Soken

Yokozuna Deliberation Council Soken

Bruce H Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Natsubasho 2017, Takayasu (高安), Terunofuji (照ノ富士), Yokozuna Deliberation Council , , ,

Takayasu-Wakeup

Takayasu Gets A Workout

Earlier this week, the Yokozuna Deliberation Council held another of their periodic open trainings sessions, referred to as Soken. These are typically held in front of the committee and a few choice members of the press and the public. They allow committee members to gauge the strength, health and competitive nature of the top rikishi in the sport. This time, as the upcoming basho is in Tokyo, and there has been a massive public uptick in sumo interest, the soken was held at the Kokugikan and was open to the public.

As mentioned earlier, Kisenosato was not present, and this resulted in quite a bit of outrage from the committee.

But of more interest to us at Tachiai, was that the other three Yokozuna, both Ozeki, and a host of others from Makuuchi were present and going through their paces. First and foremost was Hakuho, who has looked very tentative in the past few basho. For Wednesday’s soken he was fierce and fit, winning all nine of his test matches. Kakuryu paired off against Goeido and Terunofuji, racking up 8 wins. Both Goeido and Terunofuji were looking healthy and strong, which is a huge relief for those fans fearing a “noZeki” future.

Takayasu was there, and paired off against Harumafuji. With Kisenosato being unavailable as a training partner, there has been genuine concern over Takayasu’s ability to hone his sumo for this critical basho. He must score at least 10 wins to secure the Ozeki promotion he has been chasing for the past year. He only won 4 out of 10 bouts against Harumafuji, but he looked strong and was moving well. Following the bouts with Harumafuji, he was treated to an exhaustive session of butsugari with Hakuho. From which Takayasu emerged covered in dirt and sand.

Far from being any kind of “hazing” by the Yokozuna, they all know that Takayasu is on the cusp of an important basho, and without his training parter, he needs all the help he can get. Takayasu fans everywhere are grateful that Harumafuji and Hakuho gave their time to help tune him up.

Video of the soken, including Takayasu’s butsugari below

YDC Soken Held This Week

Bruce H Gōeidō (豪栄道), Hakuho (白鵬), Harumafuji (日馬富士), Hatsubasho 2017, Kakuryu (鶴竜), Kisenosato (稀勢の里), Yokozuna (横綱) ,

goeido-down-ydc

Kotoshougiku, Kisenosato and Harumafuji Look Injured

This week, the Yokozuna Deliberation Committee (横綱審議委員会) held their “invitation only” practice to review rikishi performance, and decide what criteria might be levied for Yokozuna contenders. During these meetings, the top men of sumo conduct practice bouts for the committee, and it is seen as a preview of the readiness of the upper level Makuuchi two weeks prior to the start of the basho.

In general the reaction of the YDC Chairman Moriya was positive for a change, he stated that everyone looked to be putting forth a full effort this time.  He stated: “Today was good. Everyone showed great spirit and that does not happen much..”

Kotoshougiku was 0-4 in this practice session, and seems to still be struggling with his injuries. Likewise, Yokozuna Harumafuji seems to still be bothered by ankle and knee problems, in continuation of the trouble he had in Kyushu. Kisenosato went for 8 bouts, but stopped complaining of pain.

Hakuhou went 10 straight bouts with Shodai, giving him the “Roomba treatment” winning all 10 as Shodia got a close look at the quality of the clay and sand on the YDC dohyo.

Then there was Kakuryū, who was like some wild, possessed beast. He was practically unstoppable, and at one point sent Goeido crashing into the front row of tables, breaking a teacup. Kakuryū seems to be continuing his strong run from Kyushu. Goeido finished the session 6-4 in spite of being Kakuryū’s bowling ball for one match.