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Born on September 6th, 1964, forty-one year old Sumo Wrestler Emanuel (Manny) Yarbrough has quite a reputation. Standing at 6’8” tall, and weighing in at 740-808 lbs, he is not easily overlooked. Manny is an African-American Sumo Wrestler from Rahway, New Jersey. When he is not wrestling, he is a Courier for a health care company. A few of the titles that he has won are “1995 Amateur Sumo Wrestling Champion," “1993-1994 National Super-Heavyweight Judo Champion”, and “All American Collegiate Wrestler at Northern University.” Manny is also going to start teaching Sumo Wrestling classes in New Jersey.

 

As a child, Manny was always heavy and athletic. In high school, he loved to play sports. He started out with soccer, but quit when he got hit in the head with a wet soccer ball. Soon after, Manny's interest moved towards baseball and wrestling. All throughout high school, Manny consistently played three sports: football, track and field, and wrestling. He did the same in college. After college, Manny soon got into Judo, which led him to Sumo Wrestling.

 

Manny became interested in Sumo Wrestling around the time that it was becoming an Olympic sport. At first, like most people, he thought Sumo Wrestling just consisted of "two fat guys bumpin’ bellies.” He did not realize that there was actually a ritualistic aspect to the sport until he trained with some Sumos in Japan. Manny loves the ritualistic aspect of the sport, in which no weapons are used. Before a round, both players clap their hands, which signify to the gods that they have no weapons. He thinks it’s cool to have a ritual attached to the sport. Pertaining to Sumo Wrestling in America, he says, “We stick with the ritual because that's just the way it's supposed to be done. It doesn't have the same take. I mean, we're not Buddhists or anything like that, but just from the participant's standpoint we follow the rituals as closely as possible.” When someone throws salt in the ring, it’s to purify it of evil spirits. Manny loves keeping these traditions in the sport.

 

Back in 1999, Manny was one minute late to an Olympic Judo qualifying tournament and was rejected. Falling into a deep depression, he turned to food for comfort, putting on about 200 lbs. "I just fell into this downward spiral…I wasn't training anymore, just listless," he says. He moved back in with his parents soon after because he had put on so much weight, Manny developed a fear of dying; heart problems, joint stress, and shortness of breath become everyday occurences. He contacted a trainer, Eric Nies, and his old Judo coach for help. His old Judo coach promised to coach him to get ready for the 2008 Olympics as long as he got back into his fighting weight, 550 lbs, by the end of 2005. Which meant that Manny needed to lose 237 lbs. As of right now, there is no word on how much weight Manny has lost or if he will participate in the 2008 Olympics.

 

Manny’s trainer worked with him throughout the 2005 year to lose 237 lbs. Yarbrough and Nies both hope that operation “get tiny” would also bring attention to the growing childhood obesity problem. Nies says "Along the way, we're going to be challenging the youth of America to a weight-loss competition." He explains how childhood obesity is an epidemic in our country, and that kids will soon be dying before their parents. Manny states, "As an older individual, if someone my age and my size can lose weight, it's going to be that much easier for someone younger and stronger to do the same thing." He fully supports helping the childhood obesity problem in this nation.

 

Along with his wrestling, Sumo, and Judo awards, Manny has also appeared on the HBO drama-series “Oz.” He appeared on the last two seasons. At first he was only an extra, but they liked him so much that they created a character for him. Manny also had his picture in Sports Illustrated twice, which another big accomplishment for him.

 

Manny looks forward to his hopeful appearance in the 2008 Olympics, so look for him in the Judo and the Sumo divisions. Good Luck, Manny!

 

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