London – The largest international sumo exhibition in history. shocked London This week we'll feature over 40 wrestlers in 100 bouts with powerful palm strikes, jaw-dropping face strikes and unforgettable lightning-fast overarm throws. The final battle of the Grand Sumo Championship was a battle of giants – Goliath against the only slightly smaller Goliath.
Facing a force of several tons and throwing clay into the air, the 330-pound Hosoryu Tomokatsu grabbed the blue silk belt – mawashi. — 420-pound Onosato Daiki. Momentum carried the heavier fighter to the edge of the ring before Hoshoryu knocked him out for a perfect 5-0 record in just 10 seconds. The crowd of 5,000 at the sold-out Royal Albert Hall in London burst into applause.
Ryan Pierce/Getty Images
“I’m just glad I got through these five days without injury,” Hoshoryu said backstage after winning the championship trophy.
He didn't plan a celebration, but told CBS News he's ready to go where his career takes him.
“If someone decides we'll do it in America, of course I'll be there,” the 26-year-old said.
For young American boys watching and dreaming of stepping into the hallowed sumo ring, his advice centered on self-discipline and perseverance.
“You have to work hard to become a sumo wrestler if that is your dream. Everyone has dreams, but only you can achieve them,” he said.
Sumo is a life of devotion. Wrestlers typically begin training at around 15 years of age, the minimum age to join a heya, or stable, where they live together and train full-time under the direction of a stable keeper, a retired wrestler. To an outsider, sumo may look like a sport, but to its practitioners it is a way of life, shaped by 1,500 years of ritual and discipline, rooted in Shinto prayers for a bountiful harvest.
Rami Inosecencio 
London's Royal Albert Hall, better known for the echoes of the Beatles, Beyoncé and Bruce Springsteen than for the slaps and grunts of massive muscular men, has been transformed into a place of veneration to reflect this.
“I've worked here for 11 years, and this is one of the most exciting weeks I've ever been a part of,” said David Gamble, head of programming at the venue, who gave CBS News a special behind-the-scenes tour.
“We had teams of artisans in the UK who created this 1.5-ton roof,” he said, pointing to the massive hanging roof above the ring, reminiscent of a Shinto shrine. “This is more than a sport… we had a ring blessing ceremony where the Sumo Association blessed the ring the same way they did at all their shows in Tokyo.”
He explained that the several rows of red mats surrounding the ring were the most coveted and the most risky.
“You really have to stay focused because a 400-pound sumo wrestler could come at you at any moment, so there's no time to check your phone,” Gamble said with a grin. These seats are “the most expensive, the best and the most dangerous.”
Big wrestlers meant big logistics. 10 tons of clay were delivered to the venue for the construction of the sacred ring – dohyo – and almost a ton of rice. Athletes consume up to 10,000 calories a day, mostly in the form of a protein-rich stew called chanko-nabe..
The heaviest sumo wrestler ever recorded remains Konishiki Yasokichi, a Hawaiian-American who weighed 633 pounds at his peak. He competed at the Royal Albert Hall in 1991, the first time sumo had expanded outside Japan – the last time a sumo competition had been held at the venue.
This week's event was the first overseas sumo tournament in 34 years and only the second in history. More than 40 “rishiki” – not all from Japan, but also from Mongolia and Ukraine – stopped scores of people on their way near Buckingham Palace and Big Ben, crossing Abbey Road like the Beatles and at the Harry Potter ride on platform 9 3/4 at King's Cross Station.
When Hoshoryu lifted his championship trophy, the ornate Emperor's Cup, flown in from Tokyo, the moment symbolized more than just victory. It was a celebration of an ancient Japanese tradition that had found new life and new fans away from home.
