Year: 2017

Jungyo Newsreel – October 6th

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

🌐 Location: Yokohama

Kakuryu takes san-ban with Makuuchi-level wrestler

Yesterday Kakuryu settled for butsukari, but today, for the first time in a long while, he took san-ban with Maegashira Chiyonokuni for 10 bouts, of which he won 8 and lost 2.

kakuryu-chiyonokuni

The Yokozuna tested both his oshi-zumo and his yotsu-zumo. “I don’t feel any pains. If I can keep up this pace feeling the same, no worries” he said with a smile.

Regarding his time away from the dohyo, he said “Watching sumo on TV made me gloomy at first. Then gradually I became angered with myself. I was especially frustrated when three Yokozuna were absent. ‘Damn’, I thought, ‘I want to be out there and do sumo'”. He intends to make a few suggestions at the next meeting of the rikishi union, including re-instating the kosho-seido system.

Aminishiki puts his muscles where his mouth is

As the sekitori were engaged in moshiai-geiko (a series of bouts in which the winner decides who his next rival will be), Daieisho named Aminishiki as his next rival. Aminishiki ascended the dohyo, grabbed Daieisho under his armpits and pushed him out and away in one go. He then proceeded to wrestle with 21 year olds, taking a low stance and burying his head in their chests.

aminishiki-daieisho
Daieisho thinks he can easily beat the nearly mummified Aminishiki, proven wrong.

In all, he wrestled 9 bouts, winning 6. “Oh, just 9? Double figures and 9 are completely different things”, he joked (a hint to Harumafuji?). When asked about wrestling with his head (a basic technique usually used by weaker rikishi against stronger opponents) he said “Well, that’s the only kind of sumo I can do now. I aim to enter the dohyo every day, but preparing my legs takes time… I wrestle taking the length of tape I have left into consideration.”

Kisenosato continues to train with Asanoyama

For the second day in a row, Kisenosato invited Asanoyama to san-ban. This time 18 bouts, of which he won 12 and lost 6.

All in all, Asanoyama, whose favorite grip, right-hand-inside, is the opposite of Kisenosato’s, did not just go for a simple frontal attack-and-retreat vs. the Yokozuna, but tried various techniques and tactics, like ottsuke and makikaeshi, which pleased the Yokozuna very much: “That’s exactly what I wished for”.

Goeido offers chest to Yago

The lonely Ozeki offered butsukari to Yago

goeido-yago

But later pictures show Yago clean at the end, so either this was very, very short, or Yago simply succeeded in pushing the Ozeki out of the ring every time. If so, then it wasn’t Goeido’s last time of the day:

goeido

(Sorry, I’m not sure who that is. I’d say Mitakeumi, but doesn’t he wear a wine-colored mawashi?)

This just in – Harumafuji update

Apparently, Harumafuji did not participate in the torikumi. The only Yokuzuna bout was Kakuryu-Kisenosato.

From what I can gather, he also did not participate in any on-dohyo activity, and settled for stretches and advice to youngsters.

🤕😕

Jungyo Newsreel – October 5th

Herouth Hana-zumo, Jungyo (巡業) , , ,
Note: I’ll do my best to make this newsreel a daily feature during the Jungyo, but this is subject to (a) work and other demands on my time, and (b) the availability of news on Japanese media outlets and twitter, so no promises made.

🌐 Location: Yachiyo

Kisenosato spars with Asanoyama 17 times, wins 15-2

kisenosato-asanoyama

Kisenosato summoned Asanoyama for a rather lengthy sanban session, consisting of 17 bouts, of which he won 15. There was still no sign of the Yokozuna’s famous left ottsuke, but he did grab Asanoyama’s upper right arm for a Yorikiri and did a left-hand uwatenage.

Kisenosato sounded rather pleased with the practice, saying he “tested out various things”, and that “he worked hard to be ready to work with sekitori”. Asanoyama’s comment: “The Yokozuna is heavy and has a low stance”. Yes, sunshine, learn.

Aminishiki celebrates 39th birthday and new age record

aminishiki-oldest-returnee
Aminishiki with cake and stablemates Takarafuji, Homarefuji and Terutsuyoshi

Everybody’s favorite Uncle Sumo celebrated his 39th birthday a few days ago, but received a belated cake from the press at the opening of the Autumn Jungyo, to celebrate a new record: being the oldest to return to the Makuuchi division. Aminishiki thanked his family for their support during “The most difficult 39th year of my life”, and vowed to strive to advance to a level that will allow him to face Ozeki and Yokozuna once again. “I’d like to wrestle with Hakuho again”.

Don’t kid us, Uncle, we know there’s a Yokozuna, not from your heya, off of whom you still haven’t peeled a Kinboshi. And that’s not Hakuho.

