Afrozuna

Can we please make a list of knockout bouts where rikishi have mementarily been knocked out during a bout Hakuho vs Myogiryu I also remember a bout featuring Onokuni where he seemed to be out for a while after tachiai

With all the Ozekis seemingly content with the status quo and with Hakuho now @ 19 yushos we have now reached territory where we seriously start considering the Yokozuna prospects of breaking the 32 yusho record. With no scandolous behaviour to distract him and no elbow problems to speak off it is highly possible that Hakuho can equal asashoryu's 25 THIS YEAR at the reasonably young age of 26. This will set him up good to break the record.

Is Peterson still around? This thread was a classic you either loved it or hated it, it obviously spawned the "Hakuho road to 100 yusho" thread. There were times when the Sumo scandals looked like the end of Sumo as a top sport.

This thread might become very relevant soon :) . Amazing reading these old comments, how far Sumo has come in a few short years

Yep Congrats to him, must, surely this is quite a topical issue so why is the forum so quiet on it, or am not seeing the thread with the endless adulations

Also has to do with the strength of ones home currency and the cost of living. In my country (South Africa) many of the rikishis with more than $300000 would be able to live reasonably well if their mortgages etc are already paid up. A 3 bedroom house in a decent surburb costs around $60 000. That is precisely why some Britons/Americans go to Asian countries (particularly Thailand) to retire because the cost of living is usually much lower than in London/New York and the strength of the British pound renders them wealthy in the currencies of their chosen retirement country.

Hi Guys Many of you will remember Doitsuyami (and maybe another poster) used to post a daily results thread during a basho showing matchups for that day, who won, match up for the following day and cumulative scores of the rikishi for the duration of the basho. Is there any reason why this was stopped by him? Is it possible for someone to continue this thread as I found it immensely useful on so many levels.

Its way too early to call HFJ a mediocre Yokozuna especially seeing as he has already won a yusho at that level, he is definately not Wakanohana. I dont think anyone expected a string of zensho yushos from HFJ considering his size and his AGE and the technique and skill of his main rival. This is the same Hakuho who stood toe to toe with Asashoryu whom many (myself included) swore would be the gretest ever. I for one never thought Hakuho would reach 25 yusho. I expected Asashoryu to keep racking them up but alas the elbow injury happened and fate has favoured Hakuho. Records are made to be broken and I would like to see the 32 yusho record fall in my lifetime. However at 28 one has to acknowledge it will require a major effort and lots of luck. Injuries are the main threat. Remember also many were writing Hakuho's obituary around this time last year despite pleas telling them to "sit down".

New names does not always equal new members. I'm a case in point and I've been here for years now and changed my name 3 times

The use of the term double standards was the wrong one here, the term should have been "random discretion" because you seem to be happy with henka when it suits certain random conditions which are subjective. What you might see as an occassion where henka is inappropriate someone else will see as appropriate for the exact same reason For Example: Sumofan A: Henka was inappropriate because Yokozuna was on a winning streak Sumofan B: Henka was very appropriate because Yokozuna was on a winning and that was the only way Rikishi x could have beaten

Very funny actually, did he have rikishi charge at him while he jumped out of the way. Seem silly if you already know its gonna be a henka. He couldn't possibly be practising ALONE could he because that would have been a sight to see.

Despicable

But according to you and your friends you would not have a problem with that since a Yokozuna is supposed to be expecting a henka especially from one of the few low rankers he faces. Regardless of rank we just can not have double standards. Henka sucks. Periiod. It's not a skill (certainly not one that requires training). Can you imagine the rikishis practicing henkas :)

I must be dreaming because on the other thread when I complained about how Henka sucks the energy out of the stadium, every one was bleating about how the other rikishi should be expecting it, its the other rikishi's fault they fell for it blah blah blah. Now here you all are whining about the exact same thing. You think all those people paid to see a henka. Daylight robbery. I dont have a problem when smaller rikishi avoid head on contact but henka is an abomination. Should be banned period.

Are there rules banning fans from rhythmic clapping in unison or singing at the venue? Because that's one way to get fans sucked in on the action, and it comes across very nicely on the TV. The other gimmick used in tennis very frequently these days and has been VERY effective is to have the camera occasionally zoom in on seated fans who are obviously thrilled to see themselves on the big screen. Now people go to the tournaments because they know there is a chance of being on the big screen and hence a chance of being shown on Live TV. The camera can also zoom in on celebrities attending the basho lending a coolness factor to the TV spectators as well. Can you imagine how much excitement, cheers (maybe even some boos) we would have if the camera zoomed in on Asashoryu big smiling face during a basho.

Allow gambling in Sumo? It would attract all sorts of dodgy type Yakuza characters. Not to mention rikishi deliberately throwing their bouts just to cash in especially when they have their 8 wins already. Care to elaborate, I dont think anyone here in Africa sees Japanese people as the crazy people you describe. In fact all the Japanese I went to high school and varsity with were very intellectually gifted people with humble deportment and gentle disposition. But you might be exposed to something else in your country. While I'm not thrilled with the idea of spotlights, I feel the Kyokugikan(sp) venue does lend itself too some strategic manipulation of the lights. Such gimmicks are currently being done at the World Tour Finals in London (Tennis). They have smoke coming out when the athletes enter the court. They have multicoloured displays showing "Ace" all around the venue if a player serves an ace. Some people like it I'm sure but to me it just feels way over the top. What I would like to see is a ban on henkas, they really suck the energy out of the excitement created by the pre-match rituals

