Sumo

Sumo wrestling is a national sport in Japan. Every year there are six tournaments, and millions of Japanese watch them on television. A tournament is a series of matches.

Sumo is almost as old as the nation of Japan itself. Stories say that there eas sumo wrestling over two thousand (2,000) years ago. History says that there were national sumo tournaments in the eighth century.

Often, athletes are thin and can move very quickly. It is beautiful to watch them play. However, sumo wrestlers weigh from 100 to 160 kilos. One famous wrestler weighed 195 kilos. Sumo wrestlers do not look beautiful, and sumo wrestling is a very slow sport. Sumo wrestlers start training when they are boys. They exercise to make their bodies strong. They also eat and eat and eat.

They wrestle in a round ring with a sand floor. A wrestler loses the match if he leaves the ring. He is also the loser if any part of his body except his feet touches the floor. Each wrestler tries to push the other down on the floor or out of the ring. Sometimes one wrestler just steps aside when the other wrestler rushes toward him. Then that wrestler falls down or falls out of the ring.

Sumo is not very popular in other countries, but the Japanese love it. Even young people find this traditional sport exciting.

Vocabulary

1. wrestling (n): a sport where two people fight and try to throw each other to the ground. កីឡាចំបាប់ 
2. athlete (n): a person who is very good at sports or physical exercise, especially one who competes in organized events. អ្នកអត្ថពល eg. He became a professional athlete at the age of 16.
3. aside (adv): on or to one side. ងាក នៅម្ខាង eg. Stand aside, please, and let these people pass. a/-put/set sth aside: if you put/set aside money, you save it for a particular purpose. eg. Every week I put aside 10$ for a new TV. b/-leave/put sth aside: if you leave or put a prolem or request aside, you ignore it until you are able to solve it. eg. Let's leave that matter aside for now and talk about the more urgent problem facing us.