TOKYONineteen-year-old Sayaka Matsuo lies on the tatami mat as a personal masseur works on her neck and shoulders to squeeze out the knots.

But this is no pamper package with relaxing music or detoxifying mist. Matsuo is warming up for a head-clashing bout of Japans national sportsumo.

Strapping her mawashiloin clothover her lycra bike shorts, she squats into position, her 60-kilogram (132-pound) frame squaring off against a man more than twice her weight.

The huge size difference is no obstacle for Matsuo, whose determination and technique shuffle her massive opponent across and out of the ring.

I started sumo as a hobby. I feel a lot of pressure from my dad and my goal is to win the womens Sumo World Championship one day, she told Agence France-Presse (AFP).

As the daughter of a former professional sumo wrestler, whose ring name was Sadanohana, Matsuo had a leg up into a sport not usually associated with women, and started to wrestle at just 5 years old.

Now she is part of a small, but growing band of female grapplers who are turning the tables on one of Japans oldest boys clubs.

Future Olympic event

Opening up the sport to women is part of an effort to legitimize sumo as a possible future Olympic event, said Tokyo Universitys Sumo Club coach Toshiaki Hirahara.

But Hirahara was also quick to point out that the top-level wrestling millions of Japanese watch on television needed to preserve its religious and spiritual origins.

Original post:
Women wrestlers take on Japans big boys