rock the Island.

Sumo wrestling begins at the Robin Hood in Hamilton today with belly-laughs likely to cause the only injury.

For the sumos will be "normal'' customers dressed in padded costumes battling for stomach-springing supremacy.

And a sneak preview of the sumo wrestling has already pulled in one huge crowd at the Robin Hood.

The idea is to provide entertainment in which customers can participate while others look on for fun.

General manager Mr. Paul Harris said: "I think they will be very popular with college kids and a lot of local people.'' The suits have been imported from Florida and consist of a protective spongy body armour including the decorative "diaper''. There are also gloves and a helmet in the shape of hair and a pony-tail similar to the ones worn by the Japanese sumos.

A mat will be laid on the floor of Robin Hood's main room and the idea is that the two combatants have to push each other off the mat in a best-of-three contest.

If a competitor falls to the floor and cannot get back up then his opponent can leap on top of him to claim victory.

Mr. Harris said: "We saw them at a trade show in the United States and we heard someone was importing the suits so we thought it was a good idea to put a show on here.

"We are starting Saturday and hopefully it will mean continuing every week.

Maybe we can even organise competitions with, say, local rugby teams involved.'' The suits were actually imported by Mr. Charles Dunstan, who saw a show on a cruise ship. He said: "We said we were going to bring them over here and the Robin Hood said they would be interested.

"This could be just the beginning. There are a number of other games like velcro-wall-jumping and running as far as you can with a bungee chord tied to your back.'' SUMO SQUASH -- Mr. Paul Harris claims victory by leaping onto his opponent Mr.

Peter Mahoney on the Robin Hood sumo wrestling mat.