Kotonosato

My wife and I bumped into the two of them at Moscow airport on January 3rd. We shared the same flight back to Narita. It was clear that they were very much in love. I wish them well.

Dejima lost his health. His legs are shot. Just take a look at him-a mummy would be put to shame by his bandages. End of story. Yes, that's what I meant. He was all about deashi. He simply can't do it the way he used to with those bad legs of his. It's really a shame. (Neener, neener...)

I don't think we should be too surprised when a one-trick pony gets to Ozeki. Those with remarkable talent in many areas become yokozuna (Waka, Taka, Asa, Hakuho). Those with similar talents but too many injuries get to the ozeki rank but can't progress (Kaio, Musoyama). Others with remarkable talent in a limited area can still make it to ozeki: Dejima: freight train deashi. Chiyotaikai: the best tsuppari ever. Takanonami: lock-em-up morozashi. Kotooshu: good throws and sheer height. Konishiki: immovable objecthood. Miyabiyama: ...I guess there are a few surprises. If you lose your main skill, like Dejima, you get demoted. If you gain more you become yokozuna. (I don't remember Musashimaru's pre-zuna days, but wasn't he mostly oshi-sumo? Was it after he gained the mawashi power too that he was able to become yokozuna?) Kotomitsuki has a bit of everything. When he puts it all together in the same basho he looks great.

Here. Thanks always. (Clapping wildly...)

Are the banzuke-gai listings hidden in another thread this basho?

That must have been Ryusho. He is ranked as Jonokuchi 37 this basho. Last basho he was in Maezumo and went 0-4. I thought you had to win at least one maezumo bout to be ranked on the banzuke.

I was wondering if that is due specifically to the incident. I mean, it doesn't seem unreasonable to stop supporting the heya when the oyakata changes anyway. Especially some of the old boys who were fans of the oyakata from their rikishi days. When they retire, so do the sponsors.

Yeah, those were great, Jono. ;-) I'm not very familiar with the search function/archive system here, but if there is any way those posts can be tagged or otherwise preserved for posterity, that would be an asset to all of us.

I wouldn't jump to the conspiracy theory just yet. I think laziness and incompetence are still the safest bet. I think the cops here may be less likely to raise a finger because they are less likely to be sued in the end if something goes wrong. Legal repercussions may force them to do a better job in some other countries. Anyway, here's a news flash: This one was exclusive to TBS. NHK didn't mention this at all: TBS interviewed an old guy today who said he was at Tokitsukaze's stable in Inuyama the morning of Tokitaizan's death. He heard loud voices and went to see if keiko was happening. Instead, he got there to see three or four rikishi kicking him "like a soccer ball". Tokitsukaze was sitting there watching the whole thing. He also said that he had watched keiko earlier in the day and had wondered why Saito was the only one with bruises at the time. Assuming that he's not just an old fellow in need of attention, his story contradicts a number of statements made by Tokitsukaze. Tokitsukaze had said that he was not present and didn't sanction the beating Saito received from the other deshi. Anyway, it will be interesting to see what the cops do with this "evidence".

Thanks for the apology. Don't worry, no harm done. I think we're all a little upset about what's been going on this year. The Tokitaizan story is a lot for any of us to deal with. I know what you're trying to say about Ali, but I really had nothing about religion in mind. The story could very well have been about some kind of political affiliation: One of the party members gets arrested and Futabayama goes ape-shit trying to save his hero from the cops. The Lenin thing is even wackier still. And I don't get the Mongolian argument at all. Anyway, the question was: Did this incident matter to Futabayama's image or that of his stable? The answer appears to be: Not at all. If Asashoryu is lucky, he too will be remembered for his record, and not for the crap he's pulled this year.

I noticed a children's show on NHK Kyoiku that had a very cute feature with Takanohana Oyakata teaching a little boy about sumo. Perhaps it was part of a series on sumo training techniques. This particular clip showed the little boy trying to grip the dohyo with his toes. That is, he was basically standing as usual, but with toes pointed directly down as if 'grabbing' the dohyo. I assume that is something that all rikishi try to do. But the the precursor to this was Takanohana teaching the boy how to build toe strength(?) by sitting down with a towel under his feet and then crumpling up the towel by pulling it under his feet one grip at a time. I was just wondering if rikishi actually practice this with a towel. Anybody know?

Clearly I've stepped on sacred ground. I guess if I had first said that I know he was one of the greatest yokozuna of all time and that the wooden rooster story is THE single greatest sumo story that I've ever heard, then the question would seem less trollish. Having said that, it is your response that now seems trollish. I was trying to provoke the kind of historical perspective that Sasanishiki adopted. Despite the fact that he went around telling people that he was possessed by the spirit of Lenin, his reputation as perhaps the greatest rikishi of all time remains intact. And the Tokitsukaze name is still defended strongly, as your response seems to prove. I guess, in that sense, you answered my question. The next question might be: Historically, will anyone care about the Asahoryu incident 30 years from now? Will he only be remembered for his incredible record as a yokozuna? Will the Asa Era be remembered as the next great age after Waka-Taka? Futabayama overcame some strange incidents. Will Asa?(Perhaps THIS should be another thread.)

All this talk about preserving the great names of Tokitsukaze and Futabayama has got me thinking: Wasn't it Futabayama who joined a cult and fought off about a dozen cops when they tried to arrest his "goddess"? Was this before or after he became a stablemaster? Before or after he became rijicho?

The same thing happened to me. Apparently Joe Klemmer's server was rejecting certain email addresses. If you write to him directly maybe he can do something to sign you back up again. As for me, going without the SML for a whole basho was enough to wean me from it forever. The format is different here, but you can get all the info you need right here. I doubt I will ever go back to the SML at this point.

The tourney was broadcast on TV Tokyo later in the day. (I'm assuming we're talking about the same one-day event.) Hakuho won. Ama got the jun-yusho. I didn't see the whole show, but there were a couple of features that were kind of interesting. In the hanamichi they asked a few rikishi to blow into a machine to test their lung capacity. Kotooshu pushed the device to its maximum reading: 7000cc! Takamisakari, on the other hand, logged 2700cc and complained that the mouthpiece didn't fit his mouth properly. They also handed a few rikishi a hand-strength measuring device. Basically you squeeze it and it tells you how strong your grip is. Of the few I saw, Hakurozan was the strongest, followed by Hakuho. Kotomitsuki got caught cheating. He turned the dial up about 10 or 15 kg before even starting.