TEMBLOR

Back at the Japanese Festival. The show these sumo wrestlers put on is always a big hit. Perhaps it is in part due to their inhuman scale but their speed, flexibility and strength is awesome. One of them demonstrated doing sitting splits with the legs almost straight out to the sides. It's an entry level requirement. And the whole thing is over in a matter of seconds - all you have to do is throw your opponent to the ground or push him out of the ring.

It's interesting that neither of these champions is Japanese (although the one in the background is). The one in front is Egyptian and the other is American.          

WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON AROUND TOWN

There is a big Japanese festival at our big botanical garden over Labor Day weekend. It rained until mid-afternoon, when I went over for a while. A lot of the activities were canceled due to the weather or soggy grounds. The ever-popular sumo demonstration was in an amphitheater with a covered stage. Got some pretty good shots.

Sunday's forecast is good. I plan to go back to the garden in the morning and then return to Paint Louis in the afternoon.                 

Pick On Someone Your Own Size

Kids have a try at sumo.                                

Sumo

The sumo wrestlers are one of the most popular performers at the Japanese festival. It's always a group from Hawaii, where the sport is common and feeds talent into the Japanese professional circuit. 

It is amazing that people so huge are so flexible. The bottom photo is of a training exercise. The top wrestler pushes down his colleague as hard as possible. Can  you touch the soles of your feet together while sitting on the floor?                        

Sumo In St. Louis

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Our town's Japanese Festival takes place every Labor Day weekend at the Missouri Botanical Garden. They regularly bring over a group of retired sumo wrestlers from Hawaii. These guys are not active competitors but I'd hate to get between them. They are amazingly flexible and agile. The big one in the back did an exercise in which he sits on the ground, sticks his legs straight out on either side and presses his chest to the ground. You try that.

There's a lot going on this holiday weekend. Carolyn and I went to the Big Muddy Blues Fest for a while last night, held a block or two from the Mississippi. The Greek Festival is going on at the big Orthodox church, puling in the crowds. The Cardinals were in town. Something for everyone. Now when am I going to edit all these pictures?