There's nothing like feeling the Royal Albert Hall shake when sumo wrestlers collide
2 hours ago Share Save Flora Drury The Royal Albert Hall, London Share Save
Getty Images The ring sits in the centre of the hall, with a temple roof suspended above it, and a round LED screen above that
There are not many sports that can keep an audience enraptured through 45 minutes of ceremony before the first point is even contested. And yet, the intricate traditions unfolding in a small clay ring - virtually unchanged in hundreds of years - managed to do just that. Welcome, then, to the Grand Sumo Tournament - a five-day event at the Royal Albert Hall featuring 40 of the very best sumo wrestlers showcasing a sport which can date its first mention back to 23BC. London's Victorian concert venue has been utterly transformed, complete with six-tonne Japanese temple roof suspended above the ring. It is here the wrestlers, known as rikishi, will perform their leg stomps to drive away evil spirits, and where they will clap to get
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