One of the best – if not the best – amateur sumo wrestlers in America, Ed Suczewski, will be hosting a sumo camp on May 25th and 26th in Madison, NJ. For those who don’t know Ed, he is a multi-time gold medalist at the US Sumo Nationals, he has medaled multiple times at the US Sumo Open, and he has competed at the World Sumo Championships. He is also one of the nicest people in sumo. NorthAmericanSumo.com was able to interview him a few months ago, and his enthusiasm for sumo is simply contagious. In other words, there are few people better to run a sumo camp in America than Ed.
Ed provided a PDF of the camp’s activities along with other necessary info (click here), and he also has a Facebook page for the event (click here). For two whole days of sumo activities and a t-shirt, the price tag is only $75. Not too bad at all!
So what will the camp cover? In Ed’s own words:
- The goal of this camp is to practice the principles of good sumo in all situations. Don’t expect to learn rare kimarite, but do expect to step outside of your comfort zone with varied approaches, positions, and opponents. Whether you’re an absolute beginner or experienced sumōtori, our four training sessions will be packed with live matches and practical coaching to instill strong fundamentals.
And what should you do to prepare? Again, in Ed’s own words:
- We’ll be saving our energy for the dohyo, so don’t expect to do a lot of conditioning at this camp. However, you’ll get more out of our training if you arrive well-conditioned and flexible. Check out our Facebook event page for some recommended exercises.
The event will be held at South Mountain Martial Arts, which can be found at 91 Main Street #3 in Madison, NJ 07940. You need to make your own reservations, but the official camp hotel is The Madison Hotel – 1 Convent Road, Morristown, NJ 07960. All in all, it seems like this event is an amazing opportunity for sumo beginners and experts alike. I would highly recommend anyone to go! Sumo camps are so much fun, and they include some of the nicest people that you will ever meet.
Still not sold on the event? Below are some of Ed’s matches from prior events. If you don’t want to learn from the person in the gifs below, I don’t know what else I can say!
North American Sumo 
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