Month: October 2017

Jungyo Newsreel – October 19th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) , , , ,

🌐 Location: Kashiba

Guess what just popped out of the ocean?

terunofuji-with-aminishiki
A Terunofuji expression you don’t get to see in honbasho

Yep, today’s main sports news item is Ozekiwake Terunofuji (above, saying hi to Uncle Aminishiki) joining the Jungyo after his serious knee injury during the Aki basho. Which, I remind you, was only a month ago.

How bad was his injury? “Well, at first I couldn’t even use the toilet” remarked the fallen Ozeki (TMI! Please don’t say anything that will cause me to imagine Shunba helping you there, ever again! Somebody hand me the brain-bleach, please!). He was unable to properly extend his leg. Apparently, this was a new injury to his meniscus, unrelated to previous knee problems he had.

terunofuji-muscling-up
Pump it up, Kaiju!

He received some treatment and some rehabilitation, and alongside that (wisely) concentrated on building up his muscles. “I worked out vigorously”, he said.

Today he refrained from doing any on-dohyo practice, and opted instead for shiko, suri-ashi, tachiai practices with his loyal Sancho-Panza, Shunba. And of course, strength training, as you can see here.

But if you think he is taking it easy, like his anideshi Yokozuna, you’re wrong. Tomorrow, when the Jungyo hits Osaka, he intends to join the rest of the sekitori and do some actual keiko.

Moreover, he was in the torikumi today. And the schedulers matched him up with Mitakeumi, no less. When I read that torikumi I was pretty sure Fish-Mouth will make himself a kaiju sandwich. But surprisingly, he didn’t. Mitakeumi did a quick nihon-zashi, and got the ozekiwake all the way to the tawara, but in the end, Terunofuji lifted the sekiwake with both arms (both uwate!) and got him out by Utchari. Video below!

Terunofuji’s problems are far from over, though. “If I told you that there is no pain, I’d be lying. But even if I rested, it won’t heal. I’ll just have to live with it”. He said.

About his demotion from Ozeki after 14 basho in that rank, he had this to say: “If my injuries are healed, I’ll be able to attain that rank again any time. The fact that I ended up with a completely new, unrelated injury that time does not make me happy, but I’m not wasting time thinking about a drop down the banzuke. I have to have self-confidence, and I’ll gain self-confidence by training and competing.”

And as usual, Tachiai wishes our favorite Kaiju a safe and healthy continued career.

It’s kisenosato’s turn to play with Asanoyama

The Yokozuna has apparently forgiven the kanto-sho winner for playing hooky from keiko the other day.

kisenosato-asanoyama-kashiba

He invited him to a 14-bout sanban today, of which the Yokozuna won 9, and Asanoyama a respectable 5. Half way through the series, the two were pretty much even, and you could hear the Yokozuna grunting unhappily.

Those two have kenka-yotsu – the Yokozuna is hidari-yotsu, while Asanoyama is migi-yotsu. In those bouts in which the Yokozuna achieved his favorite grip, he easily dominated. But not so much when he didn’t. “I couldn’t push forward, so it wasn’t good sumo”, said Asanoyama, “but when I got my right hand in I could somehow negotiate at my own pace”.

Following yesterday’s 11-bout session with Kakuryu, this has been Asanoyama’s sixth time to be called for sanban by Yokozuna in this jungyo. “When I lose a bout, I can tell from the experience itself what the reason for having lost was. The angle at which Kisenosato hits you delivers a huge impact. Then he follows that by rapid attacks. Everybody should learn how to position themselves and quickly attack, from watching him”.

The Yokozuna, when asked about the training, narrowed his eyes: “He is skilled, and he has power. I can use him to assess my own state right now. He is the best opponent for that, as he vigorously produces power” he nodded his head.

(Taken from Daily Sports Online).

One thing I’d like to see is Terunofuji taking up Asanoyama (if the Yokozuna let him play with their toy). The youngster seems to be a certified self-assessment tool for high-ranking wrestlers.

Harumafuji is back on the dohyo

The Yusho winner who has, so far, settled for workouts below the dohyo, except for a couple of torikumi in the beginning of the jungyo, decided to do some butsukari geiko.

harumafuji-reverse-butsukari-chiyonokuni

This was actually a reverse butsukari. That is, usually it’s the Yokozuna who lends his chest, and the lower-ranked wrestler who attempts to push him out. Given that a butsukari is usually a show of superiority, not just a form of practice, it’s relatively rare to see reverse ones.

