Sao Paulo (AFP)

Every two weeks, Rui Junior, 25, 160 kg, is eight hours drive from Londrina, his hometown, to Sao Paulo to train for sumo, a sport that tries to find its place in Brazil.

Despite the presence of the largest Japanese community outside Japan, the practice of this form of struggle millennium remains totally amateur level in Brazil and training is not always easy for athletes.

"I have been to Sao Paulo for many years to train, which is eight hours (drive) one hour and eight hours back, it costs me a lot of money, but it's worth it. like a lot, "explains the young athlete at AFP.

Rui Junior has been ten times champion of Brazil and three times champion of South America. It is the great attraction of the practices that take place every weekend in Sao Paulo's Mie Nishi Pavilion, the only public sumo court outside of Japan.

Inside, a dozen men and women, none of whom are of Asian origin, train together regardless of their category. With their "mawachis", these characteristic belts used by the wrestlers, they warm themselves in a circle around the "dohyo", the arena where the athletes compete.

But these amateur wrestlers are far from having the size of those who fight professionally in Japan. With his thick beard and round belly, Rui Junior is distinguished from his comrades, mostly thin.

Foul competitor with whom to train in Londrina (State of Parana, south), Rui Junio ​​began to play football to keep fit.

"I have to train physically alone, because technically it's difficult, even if I already have some technique, I need someone to train me, show me where I'm wrong," he says. .

- Prejudices -

Many of the wrestlers and wrestlers competing in Sao Paulo, including Rui Junior, are preparing for the Sumo Amateur World Cup to be held in October in Osaka, Japan.

In women, the most famous is Fernando Rojas, 40, who will represent Brazil for "the sixth or seventh time" at the World Cup.

According to her, women's practice has gained popularity in Brazil "when sumo fought to be recognized as an Olympic sport".

"Today, there are a lot of female practitioners in the country, female wrestlers, and this is increasing every day, because there are programs in the schools," she says, welcoming the fact that mixed raise the level of each.

"Sumo is not just about strength, it's about agility," she says.

To help spread sumo in Brazil, a Japanese coach was sent by the Tokyo government through the Japanese Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Guilherme Vaz, 17, who will be competing in the World Cup for the first time, in the middleweight category, is particularly promising.

"I am very motivated, I have the opportunity to come back with a medal.My main opponents come from Japan and Mongolia," says the young man who draws his passion from a family tradition.

He too must travel to Sao Paulo to train with other athletes, for lack of competitor in his city, located in the vicinity of the Brazilian megalopolis.

The young student explains that he tried to convince his friends to practice sumo, "but it is a sport victim of many prejudices".

"Some people think it's weird to fight shirtless, to catch another man ... I'm trying to tell them it's not like that to change their look, but it's complicated," he admits. .

© 2019 AFP