We saw a brilliant match today between Takayasu and Chiyonokuni, in which the latter survived after doing the splits and won the day.
Well, this time he accepted the victory (and Takayasu’s fat wad of kensho envelopes) squatting on his own feet. It ended differently in Nagoya 2013:
Although he won, he got seriously injured, went kyujo for the rest of that tournament, dropped down to Juryo, and had a hard time recovering (followed by additional injuries that threw him all the way to Sandanme) (Hat tip to Twitter user Vikram Hegde for the history lesson).
Rikishi often find themselves with their legs placed in very awkward positions. Unlike impact injuries, pulled tendons can often be avoided by diligently doing this:
Don’t let interaction with fans come between you and your splits:
富士山静岡場所✨股割りしながらのテーピングの後サインで神対応の千代の国関😍 pic.twitter.com/EwSZEcC50p
— mie (@bryan_mie) April 9, 2017
While I don’t have evidence that prior to Nagoya 2013 Chiyonokuni has been lax about his flexibility drills, it is clear that he is now very diligent about them (The video is from 2017, the pictures from April 2018). And today it paid off.
Possibly the most amazing thing I’ve seen in the dohyo (?). I jumped out of my chair when he didn’t go flying out. I should get back into stretching!
that 203 clip my heart jumped into my throat – the pain! what a recovery and just goes to show that he learned the lesson the hard way and 10/07/2018 it paid dividends. fantastic win and even more amazing split recovery (wonder if 2013 flashed before his eyes albeit briefly before he banished both it and Takayasu) love the clip with the fan whilst he’s stretching… what a sweetheart he is
I’ve liked Chiyonokuni for a while now, and I was yipping with delight!
Wildest damn match I can remember. I rewound repeatedly. Willing to bet Takayasu is also doing so in his mind…whether he wants to or not.
Why do they insist on dragging injured wrestlers to their feet like this (2013 clip)? It looks like a good way to aggravate an injury. Let me guess: tradition?
Indeed. The wrestler is supposed to be present during the monoii. You can’t see it in this video but in fact the gyoji consulted with the shimpan if Chiyonokuni has to go back up on the dohyo to do the acceptance ritual (crouching!) and they magnanimously said no, he may stay at the edge for it.
i was holding my breath waiting for that outcome…. there is no way known to man that he would have been able to return to the dohyo!