What’s caused the UK’s boom in ‘massively misunderstood’ sumo wrestling?

Sumo wrestling clubs have been opening at pace across the UK as social media has helped to change perceptions of the “massively misunderstood” sport.

Joe Andrews, the founder of the south-west of England’s first sumo club, believes people had previously been put off due to incorrect notions that they have to be a heavy weight to compete.

“People think that’s what sumo is – and that’s professional sumo, but we’re doing amateur sumo and it’s far more inclusive – it’s massively misunderstood,” said Andrews, whose club is based in Glastonbury.

In two years, the number of clubs based in England has grown from one to 13, which Andrews said is largely down to viral social media videos.

“The bouts are normally about five to 15 seconds long – that makes for great social media content,” he said.

“Shorts, reels and quick fire videos on YouTube and Facebook do make sumo very easy to to market.”