The origins of today's geisha (geiko and maiko) can be traced back to the Edo Period (1600-1868), although they became most popular during the Taisho Period (1912-1926).
In between fighting, the wrestlers practise an exercise known as bukari-geiko, in which one wrestler throws himself at his ready companion and drives him from one side of the ring to the other, completing the exercise only when the inactive rikishi has been driven out of the dohyo.