During the actual bout a rakishi may use any technique or maneuver except pulling his opponent's hair, hitting his opponent with a closed

fist, boxing his opponent's ears, choking his opponent, although he may push at the throat, or

grabbing his opponent's mowashi in the crotch area.

Hey, it's Arov.

And this is a special archived episode of A Kimbo.

Yes, those were the rules of Sumo Wrestling.

Sumo Wrestling is an ancient and simple sport.

There's a circle drawn on the ground, two lines on the inside.

Each sumo wrestler stands behind his or her line.

They face off against each other, and one has to push the other out of the ring without violating

any of the rules. But while there are very few rules, there are a lot of norms.

Consider the fact that at the beginning of a sumo match,

the two wrestlers, hands on the lines,

look at each other and then in a move reminiscent of football, launch at each other.

Well, what would happen if one of the sumo wrestlers was quick enough, agile enough, to move out of the way.

Well then the other one, a lumbering three or four hundred pounds of mass

would go right past him and out of the ring.

Match to the agile one.

This move is called a hehenka.

It's allowed. It's legal.

It works.

It is often used by smaller, lighter, and quicker wrestlers to give them an advantage over

...