‘I feel like a superhero.' Bronx teacher by day, New York sumo wrestler by night
Kofi Miller trains sumo in New York where he's helping grow the game and draw new crowds.
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By day, Kofi Miller teaches strategy at a school in the Bronx.
"What I like about teaching the most is just the opportunity to be a influence in a child's life, especially as someone who grew up here in Brooklyn...teachers are kind of what saved me from the streets and everything," he says.
But by night, Miller has another passion - stepping into the ring for one of the world's oldest sports.
Miller trains sumo in New York, where he's helping grow the sport and draw new crowds.
"I do feel kind of like a superhero," he says.
The sport is starting to draw some pretty big crowds across the tri-state.
"We are getting the exposure that I think sumo deserves," he says. "I think it has the possibility to change the aspect of sports in the U.S. in a major way."
Miller's sumo journey started almost by accident. He said he was working at a bar and his boss showed him a flyer about a sumo tournament and told him he wanted to see Miller do sumo moves as a joke.
But what started out as a joke didn't end up as one. The more Miller trained, the more the sport felt like a fit.
"The thing that attracted me to sumo is the spirit of dedication," he says. "It's so New York to me to fight with everything you have, so I just love sumo."
Competition is nothing new for Miller. Before he trained in sumo, the kid who grew up loving video games suddenly found himself playing them for a living.
And just like in gaming, he made himself a name in sumo.
"My parents - if they could see the headlines and the posters and everything now, I know they would be proud of me," he said. "They always said I had the potential to do something great."
Training is only part of the job. To compete at more than 350 pounds, eating becomes part of the work, too.
"Keeping on weight like that is, of course, going to be a lot of food," he says.
But sometimes even getting dressed is a challenge - because when you are built for sumo, you usually need a tailor.
All of his hard work paid off. He recently competed at a tournament at the Westchester County Center. While he didn't win, he remains positive and is already thinking about the next match.
"I can only see my sumo journey going up from here. Losing is just a chance to get better," he says. "I want to be considered the greatest of all time - that's my goal. And that means winning, that means fighting and that means conquering. I'm still the New York sumo wrestler. I just gotta get up back on my feet."
