California Sumo Association, Club of the Month

Longevity and Authentic Sumo Coaching from Japan

California Sumo Association started holding formal practices in 1998. We’ve held over 1,500 sumo practices, as well as over 1,000 sumo exhibitions in 45+ countries, for live events, festivals, TV appearances, films, and more. Over 95% of practices have been led by multi-time World Sumo Champions - Svet, Byamba and Yama.

We’ve also had special guests coach some of our sessions, including Ozeki Konishiki, Yokozuna Akebono, Yokozuna Musashimaru, and Yokozuna Takanohana, as well as many other top-level Pro Sumo stars from Japan.

Our current head coach Yama has been doing sumo for over 30 years, with Champion titles throughout school, plus multiple World Sumo Champion titles. Yama reached the top division of Pro Sumo at the second-fastest pace in HISTORY.

Over the decades, we’ve had 800+ athletes participate in our sumo classes, and over 50 of our regulars have won National Champion titles and competed in the Sumo World Championships and World Games.

We’ve also produced the annual US Sumo Open, every year, since 2001 – for 20 years in a row now! Outside of Japan, the US Sumo Open is the only sumo competition in the world that has been held continuously every year, for two decades. The US Sumo Open is also the largest annual sumo tournament in the world, outside of Japan, with ~5,000 fans per year, in recent years.

We look forward to continued growth under Yama’s tutelage, and encourage everyone to learn the fundamentals, as well as customized training from him. Updated class and event info is at www.usasumo.com