First African sumo wrestler makes victorious debut

So many stereotypes coming to the surface here, African ? must be black, Egyptian ? must be Moslem. Posters here can do better than that I hope.

If any NFL linemen would try their hand in Sumo, it would be interesting.

That smile says it all! I am very happy for this young man!

As Africa is a continent, and Egypt is a country within that continent, that would make him an African. Exactly like how a Spaniard or German is European.

I wonder if the chanko-nabe at his stable has to be modified to meet his dietary restrictions.

Congrats! By the way, he looks very Egyptian to me. Try googling Zahi Hawass or Mubarak or Amr Diab if you don't know what an Egyptian looks like. Hint : don't assume all Africans have very dark skin

Congratulations Egyptian Osunaarashi !

gaijininfo,

I asked about the NFL linemen thing, too, and was told that they are upper-body strong but that sumo wrestlers are more butt-heavy; with a lower center of gravity they are harder to throw. Still, it would be an interesting match.

I'm also intrigued about the title. They could have used Arab, African, or Moslem (if he is, he might be another religion, Virtuoso, such as Christian). It's interesting AFP (or JT) chose African.

Good luck to the Desert Storm of sumo.

Gaijininfo, look up Musashimaru's background... that was his dream to become a pro football player, and when you see his early sumo pictures, you can clearly see a line man's body... obviously, he was able to make the necessary body adjustments... however, his flexibility was poor... generally speaking, sumo wrestlers are much more flexible than NFL players, I would even say that at least 75% of them can do the splits...

Good man, well done. Love Sumo - it's a great sport.

Half? Perhaps Indian? If he was Indian he would be asian.

Hategobo, well said. Don't get your hopes up too high, though.

Why couldn't the headline say "First Egyptian sumo wrestler..."?

Um...because Africa is bigger than Egypt, so it's a bigger deal.

He's African, y'all. Deal with it.

here's a thought... should Baruto take this tourney or get 14 wins, he would be the first Yokozuna from...? (what word would the media use?)

also, at 145kgs, Osuna-arashi is a big boy... he doesn't look it from that picture, though...

I have heard bald people cannot join sumo :) something to do with the the way rikishi make their hair. He has such a sweet smile and nice body! He is not fat at all, looks like a gladiator, all muscle and looks so masculine. All sumo players should have such a body, Mongolians and Japanese rikishi mostly do not have body hair but he has, looks so nice!!!!!!

It"S ME

" Any indication that is of the Islamic faith? Don't see any? "

His name, of course.

" Egypt has many copts, christians, etc too. "

Newsflash: The Copts are the Christians in Egypt. Theres about 5% left of them, and they are diminishing rapidly, and even faster now after the Shariah spring events.

Seeing a man who has trained in a sport become a pro where the competition is best is always gratifying. Congratulations to Osunaarashi.

Hurrah!!! Soon there will be no more Japanese sumo wrestlers.

Wow - is sumo still running?

Good on this African boy - hope he rises to Yokozuna.

Too bad JT doesn't have sumo updates we can post on.

Why are there no sumo updates on JT?

Funny the negative points to my post as it is Known that JSA wants Japanese Ozeki and Yokozuna.

Jeez, OK, technically Egypt is on the continent of Africa, but that headline is needlessly misleading. Why couldn't the headline say "First Egyptian sumo wrestler..."?

Triple "thumbs up" to @calm down 12:40. :->

if you have over 90% of the demographic being black, then it's just natural to assume that the wrestler would be black. it's not racism when it's reality.

When he smiles he has dimples. He will be called Mr. Kawaii of sumo! Kotooshu is the Prince.

I guess we'll never know. Too bad.

Foreign competitors are vital members of tradition-bound sumo

I think the JSA will say something else

He passed the physical check in January to officially become a wrestler.

He exceeded the minimum level of blood lipoproproteins?

I've lost all trust in the world of sumo and, as a result, all interest in its news.

Not that I had much in the first place.

Handsome looking lad. Nice smile.

If the clerics at home find out he is honoring Shinto gods every time he steps in the ring, he will have a death fatwah on his head by the time he visits home.

from the title, i assumed he would be black.

Any indication that is of the Islamic faith? Don't see any?

Egypt has many copts, christians, etc too.

Will wait for him to reach the pinnacle, and then the JSA come to their (believed) senses, and find some reason to oust him.

But great work for him getting this far.

It says Egyptian national, that dosent mean he is African, he could have been nationalized after arriving in Egypt, he dosent even look Egyptian more Indian

What do these people see in sumo? you get fat. Your life expectancy is cut in half because of that and you have to wear diapers :