[組手第一]

On August 23rd 2026 we held our very first Sumo Club Kumite, in the heart of Manchester at Frank’s MMA Gym where we also regularly train.

A Kumite (組手 – ‘Meeting of hands’) is a term used across various martial arts to refer to a tournament or competition, usually amongst members of the same club or dojo, with an aim to improve each other’s skills and prepare for other competitive events.

We had a fantastic turnout of 3 ladies and 10 lads, all of which regular club members that contributed towards our dohyo fund (More about that here). These were both open-weight competitions, so members of all sizes were welcome to compete in the same bracket.

With these numbers in mind, we decided the ladies would compete in a classic Round Robin meaning they’ll each face each other once. Meanwhile, we organised a double elimination bracket for the men guaranteeing each one would get at least two competitive bouts before being out of the tournament.

We’ll start by reporting on the former, where our incredibly talented wrestlers took each other on!

Ladies Round Robin Tournament Playlist:

After 3 competitive bouts, Cara came out on top and earned herself first place in the very first of our kumite!

All 3 fighters put their bodies on the line and competed amazingly well, a major credit to themselves, the club and all ladies having a go at sumo in England.

Mens Double-Elim Bracket Playlist:

After plenty of high level and entertaining bouts, Steven proved himself the best on the day by tearing through the winner’s side of the bracket without losing once!

A special thanks to Ben who not only competed extremely well but also provided footage for pretty much every bout on the day.

Our winners!

For their amazing efforts, Cara and Steven each brought themselves home an original banzuke, the sumo wrestler rankings published for the May Grand Sumo tournament in Japan. This tournament started the exact same day we officially opened Manchester Sumo Club, so it’s a fitting symbolic prize for these two incredible people. Well deserved!

In addition to this, Cara and Steven will start at a higher seeded rank from our next Kumite onwards! More details on that when the time comes.

What’s next?

We plan to make these tournaments a regular, bi-monthly event. Keep an eye out for more!