Sumo & Sushi!

A few weeks ago, I saw a Living Social deal that really peaked my interest.  “Sumo and Sushi?” I thought, I’m there!  On Saturday, the day had finally arrived, and John and I were able to walk to the popular downtown San Diego club, Flux, that had been transformed into a Japanese wonderland for the event.

Upon arrival, we were given a free drink ticket, and were able to start eating right away!  Contrary from what I was expecting, there was an endless supply of really delicious sushi, side dishes like pot stickers, and yummy little cupcakes.  John and I were super pumped that there was so much food, we were able to get up for not only seconds, but thirds!  It was like a never-ending sushi bar, with the event workers pumping out tray after tray of sushi!  (They were prepping it in front of us, too, which was awesome, because sometimes pre-rolled sushi can be a little sketchy). 

John and I settled down at a little table super close to the sumo “floor” and were pumped for the show!  When the sumos came out – damn were they big!  One of them was over 600 pounds!  Aside from their butts looking gross (I was super grossed out by there cellulite-y legs and butts), it is incredible how flexible and in-shape these overweight men are - one of them is currently training to swim the English Channel and regularly runs marathons!

They started out by demonstrating some of their training exercises and really showcased their flexibility by showing us how low they could really go, if you catch my drift. =P They were squatting, lifting their legs high, and stretching in quite the impressive fashion!

The matches were double round robin, as there were only three wrestlers on tour, but we were still able to watch six full matches.  It was wild watching the sumos - they can pick each other up and nearly swing each other around!

The way a sumo race is won is to make any part of their opponent’s body touch the ground outside of the ring or force any part of his body (besides the soles of the feet) to touch the ground inside the ring.  Most matches last less than 20 seconds!

Another cool aspect of the event was that the audience had the chance to ask questions in-between matches.  It was neat to learn some fun facts about the sport of Sumo while enjoying the show.  It also gave the Sumo wrestlers a short breather in-between their matches.

After the matches were complete, and several members of the audience had tried to wrestle the sumos (who didn’t budge), John and I were able to get a picture with the sumos themselves!  One of the coolest things about the event was that because we chose to go Saturday at noon instead of to the 4:00 pm show, it was a very small crowd.  There was barely even a line to take pictures!  I’d say there were probably only between 50-75 people at the show we were at, which was awesome for a great view, no wait at the bar, intimate experience, and ample amounts of food! (John had at least five or six of the mini cupcakes:)

Hope you enjoy our pictures and videos as much as we enjoyed the real thing!  Unfortunately, the pictures don’t do the Sumos justice for how big they are in real life!!

Us with the sumos!

John and I trying out the ring!