Hakuho to join jungyo on October 14th together with Enho

Hakuho expressed his intention of joining the tour on October 14th, when it hits Kanazawa. He will probably be accompanied by the Sandanme Yusho winner Enho, who hails from Kanazawa.

Kakuryu does butsukari with Daieisho

Kakuryu gave Daieisho a butsukari session. Commented afterwards: “I have been working out sufficiently, and now I am aiming to gain my sense of the dohyo again”.

Kisenosato beats Harumafuji again

I termed this on twitter “a Paralympic bout”, as it’s hard to tell which of the two has a worse disability. Better tachiai than the one in Beyond2020, though:

Pearl Of The Day: How Are Sagari Stiffened?

Herouth Pearl Of The Day

Sagari are the cords hanging down from the wrestler’s mawashi.

sagari-silhouette

In the past, wrestlers used to fight in their kesho-mawashi, but the heavy ornamental apron hampered them, and it is also very hard to clean. So the kesho-mawashi became a purely ceremonial item, and for fighting purposes, it was simplified into the sagari cords.

Sagari are separate from the mawashi itself, hanging from a sash that is tucked into the mawashi. This is in order to prevent broken fingers should they get caught in the cords.

Low-ranking wrestlers have loose sagari. Sekitori use stiffened sagari, as straight and stiff as pencils, which match the color of the mawashi. So how is that achieved?

It is usually the duty of the Sekitori’s tsukebito to stiffen the sagari. And the pearl of the day is Itadaki of Isenoumi Heya showing us how he stiffens Nishikigi’s sagari:

Glue is applied to each of the silk tufts, making sure (using one’s nails) that it is absorbed by every strand. The excess is removed – and the width adjusted – using a piece of cloth. The end is nicely flared, and the whole cord is stretched on the board to dry.

Legends of the Dohyo #1: The Unbreakable Record

Liam R Kyushu Basho 2017 , ,

Futabayama

In the world of sport, there are a select number of records so substantial, set by athletes who transcended their sport, that they are considered unbreakable. Wayne Gretzky’s 2,857 career points, Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hit streak, Cal Ripken Jr.’s 2,632 consecutive games played. All great records, all thought to be unbreakable. Yet there is one record that may genuinely never be bested: Yokozuna Futabayama Sadaji’s 69 consecutive wins.

At the age of fifteen Futabayama entered the world of sumo, making his Makuuchi debut five years later in 1932. His meteoric rise up the banzuke from mid-Juryo to Meagashira 4, an unusually large promotion, was the result of many of the sports top stars going on strike due to demands for reform within the Sumo Association. Desperate for talent, The Association put their faith in the young Futabayama. Their faith was well founded, and it did not take long for him to find success in the top division. In March of 1936 Futabayama won his first yusho at the rank of Sekiwake with a perfect 11-0 record. As a result of his impressive zen-yusho victory, Futabayama was awarded the rank of Ozeki for the following tournament. As an Ozeki, he would go on to win both bashos in 1937* with perfect zensho-yusho records and became the sports 35th Yokozuna.

At this point in his career Futabayama had garnered a great deal of public attention. Spectators eagerly attended tournaments to see just how long the Yokozuna could stretch his winning streak. Capitalizing on this popularity, the Sumo Association extended the number of days each basho ran from 11 to 13 and eventually to the 15-day tournaments we see today. Futabayama continued his winning ways with an additional two zensho-yusho in 1938. His streak would come to an end on the eighth day of the 1939 Haru basho when Futabayama, who was ill with dysentery, was finally defeated by future Yokozuna Akinoumi Setsuo. Although his undefeated record had been capped at 69 victories, Futabayama continued to find success in his career. He went on to win another six more yusho and opened his own stable in 1941 while still an active rikishi, an act now forbidden by the Sumo Association. After his retirement in 1945, Futabayama revealed that he had been robbed of his sight in one eye as a child, making the incredible achievements throughout his career even more impressive.

Since setting the record for most consecutive wins, many other great Yokozuna such as Taiho and Chiyonofuji have tried and fallen short of surpassing Futabayamas most enduring legacy. In 2010, Yokozuna Hakuho became the closest in modern time to breaking the record. Believing himself to have been born to eclipse Futabayama’s achievement, Hakuho fell just six wins short of drawing even with his Yokozuna predecessor. If the greatest rikishi of our time could not overcome Futabayama’s record 69 consecutive wins, Then it can truly be said to be unbreakable.

*During the late 1930’s and early 1940’s only two basho were held each year

Futabayama (left) vs. Akinoumi (right), Natsu basho, 1942.

Links:
http://sumodb.sumogames.de/Rikishi.aspx?r=3763
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Futabayama_Sadaji