We kicked off Kyushu Act 2 in fine style, and with just the Ozeki holding down the big end of the torkiumi, it’s makes for a really quick final division. While whoever wins this basho will always have an asterisk next to it (due to Nokozuna), its still an official tournament, and everything that happens does indeed count.
Somewhere in the stands today, our own “man in exotic lands” Josh was enjoying the matches. If I could guess, we may see some of his thoughts on this blog before the end of the day.
In other news, an off-hand remark I made in the day 6 preview seems to have severely impacted my weekend chanko recipe. This shall be painful, smelly and foul tasting. But it must be done.
Highlight Matches
Aminishiki defeats Daiamami – It’s one thing to have Uncle Sumo visit the top division for a day, and it’s another thing (a special, wonderful thing) to have him unleash sumo magic. I am certain Daiamami was looking for a henka, instead Aminishiki drove inside and set up a rare kimarite: Amiuchi (aka The Fisherman’s Throw).
Arawashi defeats Daishomaru – Notable because for the injured Arawashi, this is his first win of the basho. As you can see post-match, he can put very little pressure on that injured leg. Ranked at Maegashira 16, a make-koshi is a return trip to Juryo.
Onosho defeats Chiyomaru – There seems to be almost no hope for “Love Chunks” Chiyomaru, as Onosho puts him up for adoption with the nearest Oyakata.
Aoiyama defeats Takanosho – Aoiyama appears to have reconnected with his sumo, and improves to 4-2, meanwhile Takanosho looks to be in trouble.
Chiyonokuni defeats Endo – After Endo’s day 5 match, people began to think he had his body and his sumo re-connected. However, Endo ceded control of the match to Chiyonokuni at the tachiai, and Chiyonokuni never let him do anything more that try to react to his sumo.
Ikioi defeats Yutakayama – This is Ikioi’s first win over Yutakayama, and it underscores the impact of Yutakayama’s injuries. Ikioi made fast work of him, and we saw no defensive pressure from Yutakayama.
Shohozan defeats Kotoshogiku – THE match of the basho thus far! These two went at it with gusto, and neither one let an offensive move go unanswered. As the battle raged across the dohyo, the two swapped roles, techniques and advantages. In the end I think it was all down to Shohozan outlasting the former Ozeki. The crowd went wild for these two hometown favorites. I loved the bow that Kotoshogiku gave at the end of that match, pure respect for a worthy opponent, and a match that might be the highlight of his year.
Chiyotairyu defeats Takanoiwa – Takanoiwa did not survive Chiyotairyu’s cannon-ball tachiai with his balance intact, and the burly Kokenoe rikishi advanced and pushed the still-recovering Takanoiwa clear of the tawara.
Abi defeats Asanoyama – Two happy rikishi enter, one rikishi leaves happy. Again the double arm tsuppari of Abi-zumo left his opponent unable to do anything other than get pounded into defeat.
Yoshikaze defeats Kagayaki – As thought, the overwhelming intensity of Yoshikaze’s berserker attacks proved more than Kagayaki’s strong low stance and solid fundamentals could absorb. Kagayaki opened strong, but Yoshikaze rallied at the tawara. I will say that Kagayaki is getting better at enduring that style of attack, which is good news for his future sumo.
Nishikigi defeats Tochiozan – No really, undefeated Tochiozan went down to the tragically over-promoted Nishikigi for his second win in a row. I am not sure what they did to him, but Nishikigi has decided to win. Wow…
Takakeisho defeats Kaisei – Stand him up, slap him down. Takakeisho is now the only unbeaten Makuuchi rikishi at Kyushu. Without any Yokozuna or credible Ozeki to contain him, Takakeisho is really racking up the wins.
Mitakeumi defeats Hokutofuji – Mitakeumi decided to bring his sumo today, and while Hokutofuji started strong, it was clearly a grade below Mitakeumi’s “A Sumo”.
Myogiryu defeats Ichinojo – I am starting to feel quite sad for Ichinojo, as he continues to fade. Myogiryu, however, is bringing fire and energy to each match, something that is sorely missing in many other rikishi at the top end of the banzuke right now.
Takayasu defeats Tamawashi – Tamawashi allowed the match to go chest to chest at the tachiai, and gave up his primary advantage: mobility. At that point it was Takayasu’s fight, and it ended as could be expected with the big man applying a straightforward but powerful yorikiri.
Goeido defeats Ryuden – The Goeido techs were able to wipe the “Bouncy Castle” zero day exploit from his battle control systems, and the Goeido 2.1 stack functioned normally today.
Shodai defeats Tochinoshin – Once again Tochinoshin allows his opponent to dictate the terms of the match. Unable to land any sort of grip, Tochinoshin was helpless to stop Shodai’s cartoon physics from completely disrupting his sumo. He drops to 3-3.
Tochiozan made a grave mistake with that shallow morozashi on Nishikigi. A morozashi is a powerful weapon, and there are basically two techniques for countering it – which not all rikishi are able to execute. The other technique is to get a good strong two-hands-outside grip – something I have seen Tochinoshin and Terunofuji do. The other is to lock both armpits – and it can be utilized depending on the morozashi’s depth and angle. And Tochiozan’s depth and angle were exactly the wrong ones. Nishikigi has strong upper arms. Once he had that lock, the morozashi became a disadvantage rather than an advantage.
So, you are learning to sit seiza? I’d assume you can’t sit any other way. And rump can be quite a tasty cut – check South African cuisine.
I really thought Tochinashin was still going to come up with the Yusho. But sigh. He can no longer execute the kind of sumo that got him the ozeki title.
