A bout

A bout is usually over in a few seconds. The rule is short: force him out of the ring, or put him on the clay. There is no scoring, no weight class, no clock. One win, one loss.

The dohyo

The ring is 4.55 metres across, a clay circle bound by rice-straw bales — the tawara. Four of those bales sit slightly outside the circle, at the compass points, so a sliding foot has a last chance to stay in. The roof above is ceremonial. The clay is the sport.

How you lose

• A foot (or any body part) goes outside the tawara.
• Any body part except the soles of the feet touches the clay — a knee, a hand, a head, the chest.
• The mawashi comes completely off. Rare. The bout stops; he loses.

If both men seem to go out or down together, the gyoji still points. The judges may reverse him or order a rematch.

A slap to the face is legal. Pulling hair is not. Neither is grabbing the front of the mawashi — the belt at the crotch — or punching with a closed fist. Those are kinjite. You will see a rare disqualification; almost every bout ends the ordinary way.

The tachiai

Both men must have both fists on the clay, then rise together. That collision is the tachiai — the word this site is named for. Most makuuchi bouts are decided in that first contact: who gets the belt, who gets the chest, who gets the angle.

A henka is a sidestep at the charge. Legal. The other man often hits the clay on his own. Crowds boo it when it looks like a dodge instead of a plan.

Before they rise

Sekitori take their time — about four minutes in makuuchi. Lower-division bouts skip most of this. On the top of the card you will see the same sequence every time:

1. 1. Shiko

   Each man lifts a leg high and stamps. Purification, and a look at his balance.

2. 2. Chikara-mizu

   Power water, offered by the last winner on his side. He rinses, then wipes with paper.

3. 3. Salt

   A handful thrown onto the clay. More salt usually means a veteran, or a man settling his nerves.

4. 4. Shikiri

   They crouch, hands on the clay, stand up, throw more salt, and crouch again. False starts happen. When both commit, they rise together.

Who calls it

The gyoji stands in the ring with a gunbai, a war fan. When the bout ends he points it at the man he thinks won. Five shimpan sit at the tawara. If one of them disagrees, he stands up. That is a mono-ii — a short conference on the clay. They can confirm the gyoji, reverse him, or order a torinaoshi, a rematch.

The yobidashi sings the shikona before they mount, and rebuilds the dohyo between days. You will hear him more than you notice him.

What to watch

Two families decide most bouts. Oshi is push and thrust — open hands, no belt, walking him back. Yotsu is a hand on the mawashi, then a walk or a throw. If you can see which family landed in the first second, you already know more than most first-time viewers. The official name of the finish is the kimarite.

A maegashira who beats a yokozuna earns a kinboshi — a gold star. The crowd will tell you.