SUMO wrestling may not seem like an obvious career choice outside Japan.

But it is this 28-year-old Malaysian's dream.

Daigoro Lai Teck Soon has been training in Japan as a full-time amateur athlete for four years.

He is the only Malaysian doing that, said the Malaysia Sumo Association (MSA).

The Singapore Sports Council and the local Japanese Association did not know of any sumo organisation or wrestler here.

Mr Lai said his family and friends were shocked when he told them he wanted to become a professional sumo wrestler.

"They didn't believe I could do it because it's a tough sport," he said.

Photos: Courtesy of Daigoro Lai

No one dares wear the loincloth

There's also the culture shock: "It's unusual because no one dares to wear the "mawashi" (loincloth).

"(Most people) also don't like to become fat, because you might get health problems."

The 1.7m 122kg Mr Lai is a relative newcomer to sumo. He started with judo and became a full-time amateur athlete in 2005 after quitting his job as a sales consultant.

At the end of that year, he decided to go to Japan to train for judo, immerse himself in the culture and pit himself against stronger athletes.

His Malaysian judo coach suggested he learn sumo while there, as the two sports have similar techniques.

That's when Mr Lai fell in love with the traditional Japanese sport.

He said: "I love both sports, but I prefer sumo. It's more challenging. In sumo, if you don't train well, it's dangerous."

It was tough at the beginning.

Said Mr Lai: "The first time I did the training, I cried. It's so hard. You need to do splits, squats, and "shiko" (where you raise one leg as high as you can to the side, hold it there, then stamp hard and raise the other leg).

"In three or four hours, you do shikos at least 200 to 300 times. It's very tiring on your legs and body."

Then there are the arm exercises, where you hit panels of wood more than 100 times per session.

"If you don't do it well, your sensei (teacher) and seniors will force you to repeat," said Mr Lai. "At the beginning, your hands will definitely get swollen."

But he said his training is easy compared with that for professionals. They live in special compounds, unlike amateurs like himself, who live in their own homes.

He also had to get used to the mawashi.

Said Mr Lai: "In Japanese tradition, you're not allowed to wear any pants inside.

"The first time, I was a bit shy. So I forced myself to go for a public bath, where everyone is nude. Once I got used to it, I didn't mind.

"Now when we need to change out of the mawashi, we don't care, just change. It's a very open society."

He also found it funny when, as a newbie, he had to scrub the backs of his seniors during baths.

This is a sign of respect, an opportunity to talk to the seniors to learn more about sumo and improve - and also a chance to curry favour, so the seniors won't pressure you too hard during training, said Mr Lai with a laugh.

He lives with a Japanese family - his godpa and godma, a couple in their 40s who are friends of his parents - in Toyohashi city near Nagoya.

He has sumo classes every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 4.30pm to 8pm, and judo classes every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday, from 5.30pm to 10pm.

But his day starts at 9am. He works out at the gym for about three hours, swims for an hour, then does weight training.

He rests after a heavy lunch before heading for sumo or judo class.

He has at least four meals a day, sometimes five - breakfast, lunch, tea, dinner and supper.

For sumo, he gained more than 30kg since arriving in Japan. But he did so carefully and gradually.

"You can't be too fat and gain weight too fast, or else you'll get diabetes," he said.

He has monthly check-ups for his sugar, blood pressure and body fat levels. He currently has 32 per cent body fat.

His expenses in Japan are covered by his godparents, a car company that sponsors his sumo lessons and gives him a monthly allowance, and his savings.

Mr Lai said one needs to do well in the amateur championships to get a chance that to become a professional.

It pays well to be one of the elite. A Yokozuna (grand champion) can earn about US$25,000 ($34,600) a month, while a lower division professional makes about US$10,000, excluding match-winnings and endorsements.

But Mr Lai hasn't been doing well. As an amateur, he was not placed in the two competitions where he represented Malaysia.

He had to pull out of a third competition when he was hospitalised after fainting. He had low blood sugar after dieting to stop gaining weight too fast.

This and other reasons led MSA president Toh Kek Keong to tell The New Paper that he doubted Mr Lai's commitment.

Mr Lai admitted he has been distracted in the past year.

His mother, Madam Chew Hoe Eng, was diagnosed with brain cancer last April. She died two months ago at 52.

Mr Lai, the younger of two sons, said he did think seriously about giving up sumo and returning to Malaysia to be with his mother. Several relatives also told him to do so.

But his mother told him to remain in Japan. She wanted him to do his best and succeed.

And now it's her memory that drives him to do that.

Hard to create interest in sumo wrestling

IT is difficult to make sumo an international sport, said Mr Kazuo Sugino, secretary-general of the Japanese Association of Singapore.

That is because it is steeped in Japanese culture and tradition, which do not connect with most foreigners.

There is also the culture shock over the costume. "Sometimes when they go overseas and perform, some people ask them to wear pants," he said.

He said that as far as he knows, there are no sumo groups or federations in Singapore. The Singapore Sports Council also said the same thing.

Even in Malaysia the sport hasn't really caught on. The Malaysia Sumo Association was set up in 1992.

Said its president, Mr Toh Kek Keong, 63: "It's very hard to promote. The costume you wear looks like nappies, people don't like it."

The association has about 60 members, mostly in Johor and Sabah, and some in Klang.

This article was first published in The New Paper.