Sumo terms commentary

by Dan Thomas

Banzuke – ranking sheet

Basho – sumo tournament

Chanko-nabe – a wrestler’s cookpot dishes

Danpatsu-shiki – topknot-cutting ceremony; when a wrestler retires a sumotori, his friends who aided him snip his topknot

Dohyo – sumo ring

Gyoji – referee

Gunbai – referee’s paddle

Gottuan-desu – a phrase often used by sumo wrestlers that means “thank you”

Hanamichi – flower aisle, an elevated runway that carries wrestlers to the dohyo

Kakkai – the sumo world

Kimarite – winning trick

Kuro-boshi – the black star, a symbol of loss

Mawashi – sumo loincloth

O-icho – the leaf-shaped topknot

Oshi-dashi – The push to drive an opponent backward

Oyakata – sumo stable master or coach

Rikishi – sumo wrestlers; also sumotori

Shikiri-sen – the two white lines on the dohyo

Shikona – ring name

Shiro-boshi – white star; symbol of win

Suna-kaburi – ringside

Toku-dawara – the four parts of the dohyo that project outside

Torinaoshi – a rematch after a close bout

Tsuki-dashi – a slap to upset an opponent’s balance

Yobidashi – shikona caller

(from ww24.justnet.ne.jp/~worldwar/oozeki.eng.html and Newsweek)

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