A view of the Kokugikan outside.
The winner of a bout is the rikishi who causes the opposing rikishi to be the first to either touch the ground or any area outside the inner dohyo ring with any part of the rikishi's body other than the soles of his feet. A rikishi may not punch, pull hair, gouge eyes, choke, kick, or touch the part of the mawashi covering the vital organs, ie the groin area.
In the history of sumo, there have come to be recognized 70 different techniques that rikishi have used to achieve a win. These techniques describe types of pushing, pulling, throwing, tripping, and flipping maneuvers that will cause the opposing rikishi to be tossed onto the dohyo ground or to be sent out of the dohyo circle ringed by the embedded straw.
Assistants parading with banners of sponsors of this bout
On the left, sankyo position ready to begin the bout, and , on the right, tachiai, the initial charge.
Hidari yotsu - the hold where the left arm of each rikishi
is inside of the opponent's right arm, with the hands holding onto the
mawashi
Migi yotsu - the hold where the right arm of each rikishi
is inside of the opponent's left arm, with the hands holding onto the mawashi
Morozashi - the hold where both arms of one rikishi is inside the arms of the opponent, with the hands holding onto the mawashi; an advantageous and powerful hold
From left to right, hidari yotsu, migi yotsu, and morozashi. From these positions, the rikishi is poised to advance and push the opponent out of the dohyo, or to attempt a throw to cause the opponent to touch the dohyo floor with anything other than the soles of his feet. Some of the more common winning techniques are shown below.
Oshidashi - frontal push out
Uwatenage - overarm throw
From left to right, yorikiri, oshidashi, and uwatenage. Forcing the opponent by yorikiri, or pushing the opponent out of the dohyo by oshidashi are probably the most prevalent ways to win. The over and underarm throws by uwatenage and shitatenage are the most common of the arm throws, but these throws require the rikishi to first grab hold of the mawashi.
Shin - heart
Upon winning the bout, the gyoji will turn to face the winning rikishi, and pronounce him the winner. If there are any special sponsor prizes, the gyoji and move to the winner, who is kneeling at this point, and present the prize to the winner, using the gunbai as the holder of the prize. The winning rikishi will use his right hand to write the chinese character for "heart" over the prize, and then retrieve the prize. The character for "heart" is shown on the right. The center image shows the winning rikishi receiving the prize from the gyoji.
