Book-bot.com - read famous books online for free

Sketches of Japanese Manners and Customs by J. M. W. Silver
page 37 of 61 (60%)
canvassed with an enthusiasm totally at variance with the stolid
indifference which usually characterises the people, when any subject
is broached that does not directly concern their ordinary vocations.

The professional wrestlers are generally men of herculean proportions.
From constant practice they attain a muscular development that would
eclipse that of our prize-ring champions; but their paunchy figures
and sluggish movements render any further comparison impossible, as
they neither practise nor appreciate what we call training. Size and
weight are prized more than activity in the limited arena to which
their performances are confined: so, instead of walking down
superabundant flesh, they endeavour to increase it, dieting themselves
on rice and fish, which is far from productive of any Bantingite
result. The illustration of the Great Wrestling Amphitheatre at Yeddo
conveys a fair idea of the estimation in which athletic games are held
by the Japanese. The enclosure is capable of containing several
thousand spectators, and is always filled when a match of importance
takes place.

In the centre is the '_docho_,' or 'boundary-ring,' which is about
eighteen feet in diameter. The game is generally decided by one or
other of the combatants being forced against this boundary; for,
although a fair throw counts, it rarely decides the mastery, as the
great weight and the crouching position of the wrestlers necessitate
dragging, pushing, and even carrying; and the tenacity of their grasp
is such, that any other results are almost impossible.

The price of admission to these exhibitions is very low; and, like
everything else of a public nature, is regulated by the government
Officials are appointed to superintend the arrangements, and to see
DigitalOcean Referral Badge