'I nabbed school-run dads to join my sumo club'
Ben Grief, 49, runs what is thought to be the only official sumo teaching club in eastern England.
An amateur sumo wrestler who took up the sport aged 47 has described how he found training partners on the school run after launching his club. Ben Grief had been "fascinated" by Japan's national sport since the 1990s, when matches were screened on Channel 4, and finally took to the ring in 2024. After not finding any clubs near him, he drove the 300-mile round trip from his Norfolk home to a sumo centre in Derby and was hooked - winning bronze at the British Championships just one month later.
"I'd been doing it regularly since then, and in all selfishness, I wanted to keep training and not travel far," said Grief, who set up Sumo East in Harleston last summer. It is believed to be the only official club teaching sumo in the Eastern region. The 49-year-old is now keen to spread the word about the sport and said he found his first wrestling partners on the school run.
"What I basically did was nab dads from the playground," he said. "It is quite strange, isn't it? 'Would you like to come and sumo wrestle?
'," he joked with BBC Radio Norfolk's Chris Goreham, who suggested it was a "very difficult ice-breaker". Grief continued: "So I just said it, and a few [dads] went 'Yeah, I'll have a go', and it went from there. " Club members demonstrated their skills live on BBC Look East [BBC] He said the sport was for everyone, regardless of strength, fitness and physique.