brad2 wrote:

What is the diet for them to be big and still strong.

I think it pretty much begins and ends with chankonabe ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chanko_nabe )... And a ton of rice.

Halfway thru the Nagoya basho and didn't update the results from the Natsu Basho back in May!!


Kyokutenho won!!

At the ripe old age of 37 he won his first tournament!!

The oldest ever to take a top division championship and the first Maegashira to win since 2001.

Now, as far as the Nagoya basho goes it looks like reality has returned as Hakuho and Harumafuji are both tied at 9-0 up to this point.

I have watched some of the last bouts, and I am fascinated with the way these men can manage their balance. It's an art, I think, when two huge men wrestle, and it needs very nimble footwork and also a knowledge or physical feeling for where the other man is about to use some muscle. It's definitely not just brute force is it...

gaijinmark wrote:

Now, as far as the Nagoya basho goes it looks like reality has returned as Hakuho and Harumafuji are both tied at 9-0 up to this point.

Harumafuji and Hakuho met in the final both undefeated, first time that had happened since 1983. Harumafuji took the Emperor's Cup!

On the other side of the coin, Kyokutenho who won the previous basho went 2-13 this time.

That's like a baseball pitcher winning 20 games one year and losing 20 the next.

Here's a video of the final match, who knows, might be another 30 years before two wrestlers get to the final undefeated. The actual match starts at a little over 5 minutes into the video, gotta have the commercials first : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8dpUoC8KwM

gaijinmark wrote:

Harumafuji and Hakuho met in the final both undefeated, first time that had happened since 1983. Harumafuji took the Emperor's Cup! On the other side of the coin, Kyokutenho who won the previous basho went 2-13 this time. That's like a baseball pitcher winning 20 games one year and losing 20 the next. Here's a video of the final match, who knows, might be another 30 years before two wrestlers get to the final undefeated. The actual match starts at a little over 5 minutes into the video, gotta have the commercials first : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8dpUoC8KwM

So far this calendar year there have been four tournaments, with four different winners. You have to go back to 2003 to find a year where there were four different rikishi earning a yusho. Of course all the winners have been non-native Japanese so that drought continues.
There will be tremendous pressure on both Harumafuji and Hakuho in the next basho to be held in September, the former because he (again) has the opportunity to be elevated to yokozuna should he earn another championship, the latter because failure to win that tournament means he will have gone three straight basho without hoisting the Emperor's Cup, the first time that has happened since he became a yokozuna. Harumafuji failed pretty miserably on the other two occasions when he had a chance for yokozuna promotion; maybe third time's the charm. As for Hakuho, if he doesn't win the championship in September, it will mean a major psychological boost to his fellow competitors since his aura of invincibility will have definitely suffered a hit.
Re: Kyokutenho--that's what happens when you party too much after achieving your first tournament championship. His victory in May was a once-in-a-lifetime experience; I think even he realized it would never happen again, especially given his age. His demotion in rank for the next basho will actually give him an opportunity to obtain a winning record since he will not have to face as daunting a slate of competitors as he did for this basho.
Kyokutenho's career has been very similar to that of one of my all-time favorites, Takamiyama (Maui's own Jesse Kuhaulua). Both were foreign pioneers in sumo; both had/have had long careers; both won one basho; both got as high as the rank of sekiwake; both became naturalized Japanese citizens, married Japanese wives, and started Japanese families; and I have read that Kyokutenho, like Jesse, wants to run his own stable after retirement.

I liked this quote from Hakuho: "I know that I am lacking something. I have to go back to the starting point and remember my fundamentals."

Here's a guy that just went 14-1, which most wrestlers would consider the high point of their career, and he's basically saying, "I suck!"

The guy has an awful lot of pride.

gaijinmark wrote:

I liked this quote from Hakuho: "I know that I am lacking something. I have to go back to the starting point and remember my fundamentals." Here's a guy that just went 14-1, which most wrestlers would consider the high point of their career, and he's basically saying, "I suck!" The guy has an awful lot of pride.

