The Sumo Belt- MAWASHI

In sumo, a mawashi is the belt that the rikishi (or sumo wrestler) wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a kesho-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony.

For top-ranked rikishi, the belt is made of silk and comes in a variety of colors. It is approximately 30 feet (9.1 m) in length when unwrapped, about two feet wide and weighs between eight and eleven pounds. It is wrapped several times around the rikishi and fastened in the back by a large knot. A series of matching colour, stiffened silk fronds, called sagari are inserted into the front of the mawashi. Their number varies from 13 to 25, and is always an odd number. If these fall out during competition the referee will throw them from the ring at the first opportunity.

Senior rikishis wear a second ceremonial kesho-mawashi during their ring entering ceremony. The silk 'belt' opens out at one end into a large apron which is usually heavily embroidered and with thick tassles at the bottom. The kesho-mawashi may also be used to advertise sponsors of the rikishi.

Yokozuna, the highest rank in Sumo, have matching sets of three kesho-mawashi, with two being worn by his 2 wrestler assistants during his ring entrance ceremony.
Amateur sumo wrestlers are expected to wear a white cotton mawashi, without the looping accorded to the senior professional's training garb.

On entering sumo, they are expected to grow their hair long to form a topknot, or chonmage, similar to the samurai hairstyles of the Edo Period. Furthermore they are expected to wear the chonmage and traditional Japanese dress when in public. Consequently, sumo wrestlers can be identified immediately when in public.

The type and quality of the dress depends on the wrestler's rank. Rikishi in jonidan and below are allowed to wear only a thin cotton robe called a yukata, even in winter. Furthermore, when outside they must wear a form of wooden sandals called geta that make a clip-clop sound as one walks in them. Wrestlers in the makushita and sandanme divisions can wear a form of traditional short overcoat over their yukata and are allowed to wear straw sandals, called zōri. The sekitori can wear silk robes of their own choice and the quality of the garb is significantly improved. They also are expected to wear a more elaborate form of topknot called an ōichō on formal occasions.

Many rikishi are superstitious and they will change the color of their mawashi to change their luck. Sometimes a poor performance will cause them to change colors for the next tournament, or even during a tournament, in an attempt to change their luck for the better. The rikishi only wears the silk mawashi during competitive bouts either during ranking tournaments or touring displays. During training, a heavy cotton mawashi is worn.

Sometimes a rikishi may wear his mawashi in such a way as to give him some advantage over his opponent. He may wear it loosely to make it more difficult to be thrown or he may wrap it tightly and splash a little water on it to help prevent his opponent from getting a good grip on it. His choice will depend on the type of techniques he prefers to employ in his bouts. Thus a wrestler preferring belt sumo will usually wear it more loosely, while those preferring pushing techniques will tend to wear the mawashi more tightly.