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The Crab Sumai was an advanced school of training, and was considered to be a set of clan secret techniques. The Crab Clan rarely made exceptions to this, but the most common exception was for Badger Clan samurai. [1]

Training[]

Testing their strength was a favorite pasttime of many Crab samurai, and was one of the more popular forms of dueling when facing another Crab. [2] Sumai was a commonly accepted method of dueling in Rokugan, a method with which the Crab were very familiar. They respected and relied on this form of competition when dealing with other clans to a high degree, and had several dojo dedicated to training different techniques. [3] The Crab Sumai School was taught in the Grip of Earth Dojo, and those students who showed a knack for the ritual and pageantry of sumai as well as its more physical aspects were sent to the Stone Tower Dojo in Toshi Ranbo. [4]

The training the Crab Sumai received was certainly different from the instruction for the Hida Wrestler. Whereas the latter were still trained in Crab lands, alongside the Hida Bushi, the former were trained near the Imperial City, and taught some measure of the skills they would need to know to survive courtly life. [5] In this school, they learned the rituals associated with the Sumai art, and became more of an emissary for the Crab.

Before learning the techniques of this Advanced School, Crab Sumai competed at the rank of juryo, the lowest of the four ranks of Sumai. As they learned the techniques of the school, their ability to compete increased, and they climbed in rank until they reached the highest and most respected rank of Sumai, the Yokozuna. [1] This rank was extremely important, as only wrestlers of this rank were allowed to compete during the Imperial Winter Court. As the Sumai were in many ways duelists and representatives of their clan, this was an excellent time to settle matters of honor, and gained the favor of the Emperor at the same time. [1]

Known Techniques[]

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 Art of the Duel, p. 29
  2. Art of the Duel, p. 19
  3. Art of the Duel, pp. 19-32
  4. Book of Earth, p. 191
  5. Art of the Duel, p. 22


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