You won’t want to take this guy on in the ring or at the arcade.

In sumo wrestling, tradition and pageantry are given as much importance as the bouts themselves. After all, it’s a sport with a history that stretches back hundreds of years, having not only deep cultural roots, but religious ones as well.

But while sumo wrestling itself may be centuries-old, sumo wrestlers are predominantly young men. As such, they’re not immune to the appeal of modern hobbies. Take, for example, this video shared by professional sumo wrestler Masakatsu Ishiura of 18-year-old Shou Tanikawayama, a younger sumo wrestler attached to the same training stable as Ishihura and apparently a master of arcade game Taiko no Tatsujin (also known as Taiko: Drum Master).

https://twitter.com/ghetto_stone/status/753609299713138693

In case you’ve never had the opportunity to play an installment in the long-running franchise from Bandai Namco, Taiko no Tatsujin is a musical rhythm game using a model of a taiko, or traditional Japanese drum. Giving the instrument involved, Taiko no Tatsujin’s gameplay is closer to the real deal than what you get with the simplified musical instrument of Guitar Hero or DJ simulator Beatmania’s mockup turntable.

Nevertheless, the 135.6-kilogram (298.3-pound) Tanikawayama fearlessly choses to play “Yawaraka Sensha” on the game’s hardest difficulty, Oni (“Demon”) Level. Showing off the surprising quickness and coordination that belies sumo wrestlers’ large bodies, he pounds and pounds at the drums, and while his performance isn’t perfect, it’s close enough to make us think if Tanikawayama’s sumo career doesn’t pan out, he just might have a future as a drummer instead.

Source: IT Media
Featured image: Twitter/@ghetto_stone