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Few sports can captivate an audience through three-quarters of an hour of tradition before the initial score is even contested.

Yet the detailed ceremonies unfolding in a small clay ring - largely unaltered for hundreds of years - succeeded in doing so.

Experience the Grand Sumo Tournament

This week-long competition at the iconic London venue features four dozen top-tier sumo athletes showcasing a sport whose earliest records dates back to the first century BC.

London's Victorian concert venue has been completely reimagined, complete with a six-tonne Japanese temple roof hanging above the ring.

Ancient Traditions Meet Current Innovations

It is here the athletes, known as rikishi, perform their shiko exercises to drive away evil spirits, and where they strike their hands to get the attention of the gods.

Above all this traditional ritual, a giant, revolving LED screen - that would fit perfectly at an American basketball game - offers the crowd all the data and video they could want.

International Enthusiasts Find Sumo

For an enthusiastic follower, it was a "random video" that first drew her interest a couple of years ago.

This was rapidly enhanced by the discovery of specialized online content for training facilities, where athletes reside and practice, rising before dawn to train, followed by a protein-rich meal and then an afternoon nap - all in the effort toward bulking up.

From Edinburgh, Different Experience

Another couple discovered sumo through a more traditional route: a trip to Japan six years ago.

"We saw it as a typical visitor experience, but we actually developed passion for the sport," says Julia.

"After that, we tried to locate groups, materials, just to learn more about it," adds Cezar.

Rare Opportunity

Visiting the homeland is generally the primary approach to see a top-flight sumo tournament.

This current tournament marks only the second instance the tournament has appeared in the capital - the initial occasion was in 1991.

Even visiting the country isn't a guarantee of securing tickets, with the past period seeing completely booked tournaments.

In-Person Viewing

For multiple fans, the UK competition represents the first time they have experienced the sport directly - and it lives up to the hype.

"Seeing it up close, you get a sense of the speed and the force which you can't experience on TV," explains an attendee. "Their stature is remarkable."

The Competition

To achieve victory, one rikishi needs to move the other man from the dohyō or to the ground using raw power.

The most use one of pair of techniques to achieve this, often in split seconds - thrusting, or clenching.

Either way, the sound of the two athletes crashing together in the initial contact of the match resounds around the auditorium.

Premium Seating

The cushions right next to the competition area are of course greatly valued - but also, potentially hazardous.

During one particular match, a tall wrestler fell into the audience - perhaps making those in slightly cheaper seats breathe a sigh of relief.

Internal Challenges

Of course, the size of the rikishi is one of the initial aspects most people consider when they contemplate wrestling.

The facility's operators revealed they "had to source and purchase additional seating which can support 200kg in weight."

But sumo - for all its successful competitions - is not without its troubles behind the scenes.

Coming Obstacles

Perhaps the strict life of a rikishi doesn't look as desirable as it once might have.

Its popularity among young Japanese is also being competed with by different athletic pursuits, while Japan's declining population will present additional challenges.

Global Community

Not that any of this has worried fans in London.

"Witnessing these custom and formality that goes with sumo is especially significant," one enthusiast notes. "Currently, observing it live, you sense that you are more part of it."

For other enthusiastic fans, the intensity "created amazing experiences" - as did meeting the like-minded individuals.

"Getting out of a particularly focused online community and being able to observe numerous sumo fans live and being able to speak to other people who are just as into this as we are - it was absolutely worthwhile."