Something is up with Takanoiwa. I wonder how much of it is all the drama during the inter-basho break, what with his heya closing, his lawsuit, and the cancellation thereof. Or how much the mysterious injury that caused him to go kyujo from the jungyo affects him. His other heya-mate, Takagenji, seems to be in similar straits, and the same question goes for him as well.
Aminishiki looked very appreciatively at that kensho envelope he got for that amiuchi of his. :-)
A couple of days ago I was wondering which sekiwake Takakeisho will need to unpark to get that rank himself. Apparently, Ichinojo is doing the honors. It’s a real bummer, because Ichinojo is the only rikishi I like in the whole Makuuchi division at the moment (with Kakuryu kyujo). I’ll keep concentrating on Juryo, where my guys are doing well.
Herouth, you really need to find a Makuuchi fave other than Ichitooslow. I suggest climbing aboard the Takakeisho train, as I did. You’ll be a happier person for it.
I just don’t enjoy his sumo. I appreciate his dedication and his attitude, and his results do far speak for themselves, but… if all sumo wrestlers were Takakeisho style, I’d probably never have gotten into this sport. He bores me even more than sleepy Ichinojo.
I hear you. But Takakeisho is a good underdog story — overcoming those short arms and small hands with a style well-adapted to his odd physique. And your answer begs the question: What in the world about Ichinojo’s lumbering sumo style attracts you?
He is capable of excellent sumo, that’s the thing with Ichinojo. He can throw. He can employ a Darth Vader style nodowa. But those back troubles he is having limit him severely.
I was going to ask what recipe you favored ;)
Thanks to Herouth for the technical description of the Tochiozan/ Nishikigi match. Watching the replays you could see Tochiozan’s reaction when he realised that he had his arms pinned to his sides and couldn’t do a damn thing about it. “Oh flipping sherbet, I’ve flipped this one up haven’t I”. Is the Bowlderised version.
I thought Takayasu was excellent today. One ancient sumo saying which I’ve just made up is “The wise man prevents his opponent from fighting his fight”. Tamawashi’s piston action oshi-attack can take anyone out but if you get to the belt he is vulnerable. The tachi-ai is the key: Tochinoshin threw a metaphorical wet flannel at Tamawashi on day one and paid the price. Takayasu gave it the full “woolly-bully” assault today closed the distance in a split second, and bossed him out.
Brilliant.
A) Bruce, as a favor to your avid readers, please post no photos of your rear end munching penance.
B) Didn’t Aminishiki’s foot touch down outside the ring an instant before Daiamami’s bulk? I was surprised that the judges didn’t at least discuss it.
C) Ichinojo these days seems to enter the dohyo with absolutely no plan for winning.
D) Loved, loved, loved the Shoho-Kotosho epic-length brawl! It practically became a TV miniseries on its own.
E) The henka-meter remains stuck on zero after six days of competition!
Daiamami was flying. Who touches first seems to only matter if one of them still has a foot inside.
I could understand that decision, if they had at least discussed it first. I certainly could be wrong, but my perception was that Daiamami’s trajectory was at least partly intentional on his part to allow time for Uncle Sumo to touch first, which he did. They both seemed to be fairly ‘dead bodies.’ Forgive me if I’m misunderstanding the rules, which seem to be quite subjective on this subject.
They were both dead bodies, that’s why Aminishiki won. He initiated the throw.
For Christmas, I would most like to have a Shimpan or Gyoji come into the Tachiai.org comments and explain that bloody shini-tai rule so we can stop having this discussion.
There is no shinitai rule. That is, no rule for deciding a match. That’s the basic mistake. All the shinitai rule says is that someone whose balance is lost to the point he can no longer regain a winning stance is a dead body. That doesn’t mean he loses. It depends on what the state and the actions of the other one are. But yes, I would also love for some gyoji to come and explain with examples, because there seem to be some ambiguities.
I doubt they could … the application seems inconsistent at best.
B) The judges clearly missed this one.
Ichinojo isn’t stepping out of the ring as quickly as he has in previous times, but he does seem to be just reacting rather than attacking. He clearly looks frustrated at the end of his bouts. The matta betrayed his nerves (a lot of mattas yesterday!)
Regarding the Abi vs. Asanoyama match, it’s worth noting that Abi wasn’t strong enough to actually push Asanoyama back; Abi was losing ground inch by inch. But because Asanoyama had decided to just take the brunt of Abi’s attack, Abi was able to direct his head and hence vision upward away from the action before doing the pull. Asanoyama’s decision to ride out Abi’s attack meant that he was essentially fighting blind.
Agree. Delighted though I am that my boy won yet again, I feel it was perhaps a little bit flattering to Abi to call it an uwatenage throw – it was, at least in spirit, just another hatakikomi after realizing that he wasn’t going to move Asanoyama back.
Also: if I’m not mistaken, this was like the 3rd time this tournament that Takakeisho has won with the same neat little sudden pivot/jump to one side followed by a one-handed thrust-down or slap-down – which kind of looks like a boxer throwing a left hook – on his unbalanced opponent. It worked for him against both Kise and Goeido on the first 2 days and now again against Kaisei.
Both Abi and Takakeisho have so far profited from their ability to very suddenly change direction.
Fantastic, unpredicatable day of sumo – both the win for Aminishki and the Shohozan vs. Kotoshogiku bout had me jumping out of my seat and shouting at the TV.
Nishikigi is a S.U.R.V.I.V.O.R. and, lest we forget, blind.
How is Meisei doing?