That is why he is a yokozuna.

^ Ohisashiburi, shin2!

Hope all is well with you.

My favorite sumo wrestler is Aminishiki Ryūji. He is the best


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With his second consecutive zensho yusho (undefeated tournament), ozeki Harumafuji is now promoted to yokozuna. He becomes the 70th yokozuna in the sport's long history.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldZ8BA4cHXo

That was a great match!!

With all the crap that's happened in sumo the last couple years, 'bout time for some good news!

Kind of surprised to see Asashoryu there. I guess he's no longer persona non grata.

gaijinmark wrote:

That was a great match!! With all the crap that's happened in sumo the last couple years, 'bout time for some good news! Kind of surprised to see Asashoryu there. I guess he's no longer persona non grata.

It's been five years since a rikishi has been promoted to yokozuna, and since it is historically an infrequent occurrence anyway, whenever it does happen is a cause for celebration in sumo.

Harumafuji was somewhat fortunate in this basho because three ozeki pulled out of the tournament. Would he have won anyway if all three had participated? We'll never know, and what's done is done. It will be interesting to see how he competes as a yokozuna; while he is without question the most athletic rikishi competing, he is also among the smallest in the makuuchi division, and that has resulted in a history of injuries. However, he has been healthy in the last two tournaments--hence his zensho yusho record--so that's an encouraging sign.
I read somewhere that over the last few months he's packed on close to 20 pounds, and that seems to have helped him. Still, at around 290 pounds, he's decidedly undersized when you consider the average weight of current sekitori is 352 pounds.
Re: Asashoryu--From what I understand, he still does a lot of business in Japan. And the JSA did give him a generous retirement package and put on his danpatsu (haircutting retirement ceremony). That said, I doubt he and the JSA are buddies, but even they can't ban him from attending a basho.

Here's his first offical appearance:

Maybe it's the camera angle, but you're right, he does look awfully small.

gaijinmark wrote:

Here's his first offical appearance: Maybe it's the camera angle, but you're right, he does look awfully small.

LOL, only in sumo can a 290 lb. person be considered awfully small. But he is indeed much lighter than almost all the current sumotori competing in the makuuchi division.

Btw, that's Aminishiki in the background who's had a solid career, quite respectable as a maegashira, but it appears no longer able to generate any sustained success as a sanyaku rikishi.

NHK has show on weekends called "Sports Japan". Last weekend the guest was Akebono. Looks like he's lost some weight, probably down to around 400 pounds now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTOvs2CfPUU

gaijinmark wrote:

NHK has show on weekends called "Sports Japan". Last weekend the guest was Akebono. Looks like he's lost some weight, probably down to around 400 pounds now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTOvs2CfPUU

LOL, he's practically svelte.

gaijinmark wrote:

NHK has show on weekends called "Sports Japan". Last weekend the guest was Akebono. Looks like he's lost some weight, probably down to around 400 pounds now: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTOvs2CfPUU

Thanks for the link. Ayako sure likes to say "wow" a lot.
Akebono sure looks like he's lost weight, but it's hard to tell how much wearing that suit.
Happy to see that despite spending all those years in Japan, he still has da kine local accent that marks him as being from Hawaii. You can take da buggah outta da aina but you can't take da aina outta da buggah.

Hey guys!

Reminder for those living in the US and have Comcast, AT&T Uverse, Verizon FIOS, or Dish Network. TV Japan has a free preview until Thursday and they are airing the Fukuoka fall basho.

I found this guy living in Japan who does Youtube commentary about the matches, primarily those in the makunouchi (top) division.

http://www.youtube.com/user/JasonsinJapan?feature=watch

^ Thanks for the link!!

Hakuho lost to Kotooshu on Day 11

It looked like he might have been injured, but he did come back for Day 12 and order was restored.

Harumafuji struggling in his debut as a yokozuna. But as they mention in the Day 13 coverage, that is not unusual.