In a way, Sumo is the ultimate "foundation" grappling art

[gungfudisciple]

I know I may get mocked but I am not joking. I am not commenting on the fat build required to compete in sport Sumo, but rather on the essential skills that it fine tunes to an extreme degree.

Im not saying Sumo will make anyone a great grappler either, but as a basic foundation, it doesnt get more pure than good old Sumo, which gets basically zero respect from what Ive seen.

With sumo as a foundation, then wrestling followed by Jiu Jitsu, and youve got a pretty formidable skill set.

Am I alone in recognizing the virtues of Sumo?

 

[deadlift ryan]

but only if you mentally imagine yourself as a sumo. because as you said you have envisaged yourself doing fedor armbars so you can beat any six month bjj student even though you have no grappling experience.
go away troll.

 

[Placebo_]

Am I alone in recognizing the virtues of Sumo?

Yes

 

[gungfudisciple]

Ill give it one more try, but Im about ready to sign off.

When you look at Sumo, its all about pure body control. Its very basic and rudimentary, for example you dont have to do a full takedown, just get any part of your oppenents body to the mat. So it teaches and reinforces the basic basics of a clinch and takedown, or its about controlling distance and motion and nothing else.

Maybe this will explain it. For example people wonder how early kids can start wrestling training. No joke, but training a kid in basic sumo is something that can be done earlier in life, and would be an awesome foundation for that kids grappling/wrestling development.

 

[colinm]

for sure man, sumo has been proven time and time again to be a great base for mma.

 

[gungfudisciple]

for sure man, sumo has been proven time and time again to be a great base for mma.

I get the joke and all but thats because sport Sumo is incompatible with mma, plus How many people outside of Japan even compete in Sumo?

I am speaking purely of Sumo technique and how it applies to grappling technique, hence my choice of forums.

 

[knoxpk]

Guys gung might be a troll...i dunno.........but I had my son in BJj classes and one of the drills taught by Black Belt BRAZILIAN instructors for the kids was actually sumo...they put the gi belts in a big circle and essentially the kiddies would wrestle sumo style.

So yep I think the basics of balance that sumo teaches could be very valuable to but make that the "ultimate" base is a little off.
You learn just as much about balance in a year or 2 of wrestling even at the pee wee level as you would with sumo. Plus you get a wider variety of attacks.

 

[gungfudisciple]

Guys gung might be a troll...i dunno.........but I had my son in BJj classes and one of the drills taught by Black Belt BRAZILIAN instructors for the kids was actually sumo...they put the gi belts in a big circle and essentially the kiddies would wrestle sumo style.

So yep I think the basics of balance that sumo teaches could be very valuable to but make that the "ultimate" base is a little off.
You learn just as much about balance in a year or 2 of wrestling even at the pee wee level as you would with sumo. Plus you get a wider variety of attacks.

Thanks for that great example. I agree on the variety of attacks being superior in wrestling, but its a good simple start. It also depends on your training philosophy. The mind focuses better and learns more when the art is simple, especially for kids.

edit to add, I called it the "ultimate" because it was the most basic.

 

[Bama Zulu]

Sumo is actually big with the Russians as well. They suprisingly have lower weight classes and it isn't all just fat people.

 

[flyingknee16]

i can see where the guy is coming from but i dont see it being the ultimate foundation grappling art.

 

[gungfudisciple]

i can see where the guy is coming from but i dont see it being the ultimate foundation grappling art.

Ultimate as in practicing it develops the most solid foundations of the basic elements of grappling.

 

[krellik]

If nothing else it is a fun warm up drill to do at grappling class. Ultimate? I dare say not..

 

[belikechris]

sumo teaches a lot of off-balancing skills...that stuff IS very usefull for the clinchgame...even in mma...BUT other wrestling arts teach you the same principles and skills...so why should you train in sumo?!?

 

[belikechris]

krellik is right...its fun as a worm up...we did it a few times a t my school

 

[Jimmy Cerra]

Sherdoggies are a little abrasive and sarcastic. You've got to deal with that. As for sumo, well it helps your balance. However, besides that I don't know how you could consider it to be the foundation art. It certainly isn't very complete, and most sumo bouts are much shorter than judo, wrestling or submission grappling.

 

[zenshin]

Roman-greco is the origional grappling art, when some do say it came ou of india

 

[Foolkiller]

I agree, Sentoryu and Akebono are MMA and Abu Dhabi champions because of their extensive... oh. Wait.

Nevermind.

 

[Jimmy Cerra]

Roman-greco is the origional grappling art, when some do say it came ou of india

I heard the opposite: that Greek grappling was first and adopted by the indians.

 

[eljamaiquino]

WE did sumo drills a lot in Judo.....A bit basic but it helps some...

 

[Gaylon Cooper]

We do sumo style drills in greco all the time. I am not sure if I would call it the base, but it does lead it self to MMA.