Harumafuji commented that the reason he did not participate so far was finding himself “slow to recover from the fatigue of the honbasho”.

(Taken from Daily Sports Online. And if you read the article to the end and get to the part where they say that sumo originates from Israel, and that the calls “Haikioi” and “Nokotta” are actually Hebrew, well, that’s utter nonsense alternative reality).

Torikumi

hakuho-strangles-kisenosato
Is that a nodowa or a Vulcan nerve pinch?

Edit: This just in: some bout videos!

Hakuho-Kisenosato:

Kakuryu-Goeido:

Terunofuji-Mitakeumi!

Not Jungyo related, but sad news all the same

Apparently, Nishonoseki Oyakata (60) was found unconscious by passers-by after an accident with his bike. He was taken to a local hospital and underwent surgery, but so far is still in a coma due to a brain contusion. (Sponichi)

Short Jungyo Newsreel – October 18th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) ,

🌐 Location: Tsu

Short one today, as the newspapers are pretty dry.

Kakuryu on the mend, minces Asanoyama

kakuryu-asanoyama

Today it was Kakuryu’s turn to play with Asanoyama, the Yokozuna corps’ favorite toy in this jungyo. He took him for an 11-bout san-ban. The Yokozuna won all. Moving quickly, he led with his right and fiercely attacked the up-and-coming youngster.

“It was my own, never-retreating form. I am able to do sumo without any discomfort”, said the recovering Yokozuna. In Hamamatsu he took Asanoyama for 11 bouts as well and won them all. “But then, I was pushed back”, he recalls. Today, he dominated.

But is he back to his full form? “Not yet. There are still several days till the next honbasho, and I will work every day to improve my sumo and reinforce those parts that are currently unsatisfactory. Next time I’ll take on a rival who is a tsuppari specialist”.

Lots of bouts for your enjoyment

Most of these are Juryo and below, though.

Start with Takayoshitoshi vs. Akua (former shokkiri vs. current shokkiri performer here).

There is actually a second in that match that looks like they are actually doing shokkiri.

Hakkairyu vs. Motokiyama

Kyokushoho vs. Meisei

Azumaryu vs. Aminishiki

Daiamami vs. Kotoyuki

A real slapfest, that one.

Chiyonokuni vs. Takarafuji

Chiyomaru vs. Ishiura

Ishiura gets his just deserts.

As for the musubi no ichiban, if I find a decent video, I’ll add it. The only one I found was so bad I couldn’t tell if Hakuho won by Yorikiri or Oshidashi. Seriously. In fact, if it wasn’t for Kisenosato’s slightly larger silhouette, I wouldn’t even be sure who was who. That bad.

But Hakuho did win this time. So it’s 2-2 so far.

Legends of the Dohyo #3: The Peerless One

Liam R Kyushu Basho 2017 , ,

Raiden2

Throughout sumo’s long and storied history, there have emerged several men whose exceptional skill on the dohyo has led them to be considered the greatest of all time. Taiho, Chiyonofuji, Takanohana II, Asashoryu, Hakuho. These are all sekitori whose status as the best of the best has been hotly debated even to this day. Yet there is one man from sumo’s distant past who may overshadow them all. A rikishi whose sheer dominance elevated him to the status of legend. The mighty thunderbolt, Raiden Tameemon.

Like many legends, this story has humble beginnings. Born Seki Tarokichi in 1767, the man who would one day be known as Raiden Tameemon grew up in a small village in Shinano province. Even in his youth, Tarokichi’s strength was already considerable, and his father enrolled him in sumo classes in a nearby village when he was fourteen years old. During a 1784 jungyo tour of Shinano, the young Tarokichi impressed the visiting stablemaster of Urakaze beya with both his strength and extraordinary height. Standing over six feet tall he was considered a giant compared to his fellow countrymen. Tarokichi was invited to train at Urakaze stable in Edo (modern-day Tokyo) where he honed his sumo techniques. His time at Urakaze was short-lived, and he soon began training at Isenoumi beya under Tanikaze Kajinosuke, sumo’s fourth Yokozuna and the first to hold the position while still living.

In 1790, Tarokichi would make his professional debut at the winter tournament under his new shikona of Raiden, which roughly translates to “thunderbolt”. He finished his first basho with the best record of all rikishi who had participated, including his teacher Tanikaze and the fifth Yokozuna Onogawa Kisaburo. In 1795 Raiden attained the rank of Ozeki, a position he held for seventeen years. Of the thirty-five tournaments he entered, Raiden emerged victorious on twenty-eight occasions*. Of these victories, seven were won without a single loss**, giving the Thunderbolt a record winning percentage of 96%. His supremacy on the dohyo became so renowned that the Sumo Association began limiting the techniques he could use in an attempt to keep his matches more exciting and less one-sided.

