Training news-February 28th-March 1st.

[Kintamayama 47,128]

Hi!

As the rikishi wind down their preparations for the coming Basho..

Asashouryuu now tips the scales at 142 kilos. Apparently his trip back home and subsequent consuming of foodstuffs has resulted in a 5 kilo gain. Same goes for Asasekiryuu, who is now 138 kilos.

Miyabiyama, who does not have Kosho status, is aiming to participate, though he hasn't fully recovered from that "nichonage" attempt that ultimately caused Takanohana's retirement and his own injury. He had 21 matches on Friday. Musashigawa Oyakata says it's a go. Miyabiyama says he is again aiming to win by using "nichonage", regardless of how dangerous this technique might be, as he has some Judo experience.

Takanohana supervised a two and a half hour session on Friday at Futagoyama. For the first time ever after retiring, he came onto the dohyo with  a mawashi, giving out advice to the young and veteran alike. He "lent his chest" with butsugari-geiko, until it turned red, say the papers. Tamarikidou who was there for degeiko, was totally in awe of the ex-Yokozuna's power. Taka took time explaining to Jonidan rikishi some intricacies of technique, etc..

This kind of intense training by Takanohana was last seen before his famous injury. Apparently, he was going all out, giving out advice  and in general setting an example for the disciples.

Will this help inspire Akinoshima and Takanonami?

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

Asashouryuu now tips the scales at 142 kilos. Apparently his trip back home and subsequent consuming of foodstuffs has resulted in a 5 kilo gain.

Hmm..  I hope he stays careful not to get too big.  Instead, he should work on staying the quickest, most nimble rikishi out there.   (Laughing...)

Taka took time explaining to Jonidan rikishi some intricacies of technique, etc..

Lucky toriteki  (Exclamation)

[Guest Kyukenzan]

Hmm..

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

We've had some very big rikishi out there, and there are some up and comers who are very big as well.  See the injuries/weight thread for more  (Laughing...)

Injury prevention is one of the reasons I'd like Asa to stay smaller.  I think being small also forces one to focus on more and better techniques, which IMO are more fun to watch.  

I know the Kyokai encourages the basic traditional techniques e.g. oshidashi, and it's very hard to become a yokozuna without proving mastery of those.  But I'd like to see more unusual kimarite every now and then.  It was so much fun to watch Miyabiyama's nichonage attempt vs. Takanohana in day 5 of 2003 hatsu   (Exclamation)

The other reason I'd like him to stay small is because I think if he gets bigger, he will get slower.  But if I'm proven wrong, so be it  ;-)

[Yubiquitoyama 4]

We've had some very big rikishi out there, and there are some up and comers who are very big as well.  See the injuries/weight thread for more  (Laughing...)

Injury prevention is one of the reasons I'd like Asa to stay smaller.  I think being small also forces one to focus on more and better techniques, which IMO are more fun to watch.  

I know the Kyokai encourages the basic traditional techniques e.g. oshidashi, and it's very hard to become a yokozuna without proving mastery of those.  But I'd like to see more unusual kimarite every now and then.  It was so much fun to watch Miyabiyama's nichonage attempt vs. Takanohana in day 5 of 2003 hatsu   (Exclamation)

The other reason I'd like him to stay small is because I think if he gets bigger, he will get slower.  But if I'm proven wrong, so be it  ;-)

It's always the question of having the perfect weight/strength mix for the type of sumo the rikishi in question has. It's also a question of how big and quick the opponents are.

A small yokozuna is quicker but easier to push out once losing control of the match. A bigger yokozuna is slower but also more powerful. I think Asashoryu reasonably should be at his strongest at 145-150 kilograms. He shows no sign of slowing down much, but gets stronger as he puts on weight. It's possible, with the size of most of his competitors being quite big, that he won't slow down so much as to make a difference until he goes past 160 or 165, but I hope (although I doubt it) he doesn't go that high, at least for some time. Compare to Musashimaru whose sumo and frame probably should make some 190-200 kg ideal against rikishi of today, although he doesn't lose much at 220 either. 240 though seems a bit much...

[Zentoryu 154]

It's always the question of having the perfect weight/strength mix for the type of sumo the rikishi in question has. It's also a question of how big and quick the opponents are.

Exactly.   (Exclamation)

There is no question that the more weight Asa packs on the less agile he will become, and agility is his biggest weapon. But he also gets stronger will additional weight. So the real question becomes: What is his ideal weight?

Compare to Musashimaru whose sumo and frame probably should make some 190-200 kg ideal against rikishi of today, although he doesn't lose much at 220 either. 240 though seems a bit much...

I've noticed that almost every time he ventures beyond 240kg he starts to loose his mobility and is far more of a stumble bum on the dohyo.

I tend to think his ideal weight range is 220-230 or so. It's at that range where he can still move well and apply his power to great advantage.

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

Where can we find out a rikishi's current weight?  The information on the kyokai home page might be out of date, no?

Do they get weighed before every basho?

[Zentoryu 154]

I may be wrong about this, but I think they get weighed "officially" once a year. At least I seem to recollect reading something about that, but don't quote me on it.

[Yubiquitoyama 4]

I may be wrong about this, but I think they get weighed "officially" once a year. At least I seem to recollect reading something about that, but don't quote me on it.

[Kaikitsune Makoto 210]

I think I heard some time that they had official weigh-ins at every Tokyo basho, that is January, May and September. But I'm just as uncertain as you, and it seems that new weights are reported every basho, so I'm not sure what makes the official weights better, in that case

About one week before every Tokyo honbasho an official weigh-in takes place. Usually almost all sekitori are present. The weights are then updated on Kyokai's records 1-2 days before shonichi. I have harvested the updated data for about a year now and never are the weights changed in other times.

At the moment Hidenokuni's weight is inaccurate. He weighs at least 130kg and not 107kg or whatever was on Kyokai's page.