Systems · Societal/ Cultural · General
Sumo Ranking
Sumotori Ranks
Sumo is an ancient sport and religious practice of Japan, dating from as early as 230 B.C. While primarily performed as a sport, or religious ceremony, Sumo was a fairly detailed combat system up until the late 16th century, when 'inelegant' moves such as striking with fists, hair pulling, eye gouging, choking and kicking in the stomach or chest and other lethal moves were banned and the rules for ring matches, and formally established ranks were implemented.
*Sumotori - generic term for sumo wrestlers
Maezuma - recruit
Honchu - beginner
*Rikishi - recognized wrestler; generally used to refer to those wrestlers below the top two divisions (Maku-uchi & Juryo)
**
- first step ; Sixth Rank Division
**
- second step; Fith Rank Division
**
- third step; Fourth Rank Division
**
- second-rank senior; Third Rank Division
*Sekitori - ranked wrestler; allowed all the privileges and honors of sumo; used to refer to those wrestlers in the top two divisions
**
Sekitori - Second Rank Division
**
- First Rank Division
Maku-uchi: Maegashira Sekitori - senior wrestler
***Sanyaku - three orders of titled champions (Komusubi, Sekiwake, & Ozeki)
Maku-uchi: Komusubi Sekitori - pre-champion
Maku-uchi: Sekiwake Sekitori - junior champion
Maku-uchi: Ozeki Sekitori - champion
Maku-uchi: Yokozuna Sekitori - grand champion
Scrolls
Twists, chapters, and details meant to stream with the submission — not general discussion.
No scrolls yet — leave one if you have a twist worth keeping.
Sign in to plant an idea scroll.
Enjoyed this? Sign in and cross blades for Kuseru Satsujin — five clashes, up to 25 XP.
Sign in to cross the blades.
Discussion
Reader talk, questions, and feedback — not scrolls.
No comments yet — be the first voice in the hall.
Sign in to join the discussion.
Continue the path
Three more steps through the hall.
- Rank Systems by Strolen Bound
Other takes
No other takes yet — the best compliment on the Citadel is a Retelling.
Bonds
Curated bonds across the Citadel — sign in to bind a bond. Kindred Favors are another thread in the same weave.
Now this is something you don't see every day. Nor will use be using it either, unless you are running a campaign in Nippon. (I do, so it would be a good thing.)
The best use for this is to take the concepts behind it and adapt it to your campaigns culture.
I am adding a Nippon free text to this and other related subs.
The background on Sumo is good, but like Moon said, unless you are playing a Japan based game, this is seriously not going to come up.
I agree with the above, but since I love sumo, I'll give you a 3.5.
You could always take some of the traits of this system and drop it into a culture you are writing up. In that case nice well organized cultural systems are useful to have. Besides there is a history of posting these sortss of ranking systems on the site for use in games.
This may never come up in a game, but then again, it might. So now we have Sumo rankings. Who needs Wikipedia? :p
I would like to have seen if there are any cultural differences between the ranks - how they actually differ as opposed to simply listing them off like the colors of karate belts.
An example of what I am saying:
'Green Belt or Sash: Green signifies the growth of the seed as it sprouts from the earth reaching toward the sun and begins to grow into a plant. A green belt student learns to strengthen and refine his techniques. ' - http://www.wmacenter.com/index.cfm?page=17