Author: Herouth

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.

Beyond2020 – Rare Yokozuna Exhibitions

Herouth Hana-zumo , , ,

Earlier today, another exhibition event took place at the Kokugikan, just before the Autumn Jungyo starts, called “Beyond2020”.

Kisenosato and Hakuho doing san-dan-gamae

In this event, in addition to the usual fare (low-ranking rikishi practicing, keiko with kids, and later a full torikumi), there were two feature exhibitions.

The first, featuring Kisenosato and Hakuho, is called “san-dan-gamae”. Basically “Three level stances”. The two Yokozuna face each other in symbolic poses – upper, middle and lower – representing, respectively, fighting spirit, offense and defense.

Last year, this exhibition was renewed after 20 years, featuring Harumafuji and Kakuryu. This year it was the other two Yokozuna’s turn.

The second feature, a little more active, was the “Gonin-gakari”. This pits a Yokozuna against five simultaneous rivals on the dohyo. He takes the first at the tachiai, and then the rest tackle him one after the other from the sides. This is the first such exhibition to take place since 2001, when it was performed by Takanohana. This time it featured Harumafuji:

I won’t blame anybody who thinks that this looks scripted, but somehow, it seems Mitakeumi didn’t get the memo.

The feature exhibitions were followed by a regular set of Makuuchi torikumi. I’ll post all results if and as I get them, but these are the ones I got to see live (Yay, no geo-restrictions):

  • Chiyoshoma vs. Takarafuji. Chiyoshoma wins, but thinks he didn’t, as Takarafuji picked him up and got him out of the dohyo. But he did so with one foot out…
  • Chiyonokuni vs. Ikioi. Ikioi wins after a Monoii and a Torinaoshi.
  • Ichinojo vs. Kagayaki. Ichinojo wins by being bigger.
  • Shodai vs. Takakeisho. Shodai wins. What?
  • Shohozan vs. Chiyotairyu. Chiyotairyu picks Shohozan at least half a meter above ground and wins by a fancy kimarite. I know, I know, I should have written it down.
  • Hokutofuji vs. Onosho. Starts off on equal footing, then Onosho sidesteps, gets behind Hokutofuji and sends him outside.
  • Kotoshogiku vs. Tochiozan. Tochionzan wins.
  • Mitakeumi vs. Tamawashi. Turns out that given enough time, Mitakeumi knows what to do with a morozashi. Well, Tamawashi is not Harumafuji. Mitakeumi first holds him high, just below his armpits, then corrects this to a full mawashi grip and out goes the eagle.
  • Goeido vs. Kakuryu. Well, if I find a video of this torikumi I’ll be sure to add it here. Kakuryu wins convincingly. Slightly favors leg, though.
  • Musubi no ichiban: Kisenosato vs. Harumafuji. This was… disappointing. It reminded me a bit of that strange matta in the Aki basho. Harumafuji got into a bad tachiai, Kise pushed him a bit so he jumped back, and then jumped back again and out of the dohyo. It was set down as an oshi-dashi, but Kisenosato was still in the middle of the dohyo at the end of the bout. I’d call it an isami-ashi. Fans are now worrying about Haruma’s health.

 

All-Japan Tourney: Return Of The Yokozuna

Herouth Hana-zumo, Kisenosato (稀勢の里)

kisenosato-dohyo-iri

When Tachiai discussed the Yokozuna situation in a recent post, I sniggered at Kisenosato’s declaration that he’ll be ready for Kyushu, and suggested a new Kisenometer. Another comment suggested that he laughed to himself when he made that declaration.

Only, the Yokozuna was dead serious.

Today, an official but non-ranking event (sometimes referred to as “hanazumo”) took place at the Kokugikan – the 76th “全日本力士選士権大会” or “All-Japan Rikishi Championship Tournament” (with an awful kanji pun), also known as the “Meiji Shrine Sumo Tournament”. This is a one-day event, featuring sekitori only, with separate divisions for Makuuchi and Juryo, in the familiar elimination format we know from tennis and other western sports. Note that this is not part of the autumn jungyo, which starts on October 5th, but an independent event.

Last year’s Makuuchi champion was Ozeki Kisenosato, just about to start on his rope-run. The champion, now Yokozuna, came back this year, and answered our doubts as to his ability to do sumo ever again, by, well, doing sumo. And defending his title.

He started by defeating Chiyonokuni:

Then proceeded to beat Daieisho in the Sweet Sixteen, Shodai in the Elite Eight, and Asanoyama in the Final Four (I hope the NCAA doesn’t sue me), advancing to the final, where he faced Takekaze:

So yes, this is only hanazumo, which most rikishi, other than a Yokozuna with something to prove, don’t take too seriously. And Kisenosato did not get to face any sanyaku. But he was up against Makuuchi level wrestlers, which he scarcely faced in the past few months, and he looked good.  I’m particularly impressed by him lifting Chiyonokuni like that.

Here is the complete bracket:

mybracket

Sharp eyes will notice:

In the Juryo bracket, which only consisted of 16 wrestlers, Abi, the Aki Yusho winner, faced his stable-mate Seiro in the final bout. Seiro won. In this format, same-stable matches are allowed (and impossible to completely avoid) even before the final, and indeed Aminishiki lost to Terutsuyoshi after beating Kotoyuki.