By Patricia Corrigan
Of the Post-Dispatch
The sun beats down. The sumo wrestlers stretch their massive, muscular legs and slap their thighs. They squat low, face each other and tap the ground with their fists. Suddenly, they collide and each tries to topple the other. The crowd roars approval when one wrestler bests the other in a matter of seconds.
The sumo demonstration, held Saturday, was the first of six this weekend at the Japanese Festival at the Missouri Botanical Garden. Demonstrations are scheduled at 2 and 4 p.m. today at the Cohen Amphitheater west of the Climatron.
Sumo wrestling ” the national sport of Japan since 1909 ” dates back at least 1,500 years.
“It was great to get a glimpse of a culture we don’t see much of here, and the demonstration gave you a real appreciation for the athletes these guys are,” says Brad Bloomquist of University City. He adds that he and his wife, Julie, watch sumo wrestling on television, and they were thrilled to see wrestlers in person.
The wrestlers are William “Tyler” Hopkins and Eric “Fats” Gaspar, both natives of Hawaii and both retired. Their respective sumo names are Sunahama (meaning “sandy beach”) and Koryu (“rising dragon”). Sitting in the cafe at Missouri Botanical Garden on Friday afternoon, Hopkins and Gaspar talk about their careers as sumo.
“I wanted to play professional football, but I blew out the ligaments in one of my legs,” says Gaspar, 35. “I went to Japan late in 1989, and signed up at the Takasago stable, where sumo are trained. I didn’t know the language or much about the culture ” I was only 19.”
Hopkins, 33, waves a French fry in Gaspar’s direction. “Everything he said goes for me, too. We grew up together in Oahu, and we went to Japan together. It was the opportunity of a lifetime.”
Today, with a third business partner, the two operate a surfboard and canoe rental business on Waikiki Beach. Both men are laid back and move easily between moments of philosophical reflection and light-hearted teasing.
Hopkins stands 6-feet tall and weighs 500 pounds, “the biggest I’ve ever been.” He wears baggy jams in a large floral print and a T-shirt featuring the face of Konishiki, the second-highest ranking sumo in the world and the first foreign-born sumo champion. Gaspar, clad in knee-length denim shorts and a muscle shirt, is 6-feet-4 and weighs 285 pounds, down from his top weight of 345. “I’m lots less muscular now,” he says.
Sumo training is difficult, with long hours, strict rules and a rigid hierarchy. “I remember the first practice match,” says Hopkins. “We were walking down the hallway to the ring, and Fats and I were trying to push each other to the front. I was thinking, ‘Here I am with my butt hanging out.’ Once I got into the ring, I forgot about all that. You focus, and you prove yourself.”
People who don’t know anything about sumo wrestling see something different at a match than those who do. “It’s not just too fat guys in a ring,” says Gaspar. “It’s a way of life.”
Hopkins explains that sumo is a martial art that requires rigorous training, discipline and humility. At least, that is the traditional Japanese version of the sport.
After sustaining numerous injuries ” an occupational hazard in sumo ” Gaspar and Hopkins retired seven years ago. Gaspar says he had no regrets. Hopkins says he had not realized how submerged he was in the sumo way of life until he left, but “what I learned about myself in Japan helped me make the transition.”
After the plate of fries was empty, Hopkins and Gaspar decide to go see the Arch. The stainless steel monument impresses them, but they are especially thrilled with the Mississippi River.
“All your life, you read about this river, you read Mark Twain, you read about Lewis and Clark ” and now we’re standing here. This is great,” says Hopkins. Meanwhile, Gaspar took several photos with his cell phone.
Inspired, Hopkins reaches for his phone and calls his mother in Oahu. Delight evident in his voice ” the kind of delight Midwesterners reserve for their first view of Diamond Head or the Pacific Ocean ” Hopkins says, “Mom, I’m in St. Louis and I’m looking at the Mississippi River.”
Reporter Patricia Corrigan
Wrestling Gear
