SUMOTORI’s Story
Sumo Tori is an NFT project inspired by Japan’s sumo wrestling tradition and the popular manga Hinomaru Sumo.
What is Sumo (相撲)?
Sumo is the traditional art of wrestling in Japan. Originally developed as an entertainment ritual to Shinto deities, sumo has become a signature national sport enjoyed by all Japanese people.
Sumo is a straightforward and quick sport. Sumo wrestlers compete in a ring and whoever exits the ring or touches the ground with any part of his body besides the soles of his feet loses. Due to this simple rule, a sumo match’s result is usually determined in a matter of a few seconds and rarely extends more than a few minutes. Unlike Western wrestling that divides players into different weight ranks, there are no weight restrictions or classes in sumo. Hence, wrestlers can easily find themselves matched off against someone significantly heavier. As a result, weight gain is an essential part of the life of a sumo wrestler.
Sumo wrestlers eat up to 7,000 calories a day and weigh 300 to 400 pounds or two to three times as much as the average adult. However, because of their intensive training, sumo wrestlers are actually very healthy, strong and agile. At a sumo training stable, or heya, in Japan, training starts in the early morning and usually lasts until noon. For example, during an exercise called butsukari-geiko, wrestlers take turns repeatedly hitting and pushing each other until they collapse to the floor from exhaustion.
The Sumo Tori project chose the sumo theme because of the healthy body positivity message that this sport embraces. The sport argues against the general assumption that fat equals unhealthiness. By showing how powerful and honorable a sumo wrestler’s body can be, sumo encourages people to celebrate the human body in all shapes and sizes. The Sumo Tori hopes to spread the body positivity of sumo wrestling to the crypto space. You don’t have to be a certain size or look a certain way to be “fit”, as long as you are active and feel comfortable in your own skin, you are already a warrior at heart.
Why Sumo Tori focuses on Hinomaru Sumo (火ノ丸相撲) manga?
Hinomaru Sumo is Japanese sumo manga series written and illustrated by the famous mangaka Kawada from 2014 to 2019.
The manga tells the tale of the main character Ushio Hinomaru, a new student at Oodachi High School and a new member of the school’s small, dying sumo club. Ushio Hinomaru is short with a rather slender body, which goes against the tradition of big, heavy sumo wrestlers. Hence, he faced a lot of naysayers who mocked his dream of becoming a Yokozuna (the highest rank on professional Sumo). Despite his disadvantage, Hinomaru makes up for it with training and strong spirit. And he’s going to prove to everyone that you can still be a Yokozuna even if you’re not big enough!
The Sumo Tori team focuses on the manga Hinomaru Sumo as our illustrative source because of its groundbreaking, inspirational spirit. By showing how “small” wrestlers can be successful in sumo, the manga breaks weight stereotypes about sumo and opens up a fresh perspective that anyone with the skill can master the sport. Combining traditional sumo and Hinomaru Sumo together, the Sumo Tori project challenges any weight stereotype with compassion and body positivity. Join Sumo Tori for a journey filled with positivity and acceptance, all while earning passive income from staking and trading our Sumo Stars NFTs.
💬 Join SUMO TORI:
- Website: https://sumotori.io/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SumoToriERC
- Telegram Group: https://t.me/SumoToriERC