Despite dominating sumo for two decades, Raiden would never attain the prestigious rank of Yokozuna, retiring as an Ozeki in 1811 at the age of 44. There have been many theories as to why he was never awarded the title, the most likely of which involving his strained relationship with the Yoshida clan. At the time, only the Yoshida clan held the authority to issue official Yokozuna licenses. It has been hypothesized that Raiden was denied a license due to his ties to the Tokugawa Shogun, whose regime was deeply opposed by the Yoshida. Despite never being granted the rank of Yokozuna, In 1900 his name was inscribed on the Yokozuna Stone at Tomioka Hachiman Shrine, with the only title befitting his tremendous impact on sumo: “Peerless Rikishi” Raiden Tameemon.

* These are not considered official victories as the current yusho system did not come into effect until 1909.
**Although Raiden did not suffer any defeats during these tournaments, several of his matches ended in draws where the winner could not be decided definitively.

Links
http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=3143
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raiden_Tameemon
Sumo Matchup Centuries in the Making

Jungyo Newsreel – October 17th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業), Kyushu Basho 2017 , , , , ,

🌐 Location: Takayama

takanohana-meisei
Takanohana still in professor mode, this time with Meisei

Today the Jungyo arrived at Takayama after a day’s hiatus the rikishi spent quietly in Nagoya. So quietly, that there was nothing in the news yesterday, and barely anything today…

Musubi of the day

So far there seemed to be a gentlemen’s agreement between the Yokozuna. Kakuryu and Kisenosato, while they were at it, basically split the spoils between them. But with Hakuho back, the excited Kisenosato informed the press that he is going to take the bouts seriously now until the end of the tournament.

I kind of raised an eyebrow, and wondered whether Hakuho will decide, in return, to just wipe Kisenosato off the Dohyo, or still let him have 50/50. But after Hakuho’s win on the 14th, Kisenosato actually won the next two bouts. BTW, if you have missed it, I edited in the musubi for the 15th.

While that one could be interpreted as Hakuho letting Kisenosato have one on the house, today’s musubi was quite a protracted affair:

So it seems that Kisenosato really is taking this seriously. But what’s up with Hakuho?

Earlier in the day he was practicing his Tachiai. Take a look at this. Is he favoring a leg?

In the penultimate bout, Kakuryu beat Goeido again.

Here is a video from Nagoya TV, with a summary of the day, including some wanpaku keiko (practice with kids), some Shokkiri, and a bit of the musubi from a different angle:

This just in: Goeido vows to clear his honor in Kyushu

“If I forget what happened, it will all come to nothing. I have to use the painful feeling as a springboard for a comeback”, said the Ozeki who let the yusho slip between his fingers in the Aki basho.

goeido-yago-butsukari

Today he took up his high-school kohai (lower class student) Yago for a round of butsukari-geiko. “He uses only his upper body, so I told him to use his knees”, said the Ozeki.

(From Sponichi)

More things you only see in the Jungyo

And today, let’s discuss workouts. Specifically, strength training. Back home, the rikishi have access to proper gyms with all kinds of weight machines. But when you go on the road, you can’t take a gym with you. So we get to see a lot of rubber tubes, rubber bands and hand weights.

And then, of course, there is the water bag:

water-bag
C’mon, Takekaze, you can do better than that. Fill ‘er up!

But what if you want to pump something that weighs more than 20kg? Something more in the area of 100kg and above? Turns out that there are plenty of weights to lift around the shitaku-beya:

kotoshogiku-weightlifting

Yep, that’s Kotoshogiku doing squats shouldering 113kg Kotodairyu.

It’s better that my speculations as to how he practices his hip-pumps remain unwritten.

Kyushu schedule published

This is not really Jungyo-related, but there’s a shortage of sumo news… so…

October 29th Rikishi arrive in Fukuoka
October 30th Banzuke announcement
October 31st Rikishi convention
November 1st Medical exams of new rikishi
November 2nd Yokozuna dohyo-iri at Sumiyoshi shrine
November 10th Torikumi meeting
November 11th Dedication of the dohyo
November 12th Shonichi (Tournament Day 1)
November 26th Senshuraku (Tournament Day 15)
November 29th Banzuke meeting for Hatsu