'We've brought sumo wrestling to Barnsley'

After he retired from playing rugby in 2019, Richard Riggs from Barnsley was looking for a new sport to try.

The 35-year-old took a chance on sumo wrestling in 2022. He ended up competing for Great Britain in the World Sumo Championships and becoming the Team GB national coach.

He said he "fell in love" with sumo, adding that it had boosted his body confidence and improved his fitness.

Mr Riggs has now achieved his goal of bringing sumo closer to home by founding a club in Barnsley, saying: "It's different to what you think, it suits people from a whole range of backgrounds."

Mr Riggs' group now includes about 10 members, who travel from as far away as Hull to take part in training.

He said the sport had a number of positive impacts.

"I'm a lot more flexible than I ever used to be, having to get down in the lower squat positions, it does your hips and your legs a world of good," Mr Riggs said.

The common impression of sumo wrestling - heavier, half-nude men trying to push each other outside a ring - was "pretty much" accurate in the professional sport, he said.

But the group had adopted a more casual approach.

"We still wear the mawashi - the belt, but we've got kit on underneath, and we have it in weight classes as well," Mr Riggs, from Dodworth, said.

"We've got guys weighing 60kg (9st 6lb) who are doing a great job, then guys at 150kg or 160kg (25st 2lb) doing an equally good job."

• Sumo is a style of wrestling that originated in ancient Japan.
• The first wrestler to touch the ground with any part of the body other than the soles of the feet, or to exit the ring, loses.
• There are no weight restrictions or classes in sumo, so wrestlers can be mismatched by size.
• Each tournament begins on a Sunday and runs for 15 days, ending also on a Sunday.
• Wrestlers, who traditionally go by one fighting name, are ranked and the ultimate goal is to become a yokozuna, or grand champion.

The sport had also improved Mr Riggs' body confidence and he recalled the nerves of fighting for the first few times.

"As a bigger guy, that was quite a step, having to stand in a room full of people with no top on - but now it's second nature," he said.

George Young, 31, travelled from Nottingham to attend the club, and started sumo wrestling about two-and-a-half years ago.

"It's given me something that I love doing, it's great fun, and it's given me a whole new set of friends," he said.

One member of the club had never done any sport but since joining the group, he had competed in the world championships twice, Mr Riggs said.

The club is now trying to get more women interested in sumo.

On 7 December, the club hosted a national tournament and placed third.

Mr Riggs said it was an "incredible achievement," with the club now expecting more people to be interested in trying the sport.

"Bearing in mind that out of the entire club, it was only me and someone else that had ever done sumo wrestling before, in six months it was a real quick turnaround," he said.

"We're expecting a really big year for people wanting to give it a go."

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