I love sumo . Seriously. Religiously. C’mon, would I kid you?When you first view a sumo match , in a James Bond movie or on TV if you're outside Japan, you'll probably say "Wow! I didn't know Japanese got that big." Top sumo wrestlers, called yokozuna, are literally mountain-sized men who follow a lifetime-long traditional regimen to reach the top of the hill in this most ancient of Imperial sports. Imperial implies international, and many of the huge Japanese you see are- wait for it- not from Japan at all. Sumo "stables" recruit the Godzilla-sized athletes from all over the world- because size respects no border. One of the Great Men from Another Land is Kakuryū Rikisaburō . Born in 1985, as Mangaljalavyn Anand, he is a professional sumo wrestler from Sükhbaatar Province, Mongolia. He has a cute baby face, but don't let that fool you . He was confirmed as the 71st yokozuna champion by the Japan Sumo Association on 26th March of this year.To get there, he spent 14 years dreaming, training, eating and fighting to reach the top.Like you and me, Kakuryū and his opponents live to eat. What he eats is called chankonabe . Chankonabe (ちゃんこ鍋) is a Japanese stew, eaten in vast quantities by sumo wrestlers. It's made from dashi or chicken broth with sake and mirin to add flavor, and is filled with chicken (skin-on), fried fish balls, tofu, beef, daikon, bok choy, and whatever else the cook can catch that day. Served in massive quantities with beer and rice and somen or udon noodles, like Brawndo it's got what plants crave. It's often served in restaurants owned by former sumo wrestlers. The first of these, Kawasaki Chanko, was started in 1937 in Ryōgoku, a district of Tokyo that is home to many sumo stables.Next time you see Kakuryū, you'll taste the chankonabe. I guarantee it Japanese say that Sumo is the Dance of the Heavenly Gods . It is most definitely highly ritualized combat. Unlike many Western combat sports, the singular ingredient lacking is hatred for one's opponent. To become Yokozuna requires so many years of intense, ritualized, communal eating, drinking and training that it beggars belief anyone can ever endure it. The end result: a tightly-controlled contest of force between two well-matched opponents who have absolute respect for each other. Win, lose, or draw- this time. Maybe a different outcome- next time! A hand up from the winner to the loser, and- no hard feelings. Sumo is a sport that honestly asks “is conflict eternal” and answers “yes, let’s help each other endure it.” No apologies are asked, and none are given.There's a lesson in diplomacy hidden in there, somewhere...The ever present realization- that in the end, we come back to the same beginning again - is the heart of Sumo. And Kakuryū Rikisaburō has found his way back home- to Japan.