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> Maybe this is why fat is favored over large muscles. Fat deposits build lower, one can't really have bulky stomach and lower back muscles...
Probably. Note that a lot of wrestlers also build enormous legs. Comes from all the squats and heavy pushing, and helps with keeping ground firmly. Tochinoshin's thighs were supposedly over 90cm at peak.
> I think I see the reason behind that. It's kinda honor bounds the wrestler, preventing him to back out with some pretense if he doesn't want to face a scheduled opponent.
Yep. A lot of rules are set around preventing wrestlers from backing out for no real reason. Note also that sitting out the tournament due to injury is considered equivalent to having a 0-15 losing score when it comes to setting the rankings for the next time. Some westerners will say it's unfair because it forces wrestlers to come into the ring while still not fully healed – but iirc there was a period where they were experimenting with being a bit more lenient and the result was, higher-ranked wrestlers would overblow injuries and sit out when they didn't feel at top form.
It's a bit of a bummer if you land down below 2nd division after an injury (only top two divisions have regular salaries, the rest are only entitled to having living expenses covered + small sum of pocket money), but if you're really that good, you'll be back up in no time. Terunofuji e.g. had a series of health related issues and an injury in early 2018 and quit in May, only to return in March next year, landing as low as Jonidan 48W (5th division), and after roflstomping everyone in his path was already in juryo by January 2020 and would have competed in May if not for corona tournament cancellation. And he's now challenging again for ozeki title, where he was in 2017.