Origin of Sumo According to a japanese legend, the  very outcome of the Japanese race itself , depends on the outcome of a sumo match .The supremacy of the Japanese in Japan was supposely established when the god Takemikazuchi, won a sumo match  over the leader of a rival tribe. But apart from this legend, it is sure that sumo is an ancient martial arts dating back to 1500 years.Sechie-zumo: During the Nara Period, the Imperial Court gathered wrestlers from all over the country, to hold the grand sumo tournament, called Sechie-zumo. It was a ceremonial banquet to celebrate peace on earth and bountiful harvests. Sumo’s origins were religious as the first sumo matchs were a form of ritual dedicated to the gods with prayers for bountiful harvest and were performed together with sacred dancing and dramas within the precincts if the shrines . The Sumo during the Nara Period ( ~ 8th century) was introduced into the ceremonies of the Imperial Court. A wrestling festival was held annually which included music and dancing in which the victorious wrestlers participated.Early sumo was a rough-and- tumble affair combining elements of boxing and wrestling with few or no hold barred.But under the continued patronage of the Imperial Court, rules were formulated and techniques developed , so that it  began to resemble slowly the modern sumo.A military    dictatorship was established in Kamakura in 1192 and a long period of intense warfare ensued. Sumo, quite naturally, was regarded chiefly for its military usefullness and as a method  to increase  the efficiency of the fighting men.   Lateron , in the hands of the samurai, jujitsu was developed as an offshot for sumo. Peace was finally restored when the different warring factions were united under the Tokugawa Shogunate in 1603. A period  of prosperity followed, marked by the rise of the powerof the new mercantile classes. Proffessional sumo groups were organized  to entertain the rapidly expanding plebian class and sumo came into its own as the national sport of Japan.The present Japan Sumo Association has its origins in the first formed groups during the Edo Period.