MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- As Marines and sailors stepped into the ring they stomped their feet upon the ground and rubbed their fat sumo bellies or pounded their fists on their chests before they faced-off in awkward wrestling matches.
Some stumbled and fell while others victoriously shook the ground as they hopped up and down flailing their arms and shouting their war cries.
Marine and sailor units clad in sumo wrestling fat-suits hit the mats to compete in the 2009 Commander’s Cup Challenge Sumo Basho event at the IronWorks Gym here April 10.
“The last event that we had was the 300,” said Jeramie Johnson, the fitness coordinator with the Ironworks Gym. “We kind of wanted to change the tone a little bit and have something a little more light-hearted.”
Four-man teams would fight one-by-one in the single elimination tournament.
Before beginning their bouts, Marines and sailors would struggle and aid each other into their uncomfortable sumo wrestling fat-suits.
The competing Marines then awkwardly faced-off against each other centered on a mat outlined with a circular ring to mark their boundaries. The Marine who could force his opponent to the ground or have him step out of bounds was declared the victor of the match.
After each teammate competed, the wins were tallied up and the winning unit would move on to fight the next opposing team.
“It’s a lot of good fun, but when it comes down to it, it is unit competition,” said Johnson.
The first match was won by a Headquarters and Headquarters Squadron Marine after his opponent tried to push him off the mat and he simply popped him with his belly forcing him to fall flat on his back.
Marines would continue the bouts struggling against their opponents, and their own fat-suits as they pulled and pushed at each other, which at times resulted in both the competitors falling and tumbling to the ground.
Falling on their backs, Marines in their fat-suits would thrash about kicking and flailing their arms in the air resembling turtles on their backs struggling to get back up.
Marines falling on their bellies would flop about like fish on dry land.
“Wearing those suits is tough,” said Cpl. Cristian Orozco, a Marine Aviation Logistics 12 flight equipment Marine. “It was hard to move but I made the best of it.”
Some matches would take your mind back to David and Goliath as 5-foot-5-inch Marines would face-off against 6-foot-5-inch Marines.
“This guy is three-times bigger than me, but I can still take him down,” Orozco said he was thinking as he faced his first and final opponent.
After Orozco lost his bout, he said he didn’t think he did too bad and he still had fun.
The final round came to a face-off between Branch Health Clinic sailors and H&HS Aircraft Rescue Firefighter Marines.
They bounced up and down in their fat-suits shouting and yelling, growling like gorillas striving to intimidate each other before their matches.
Once they took to the mats, BHC service members came out on top placing H&HS ARFF Marines in second place with MALS-12 in third.
“It was fun and sweaty,” said Gaven Sturdavant, event spectator and a 3rd-grader at Matthew C. Perry Elementary School.
Sturdavant said he really liked watching the Marines in their fat-suits yelling and fighting each other to the ground.
Inspired by the competition he just saw, Sturdavant tried on the fat-suits with his brother and had a match of his own, making what Orozco said true.
“It’s the Commander’s Cup, come out here to compete,” said Orozco. “It’s for everyone.”