Swami

Happy birthday and hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

On balance I'd say Baruto would have the edge - if both men were at their peak. How about adding ex-Kirishima into the mix, the ultimate tsuridashi specialist (and utchari of course)? I also remember Chiyonofuji lifting Mitoizumi out in September 1989 which was quite a feat. Swami

He did seem especially bad these last couple of tournaments, as soon as he made the first step onto the dohyo he lost his footing immediately. Surely this is a lesson to any new recruit coming in, in terms of not how to do it. Swami

Happy birthday and hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

If this is indeed correct surely someone needs to take him in hand and urgently get him on a diet. Swami

Indeed. Swami

Yes, it seemed he had stayed at 199kg forever. He's another one whose weight seems to have got the better of him. Swami

I think for his own welfare now his oyakata or someone may have to make the call for him to stop. Swami

Hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

Hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

He should quit straight away and try to start losing weight immediately. The statement "reaching 300kgs is cool" is terrible, if that is what his main aspiration is. In addition, for his size, he has remarkably little power. Swami

At what point will he stop and think - is there any point in continuing? Even getting back to the lower levels of Makushita would be a major achievement for him at present. Konishiki at his heaviest lost a lot of his mobility but never looked anywhere near as ungainly as Orora. Swami

Happy birthday and hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

Hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

He really needs to quit now, even the most optimistic would say there isn't any hope of a comeback. Former Kotokaze returned to Makunouchi from the depths of Makushita after his first severe knee injury in the late 1970s but Terunofuji has too many complications. If it was just his knee, he might have had a chance. Swami

The saddest thing from Orora's point of view is the fact that he seemingly feels the need to say reaching 300kgs would be cool. Surely he himself can see it hasn't doesn't his career much good? Swami

Ichinojo needs to get a handle on his weight too, it is in danger of getting out of control. Swami

It's getting to the stage that Orora can't even use his bulk as his last line of defense, all his opponents just take advantage of his poor mobility. Swami

The thing with Konishiki was until he had that really bad injury against Kitao in 1986, his mobility was still relatively good (although he was "merely" 230kg or so at that time). Then Konishiki had a good spell leading to his ozeki promotion, and arguably his best spell between late 1989 and early 1992 when he was relatively injury-free. But after September 1991, Konishiki really started putting on the weight again, going up from 254 to 263 at the time of Haru 1992, and his mobility began to suffer badly. Eventually when he fell from ozeki in late 1993, between then and his retirement he reached 285kg at one point. I suppose the main point is that Konishiki still had far more strength than Orora, as long as another rikishi doesn't get wrapped up by Orora clamping their arms, their speed should easily be enough to beat him. Having said that, Orora is not the only one who really should get a lot of weight off. Tokushinho too and he is the added problem that he is far too top-heavy. Kenho is another one who badly needs to reduce his weight. I know Kainowaka did lose a lot a while back, did he keep it off? Swami

I find it hard to believe that ex-Kitanoumi would have urged him to go and break Konishiki's all-time weight record. At the end of the day, Orora is never going to make Juryo, let alone Makunouchi. Even if he was 100kg lighter, I don't think he would have made it. I'm at Slimming World and I am exercising and watching my weight - can he really say the same, as quoted above? Swami

Hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

Hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

Hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

Hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami

Hearty salutations from the Swami! Swami