My fear is HMFJ might end up overtraining in a bid to avoid the yokozuna debut jinx, only to end up injuring himself

Personally I find any adult chewing gum extremely annoying especially if they are male. I certainly would not expect a rikishi to chew bubblegum just like I would be completely shocked if I saw a picture of Hakuho sucking on a lollipop. However that is my personal opinion. The original poster seemed to suggest HMFJ was chewing bubblegum during the actual ceremony itself when he was accepting his promotion. I was baffled by this as surely HMFJ would not be that dumb as to chew gum in front of ALL those microphones and cameras

I always thought it was an honour for a rikishi to fight a Yokozuna. Not to mention it gives said rikishi a chance to suss out how he stacks up against the best in the division and what needs to be improved. To pull a henka on a Yokozuna is thus bypassing all the above and learning nothing in the process to develop yourself to be a better rikishi

Chiyonofuji was my favourite followed by Akebono. I once got goosebumps watching Akebono when he was in the rising phase of his dyoho iri.

I see you have neatly sidestepped the issue again. Calling me a fairweather fan to escape the lack of merit in your argument is not scoring you any points. I have been following sumo for 14 years now and in that time I am well acquanted with previous Yokozuna records, bouts, videos etc. So to try and undermine my well-subsantiated opinion by saying I'm a fairweather fan is cheap not to mention sidestepping the actual issue being argued here. 2ndly to equate a basho withdrawal by a Yokozuna to a poor perfomance during the full length of the basho of a healthy Yokozuna is senseless. The Yokozuna might withdraw with 4-2 but if he follows that up with 8-7, 11-4, 8-7 clearly the Kyokai & YDC will start making noises as they have done before.

Some of us were more than willing to overlook his occassional waywardness due to his charisma. Imagine what Sumo would have without Asa's controversial antics on the dyho. A complete snoozefest.

Asashosakari - I think you fail to realise that 8-7 for a Yokozuna would not be palatable. Previosly when Yokozuna achieved that it was made ver clear that they had underperfomed, in fact the exact words were "brought shame to rank of Yokozuna" and yet these are the Ozekis you want to be promoted to Yokozuna. 10-5 is not a chest beating achievement for Yokozuna in fact it is an underperfomance. Kyokai might not fire a Yokozuna putting up those kind of numbers, but they would certainly not be impressed. 2ndly you have to take into account that Akebono was joint Yokozuna with 4 others (who all met the b2b yusho requirement btw) so obviously the standards after promotion could be relaxed. I for one am very happy with strict adherence to 2back to back yusho requirement as it also sorts out those who rise to the pressure of winning a 2nd yusho from those who fold. Those who rise to the pressure before promotion will most likely rse to the pressure after promotion. Those who fold are most likely to be the 8-7 Yokozuna or even worse As I have said repeatedly, the standard has changed, you can say I have been spoiled by the past 10 years if you like and guess what I vehemently agree. I do not want to see a Yokozuna constantly performing at Ozeki level which is the door you want to open. Kyokai are not idiots, they are former rikishi who know whats realistic and whats not. If you say I'm out of touch with reality then so is the Kyokai since they are in agreement with me. However it seems that you are the one who is out of touch with reality. The technology, medicine and supplements available today mean that the standards have been raised compared to 20 years ago. You dont seriously believe Asashoryu solely relied on Mongolian springs to heal his elbows

You are trying to put the cart before the horse. You want people to be promoted on potential without putting the yushos required. The consecutive yusho requirement has served well in filtering beneficiaries of injury riddled yushos and inconsistent streakers. You associate excitement in Sumo with the numder of Yokozuna in the banzuke which is a mistake. Its the quality of sumo that makes it exciting and if the quality is good the Yokozuna promotions will follow. The past 4 years have seen poor quality sumo and what you are saying is if those Ozekis had been promoted they would have suddenly by some miracle produced great quality sumo worthy of Yokozuna. You want rikishi to be promoted based on hope rather than actual performance. Needless to say I find your idea naive not to mention the scandals that will result with such a haphazard promotion criteria. 5-basho Yokozuna will not have a long career anyway so we will be denied of seeing them perform at the highest levels of the sport not to mention the money they will lose out on. It wasn't Futahaguro's lack of yusho or hinkaku that brought about the two-yusho reqirement. It was Konishiki scandal, after that the requirement was clear cut and that is why it wont be getting relaxed anytime soon even for Japanese rikishi.

I know many will disagree with me but I really think the standard for Yokozuna has been raised. I dont think 10 yusho qualifies as Dai Yokozuna anymore. There are 6 bashos a year in Sumo so it only take 1 year 8 months to become Dai Yakozuna besides the fact that you already have two or more yushos before promotion already. I just feel like a reversal of the perfomance of Yokozuna will be regarded as a drop in the standard already set and hence 2 steps back for Sumo in general.While I know everyone eventually gets restless and impatient with a sole yokozuna to a point where they star making ridiculous suggestions like "if he gets a yusho and a yusho equivalent for sure he will be promoted". I prefer to have a sole Yokozuna performing at high standard rather than yokozuna performing at Ozeki level winning one basho a year. I dont think we can turn back the time anymore. A Yokozuna winning less than 10 yusho is simply an excellent Ozeki to me. Once again I must stress that my reasoning is based on the fact that there are 6 bashos per year, thats an awful lot of Grand Slams in a year and if the Yokozuna can only scoop one a year than he is just not worth his salt really.