Saturday, April 7, 2012

Shiko is the sumo wrestler's ceremonial leg raising and stomping. In the first figure, the rikishi plants his feet on the ground in a squatting position. As in figures two and three, he then proceeds to raise his left leg straight up and keep this position for a few seconds before planting it firmly back in the original position, shown in figure four. Then, as in figures five and six, he raises his right leg in the same way he did his left. Finally, he returns to the original squatting pose shown in both one and four. Shiko is meant to demonstrate a rikishi's balance as well as flexibility and it requires a lot of training. Rikishi who compete in the six championship tournaments in Japan are said to perform shiko 200 to 300 times in a day.

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