Yomiuri: Rikishi aims to put sumo on Irish map
It looked easy, John Gunning thought, when he first watched practice at an amateur sumo club two years ago and casually decided to join. But he soon realized he was wrong. Even for Gunning, who was reasonably fit after playing soccer for many years, basic sumo exercises such as shiko--lifting each leg in turn and bringing it down--were tough, often leaving him out of breath and in agony...His tenacity, however, has not always paid dividends. Gunning has been plagued by injuries; late last year, he broke his left arm during a bout with a 13-year-old boy who weighed 120 kilograms...But sumo still dominates his life...On weekdays, he teaches English at a language school in Tokyo, but his students probably learn more about their own culture from him as his classes center on sumo...Until recently, he worked as a staff editor of the Sumo Fan Magazine, an online publication...more...
