The rules of sumo wrestling come down to one short contest with one simple goal: force your opponent out of the ring, or make any part of his body other than the soles of his feet touch the ground. Whoever does that first wins. The bouts are settled in seconds, but behind that simplicity sits a structured world of ranks, six grand tournaments a year, and a long list of legal and illegal moves.
The basic objective: out of the ring or down on the ground
A sumo bout has two ways to win, and both are easy to spot. The first is to push, throw, or force your opponent out of the ring so that he steps or falls beyond its boundary. The second is to make him touch the ground inside the ring with any part of his body other than the soles of his feet. A hand, a knee, an elbow, the back, even the top of the head touching down ends the match at once.
Because either of those settles the contest, sumo bouts are short. Many last only a few seconds. There are no rounds and no points. One wrestler wins, the other loses, and the result is decided the instant a body part hits the ground or crosses the line. A referee, the gyoji, declares the winner, with ringside judges on hand to review close calls.
The dohyo: the clay ring
The ring is called the dohyo. It is a raised platform built from packed clay and topped with a layer of sand. The fighting area is marked by a ring of partly buried rice-straw bales, and that circle of bales is the boundary the wrestlers are trying to force each other beyond.
Two short starting lines, the shikiri-sen, are drawn in the center of the ring. The wrestlers crouch behind these lines to begin. The dohyo is treated as a sacred space, which is why so much of the ritual you see before a bout — the salt thrown to purify the ring, the stamping, the careful preparation — takes place on and around it.
The ranks: from jonokuchi up to makuuchi
Professional sumo is organized as a ladder of six divisions. Every wrestler starts at or near the bottom and climbs by winning. From the lowest division upward, the order is jonokuchi, jonidan, sandanme, makushita, juryo, and finally makuuchi, the top division that gets most of the television coverage and crowd attention.
A wrestler’s rank is not fixed. The official ranking sheet, the banzuke, is redrawn before each tournament. Win consistently and you move up; lose and you slide down. Where a wrestler stands on that ladder shapes everything from how often he fights to what he is paid.
That pay distinction is important. Wrestlers in the top two divisions — juryo and makuuchi — are known as sekitori. They are the salaried wrestlers, the ones who have reached the professional ranks proper. Those in the four divisions below earn a small allowance rather than a full salary, so reaching juryo and becoming a sekitori is one of the great milestones of a sumo career. Within the top makuuchi division there are also named senior ranks, with yokozuna, the grand champion, standing at the very top.
The tournaments: six honbasho a year
Sumo’s official grand tournaments are called honbasho. Six are held each year, and each one runs for fifteen days. These are the tournaments where rankings are earned and lost, and where the championships that define careers are decided.
During a honbasho, the top-division wrestlers fight once a day, taking on a different opponent each day across the fifteen-day stretch. The wrestler with the best win-loss record in the top division at the end of the tournament takes the championship, the yusho. If two or more finish level, the title is settled by a playoff.
Kachikoshi and makekoshi: the record that decides your future
You do not have to win a championship to have a good tournament. What matters most for most wrestlers is whether they finish with a majority of wins. A winning record — more wins than losses across the tournament — is called kachikoshi. A losing record, more losses than wins, is called makekoshi.
This single distinction drives the whole ranking system. A kachikoshi generally pushes a wrestler up the banzuke for the next tournament, while a makekoshi pulls him down. Over a career, stringing together winning records is how a wrestler rises from the bottom divisions toward the salaried ranks and beyond. It is why you will often see a wrestler at seven wins and seven losses fighting with everything he has on the final day: that last bout is the difference between kachikoshi and makekoshi.
Kimarite: the winning techniques
The move that wins a bout is called a kimarite, the deciding technique. After each match the winning technique is announced and recorded, which is part of what makes sumo so satisfying to follow closely. The Japan Sumo Association recognizes a large catalogue of these techniques — more than eighty in total on its official list.
In practice, only a handful come up again and again. The most common is yorikiri, the frontal force-out, where a wrestler grips his opponent and drives him straight out of the ring. Pushing and thrusting techniques such as oshidashi and tsukidashi are also everyday sights. The rarer throws and twists do appear, but they are the exception rather than the rule. You do not need to memorize the whole list to enjoy sumo — recognizing the few that come up constantly is enough to follow the action.
Prohibited moves: what you cannot do
For all its force, sumo is not a no-rules brawl. A set of forbidden moves, the kinjite, are banned because of the harm they could cause, and using one means immediate disqualification. A wrestler is not allowed to punch with a closed fist, though open-hand slaps are permitted. Pulling the opponent’s hair is forbidden. So are strikes aimed at sensitive areas — jabbing at the eyes, boxing both ears at once, or grabbing at the throat.
There is one more way to lose that surprises newcomers: if a wrestler’s mawashi — the heavy belt that is essentially his only garment — comes completely undone during the bout, he is disqualified. These fouls are rare at the top level, but they are part of why sumo, despite its raw power, stays a disciplined contest rather than a free-for-all.
Frequently asked questions
Key takeaways: Win a sumo bout by forcing your opponent out of the dohyo ring or making any part of his body other than the soles of his feet touch the ground. Professional sumo has six ranked divisions from jonokuchi up to the top makuuchi, with the salaried sekitori in juryo and above. Six fifteen-day grand tournaments (honbasho) are held each year, and a winning record (kachikoshi) moves a wrestler up the rankings while a losing record (makekoshi) moves him down.
Q. How do you win a sumo match?
There are two ways. You win by forcing your opponent out of the ring, or by making any part of his body other than the soles of his feet touch the ground. Whichever happens first ends the bout, which is usually over in seconds.
Q. How many divisions and tournaments are there in sumo?
There are six divisions, from jonokuchi at the bottom up to makuuchi at the top, with wrestlers in juryo and above counting as salaried sekitori. Six grand tournaments, called honbasho, are held each year, and each runs for fifteen days.
Q. What moves are not allowed in sumo?
Punching with a closed fist, pulling the hair, and strikes to sensitive areas such as the eyes, throat, or both ears at once are all banned and lead to immediate disqualification. A wrestler also loses if his mawashi belt comes completely undone during the bout.
Read next
- Banzuke: how sumo’s ranking sheet works
- Honbasho: sumo’s six grand tournaments
- Kimarite: the winning techniques of sumo
- How to watch sumo live
Photos by Michihiro Taguchi, shot ringside.
