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I

Methods of fighting without arms are mentioned in the ancient records of all peoples and therefore can be considered to be part of the common heritage of mankind. In the oldest Japanese chronicle Kojiki16, a fight between the gods Takemigazuchi no kami and Takeminakata no kami is mentioned which took place on the Inasa beach in the Izumo region. The Nihonshoki annals report about a fight between Nomi no Sukune and Taima no Kehaya. This fight is considered to be the moment when sumō was born.17 But in contrast to present-day sumō it must have been a life-and-death struggle. Although carried out without weapons it was nevertheless a fight without rules, since Sukune broke Kehaya’s hips and then kicked him to death.

Such techniques of fighting without weapons have existed everywhere in the world since ancient times. It is even reported that in ancient India Buddha has fought against his younger brother for the right to marry a beautiful girl. I saw fights in India that were very similar to sumō. In ancient China there were fist-fighting techniques called kempō in Japanese. In the Spring and Autumn Annals18 they were called “brave fist” (kenyū) or “martial art” (bugei), during the Warring States Period (475-221 BC) “punching technique” (gigeki) and in the Han period (202 BC to AD 220) simply “technique” (gikō) or “circular punching” (shubaku).