gentle giant he weighs in at 420 pounds but ringside he is As Sweet As a cartoon Bear Gneiting wrestled in College but then kept gaining weight i kept trying to lose pounds but i just  he says and once you get this big what Are your options if youre this big Guy who still is athletic and you still want to com Pete one Day surfing the to channels he came upon a sumo match and i had Goose bumps he says because i knew that what id be really Good at sumo is not Only a physical match of Girth and strength its completely psychological Gneiting says after the two combatants enter the ring they Bow squat and clap then face off and stare into each others eyeballs before the referee gives them the godhead to collide into each other like particles in an atom smasher he compares sumo to Speed chess two fighters begin their contest from a Low squat like football linemen de pending on a fans Vantage Point one which he plays to keep his mind As could indeed see ail the Way to France agile As his body a lot of sumo bouts the sumo wrestler wears a thick Are Over in three seconds he says elaborately tied Canvas Belt around his the Days Field includes wrestlers gut with a Sling thing that slips Between from Italy Germany Kazakhstan bul the legs its called the maw Asnithe Garia and especially Mongolia whose garment is Central to the sport because fighters Are also among the elite Corn one of the main moves in sumo which pet tors in Japan in fact the Mongo has surprisingly few rules no Eye Oug lians do dominate on saturday Byam ing no hair pulling no closed fist punch Bayav Ula Bayar is the winning mens Japan where he became infatuated ing is for a wrestler to grab hold of the heavyweight and Sambus dash ulam with the sport but obviously it want Kawashi of his opponent for Purchase is the women but americans include something i could pursue in Japan the and to use that fulcrum to twist or flip or ing those from Hawaii put in Strong weight classes opened the door for him push his foe out of the ring or onto the Silver and Bronze performances