Local woman achieves national sumo title

There’s a little cafe on North Gate Mile that been around for 82 years.
Inside its doors is a waitress, who is the reigning 2016 National Female Sumo Champion.

“The most popular reaction is, ‘You don’t look like a sumo wrestler,'” said Natalie Burns.
In traditional sumo, women aren’t even allowed in the dohyo, or the ring.
Since the introduction of amateur sumo, which allows female fighters, women like Natalie are leading the way for female sumo to be as acceptable as other combat sports.

“I don’t like black eyes or bloody noses so cage fighting is out of the question,” said Burns. “Sumo kind of gives you the interaction of using combat techniques in a safe way.”
The rules are simple: knock your opponent out of the ring, or make another body part besides the soles of the feet touch the ground.

“You gotta be tough,” she said.
“I didn’t give her a chance,” said Burns of her opponent at the national championship. “I came off the line and busted her down like a tree in the yard.”

With the low numbers of sumo wrestlers in the area, and very few willing to match Burns in the ring, training comes in unique ways.

“I’ve got a tree with some sand around it so I can practice barefoot cause you’re always barefoot in the ring,” said Burns. “I just slam that tree as hard as I can. It was a tip from a sumo wrestler cause I was discouraged. You know, I don’t have anyone to practice with.”

Her world of sumo started in 2003. Now 13 years later, it’s not stopping.
“My ultimate goal is to try and medal in an international tournament at a world level,” she said. “It’s something that no U.S. woman has done yet.”

She hopes that her passion will leave her mark for sumo and women around the world.
“I can hold my head up high in the U.S. and represent the U.S. as a woman paving the way for sumo,” she said. “I definitely want to get to one of these world tournaments so I can medal. Even if it’s a bronze it’ll be better. Just to get my footprint down and git r’ done.”