Women's Sumo Growing by Leaps and Pounds

O S A K A, Japan, Oct. 11 -- In Japan, sumo wrestling is almost sacred. Steeped in tradition, sumo has long been the ultimate old-boys club — a sport dominated by larger-than-life men, a realm where women are not welcome. In fact, in the professional ranks, they are forbidden from even stepping into a ring, let alone wrestling.

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But the sumo world may soon be in for a giant shock. Women have arrived on the scene, and in recent years, the sport has taken off on the amateur level. All over Japan, girls and women are strapping on traditional mawashis (traditional sumo thongs) over their leotards and raising more than a few eyebrows in the process.

When you envision the prototypical sumo wrestler, 23-year-old Yoko Yamata almost certainly does not come to mind. Young, slim and attractive, she looks more like a figure skater or a ballerina than a sumo wrestler. A kickboxer, maybe, but not a sumo wrestler.

Yamata, who has taken judo and karate, began her amateur sumo career several months ago. She once dreamed of being the next Jackie Chan, but she's set those plans aside for the time being to compete in her latest pursuit.

She recently joined her college sumo team, practicing regularly with a group of young women and their much larger male counterparts.

The competition, the tradition, and most importantly for Yamata, the fact that people told her she couldn't were the inspirations for her to take up a sport long identified with half-naked men, most of whom weigh more than 200 pounds.

So, now she finds herself sweating and grunting, and trying in vain to push a burly male teammate out of the ring. She's determined to break down stereotypes and show that even in Japan, a country that takes tradition seriously, women can perform just as well as men.

Yamata's enthusiasm for the sport is catching on, and her male sparring partners say they're impressed with her and her fellow female sumos. One enormous male teammate, about 200 pounds heavier and nearly a foot taller than Yamata, reveals a sly grin as she slams into him during a practice session.