I love Mongolia. It’s one of my favorite places on earth. The first time I went there for a fight, I was absolutely shocked at how big some of the dudes there are. The videos don’t do Bokh wrestlers justice for the sheer magnitude of size they wield. They have an expresión for that body type “frog shaped man”. It means very muscular and strong. Apparently Mongolian frogs are jacked.

Mongolians have been dominating Japanese sumo since 2003 when Asashoryu became a dominant Yokozuna. Hakuho then became a Yokozuna in 2007 and has only recently retired but there were two other significant Mongolian Yokozuna in Haramafuji and Kakryu. At the very end of Hakuho's career Terunofuji became Yokozuna and is the current reigning Yokozuna. There are 10 Mongolians in the top division which has 40 some men.

As a practitioner of Mongolian Shuai Jiao/Bokh I can assure you that these guys are beasts. Every few years they bring over some of their champions to do demonstrations at the Tibetan Buddhist Cultural Center in Bloomington, IN and I can confirm they get much larger than people think. I'm 6'3" 200lbs and I was smaller than their smallest guy by a lot. The tallest there was 6'10" and the shortest 6'4", their weights ranged from 280 to around 400 lbs. Also just a tidbit many people don't realize, they eat a LOT of meat and drink a LOT of milk, which is what's largely credited as the reason for their size difference versus many other people around them in Asia.

Dude when I was in Afghanistan I lived on a base that had Mongolian and Estonian soldiers. Those where the 2 strongest and athletic groups of men I've ever ran across.

I trained with those guys. It is not fun. They are much stronger than you. And much more skillful. At that time I was around 125 kg. Their coach (Zaan - Elephant) could lift me with one arm only. He was 170+ kg. We used to warm-up with 1-hour of basketball. Then stretching. Then technical exercises and light sparring. At the end - physical exercises. They have incredibly strong and muscular legs and most of the techniques are based on trips and sweeps. I do not like practicing trips barefoot. WIth the gutal (boots) on, it is much more comfortable for both wrestlers.

I met a few of these guys in Korea where they were doing a cultural presentation. Huge guys. I haven't felt small since I was a kid. They also play in Korean Ssireum and do pretty well.

The descendants of the Mongolian Empire. If their ancestors in some way trained like that, its a wonder as why they did rule the Northern Eastern hemisphere. I had a friend who was in the Korean war andhe mentioned he seen a Chinese soldier but knew that soldier was Mongolian because of his hands and stature.Its interesting to see these guys who have not entered or competed in world professional sports. Interesting video and learned a lot about a country I was always intrigued with, thanks

Mongols aren't just doing well in sumo, they're influencing how the sport is contested. Due to their influence the list of winning techniques was expanded in 2001 to accommodate the new techniques the Mongols brought with them.

Originally Posted By TomWanks⏩

Originally Posted By TomWanks⏩