Though every would-be wrestler must, as we have already stated, be articled to an elder, no special lessons are given. The tyro is set to wrestle in the elder’s private ring with other pupils like himself, and it is only by dint of practice that he acquires any knowledge of the art, the great requisite of which is to be cool and prompt under all circumstances; and by wrestling with others more skilled than himself, he is left to discover from actual experience all its principles. When the elder thinks the beginner has mastered its rudiments, he applies to the guild for permission to send him to the Ekoin matches. The permission is readily given; and the beginner goes to the arena every other morning of the matches, where he wrestles, before the appearance of the regular wrestlers, with others like himself. At these test bouts the umpire is also a beginner, as technical questions never come up for decision. At these matches, the winner in a bout is set against a second opponent and if he is again victorious, he receives a mark; and by the number of these marks his position is determined. If he receives a mark each on the first four days of his trial, he is at once recognised as a professional, while the names of those who receive four marks but not on the first four days are entered on the wrestlers’ list for the next matches. No one can become a professional wrestler without passing this practical examination. Wrestlers who are not of the first grade wrestle on alternate days. At the end of the run, their wins are counted, and after cancelling a win for every defeat, their wages are raised 25 sen per run for each remaining win. Thus a wrestler who has won thrice and lost twice receives a rise of 25 sen, and augments his wages by seventy-five sen if he has won four times and lost once, while a continuous win for the five days means an increase of one yen and fifty sen. His wages are never reduced, even though he lost every match; but his position in the wrestler’s list is shifted according to the result of the matches.
