Sumo wrestling is growing in popularity in the UK, with the number of clubs increasing eight-fold in three years – leading to the first ever British championships
Britain’s hottest new sport is a giant surprise – sumo wrestling.
The number of UK clubs for super-sized scufflers has shot up eight-fold in three years. Scores of gut-wobbling grappling videos have gone viral on social media.
Organisers said the traditional Japanese sport exploded after a Royal Albert Hall tournament in London last year featuring the best – and biggest – in the business inspired a host of Brit first-timers to give it a go. They said it has gone from being seen as a ‘comedic pub act’ to the ‘serious sport it actually is’ – with a UK popularity increase mirroring darts.
Scott Findlay, an ex-champion who founded British Sumo in 2023, said there were now 16 clubs across the four home nations compared to just two in England three years ago. The number of regular wrestlers has shot up from 10 to more than 100 and is ‘growing all the time’.
British Sumo has worked hard to promote its content on social media while building links with schools and local Japanese societies. He said: “It is one of Britain’s fastest-growing sports.
“Three or so years ago we had just two clubs in England. Now we’ve got 15 or 16 across all four nations. We’ve gone from 10 regular wrestlers and 20 people who got involved now and then to over 100 regulars and a couple of hundred people that come in and out.
“And it’s growing all the time. I was sick of seeing it be abused the way it was and being nothing but a comedic pub act that you would hire for a wee bit of entertainment. It should be respected as the serious sport that it actually is.”
When London staged the five-day Grand Sumo Tournament in October it was only the second time in the sport’s 1,500-year history it had been held outside Japan. More than 700kg of rice was shipped in while 11 tonnes of soil for the circular rings – or ‘dohyo’ – were sourced from Kettering, Northants.
Even the toilet seats were reinforced to bear the load of Japan’s heaviest fighters. Standard tickets cost £200.
The event came after Nicholas Tarasenko left his home in Hull, East Yorks, for Japan after finishing his GCSEs to become the first Brit in more than 40 years to join a professional sumo stable. “We managed to make that happen for him,” said Findlay. “But it’s very rare. It is a one in a million occurrence.”
The success of Nicholas and the tournament helped inspire the first ever British Isles Sumo Championships held in Belfast over the weekend. More than 60 men and women grapplers descended on the city’s Ulster University sports centre.
Food for the wrestlers was not provided – nor were the toilets reinforced. Sarah Kane, 36, secretary of Irish Sumo, said: “We do have a few heavyweights but they’re not all giants.”
Wrestler Chris Mitchell-Lay – who is 6ft 5in, weighs 29st 13lb and known as ‘Haystacks’ – warmed up for his bout with a burrito and a pint of Guinness. The 32-year-old man mountain from Larkhall, Scotland, said he had been inspired to get involved by the ‘sense of community’.
“It’s like a big family,” he said. “You cry on each other. You’ll bleed on each other. You’re all in it together.”
The only professional wrestlers are Japanese so Brits have to juggle grappling with ordinary jobs. George Young, secretary of the British Sumo Federation and a nuclear engineer, said: “We’ve got guys who work for the local council, guys who work as doormen. One of our members is a mental health nurse and another is a farrier.”
But the standard of the action on view amazed watching fans. Tommy Smith Haghighi, 34, who has seen bouts in Japan, said: “I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
‘I was wondering if we were going to get the range of techniques and styles you see in Japan and we’ve definitely seen some of them. I’ve enjoyed myself. And nothing is £5-a-ticket these days.”