ilovesumo 12 Posted July 27, 2003 (edited) Hello... I want to ask you all,what do you think about Maru? Retirement soon???? (Depressed...) Maybe.... his next result can "kill" him,like others before...(you know what I mean) I became a SUMO-fan just because of him...SUMO would looooose something special... Edited May 25, 2006 by ilovesumo Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Onnagumo 4 Posted July 27, 2003 I want to ask you all,what do you think about Maru? Retirement soon???? (Depressed...) I feel worried too, but hey, let's not give up hope yet. We'll just have to cheer for him even louder than we already did (Being unsure...) So, for Aki 2003: GO MARU!!!! (In a state of confusion...) (Clapping wildly...) (Sign of approval) And I hope that after Aki basho we can do this to all the people who predicted his retirement soon: (Bleh!) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ilovesumo 12 Posted July 27, 2003 YEAH! Let's do it! Konishiki said: "Dream big and never give up hope"! He got it right! (In a state of confusion...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fujisan 533 Posted July 27, 2003 I dont think anyone would like to see Maru retire quite yet but I think most people are very concerned aswell-Im certainly no different in that regard except I expressed concerns about him even before his recent injury-Mostly over his increasing weight,at this point in Konishikis career he was losing weight but Maru is still putting it on,that combined with his age and injury-Yes Im worried. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zentoryu 154 Posted July 27, 2003 at this point in Konishikis career he was losing weight Losing weight? (Clapping wildly...) (In a state of confusion...) (Being unsure...) I don't ever remember a point in Konishiki's career where he lost weight. He simply got bigger and bigger until his legs couldn't support him anymore and he was forced into retirement. Maru is fine weight wise as indicated by his current lack of knee or leg problems. He will stay fine in that area as long as his weight doesn't rise beyond a certain limit that his legs can support. In other words, as long as he stays between 220 and 240Kg, which seems to be a good range for him, he should be OK. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
QttP 0 Posted July 27, 2003 at this point in Konishikis career he was losing weight Losing weight? (Clapping wildly...) (In a state of confusion...) (Being unsure...) I don't ever remember a point in Konishiki's career where he lost weight. He simply got bigger and bigger until his legs couldn't support him anymore and he was forced into retirement. Maru is fine weight wise as indicated by his current lack of knee or leg problems. He will stay fine in that area as long as his weight doesn't rise beyond a certain limit that his legs can support. In other words, as long as he stays between 220 and 240Kg, which seems to be a good range for him, he should be OK. I agree with Zentoryu-zeki on this. I don't think Maru's problems have anything to do with his weight. He seems to be lucky, with his legs adjusting well to his weight. Both Konishiki and Akebono had suffered from legs problems, which, together with age ended their careers. Konishiki was plain too fat, and Akebono had a problem, because his legs were thin and couldn't hold the 220+ kilos of him. Musashimaru's legs seem big and strong, as so I tend to believe he shouldn't have problems unless he gains even more weight. But his wrist injury worries me a lot. I mean, if 8 months weren't enough to heal from it, can it ever heal? I'm not sure. Maru and his oyakata have been looking very optimistic about it, saying that it just needs some more time, but I'm a bit more sceptical... Taka never did recover from his knee-injury - as soon as he came back to a full basho, the pain came back too. And Maru couldn't even last one week in Nagoya... But I still hope he will recover. Go Maru! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fujisan 533 Posted July 27, 2003 Well maybe I was wrong about Konishki but the book of sumo I have says he reached his heaviest weight of 39 stone in 1987-3 years after that in 1990 he only weighed 35st 8lb. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yubiquitoyama 4 Posted July 28, 2003 Well maybe I was wrong about Konishki but the book of sumo I have says he reached his heaviest weight of 39 stone in 1987-3 years after that in 1990 he only weighed 35st 8lb. But this book is from 1990 or so, isn Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kotoseiya Yuichi 3 Posted July 28, 2003 (edited) FYI: A stone is 6.35 kilograms, I believe. When I heard for the first time Syd Hoare talk about stones on Eurosport, I thought he meant.. you know... stones... rocks... I've understood Konishiki's maximum weight was 284 kgs. That would be about 44.7 stones... (Clapping wildly...) I don't know how his weight fluctuated, though. If at all. EDIT: Yubi-zeki keeps on being faster typist than me... (In a state of confusion...) Edited July 28, 2003 by Kotoseiya Yuichi Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Rijicho 6 Posted July 28, 2003 This thread suits better the more general Ozumo Discussions than Honbasho Talk as there's no imminent basho right now. Hence the move. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zentoryu 154 Posted July 28, 2003 I+m sure he fluctuated somehow, but he was never at his heaviest that early in his Ozeki career. I believe he reached his absolute top, 285 kg (I have NO idea what that is in stones...) in 1995. Yes, he was certainly heavier later in his career than in his early Ozeki days. You can tell by looking at pictures and video of him from the late stages of his career and comparing to those of when he first became Ozeki. He was much, much heavier later on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted July 28, 2003 (edited) To get back to the topic, I think there is reason to worry. All along, Musashigawa-oyakata and Maru have said that they don't like to enter the basho and try to compete, unless Maru is able to perform at "Yokozuna level". Maru entered. But he didn't perform. Since I doubt that they went through all that trouble of entering (especially an out-of-town basho) as a "nicety" to the Kyokai or the fans, I must assume that they were shockingly mistaken about Maru being able to show the sumo that is expected of him. That, in turn, I take as a severe warning sign. If a Yokozuna THINKS he can perform, but doesn't, then we got trouble. Another basho like this, and the pressure to retire will be heavy. Two of them, and he's toast. His time may have come... For the longest time, we thought Takanohana would be able to come back. He sure fooled us once, but in the end, he could not do it. I don't see all that much reason to believe that Maru, who, with all due respect, is not Takanohana, could do it, either... Would be a shame to see the last of the giants go... Cheers Zenjimoto Edited July 28, 2003 by Zenjimoto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoavoshimaru 0 Posted July 28, 2003 The last of the giants, for now, I hope. Maybe others will come in the not too distant future (In a state of confusion...) While I hope Musashimaru heals and returns to 100%, I doubt it will happen. If it hasn't happened so far, why now? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Takanobaka 0 Posted July 28, 2003 While I hope Musashimaru heals and returns to 100%, I doubt it will happen. If it hasn't happened so far, why now? Quick analogy.... Maru's wrist = Grant Hill's ankle He proved that the Oyakata forced him to get back in too soon, and once you use a bad joint like that, it takes twice as long to reheal, if at all. If he goes in September, he's done, period. (In a state of confusion...) As for more giants, it seems somewhat unlikely at the moment...only one foreigner per heya, and Mongolians definately seem to be the vogue over pacific islanders at the moment, and there's generally a really big build difference there. Hopefully someone will come up from the homegrown ranks, but the trend seems to be smaller rather than bigger, and maybe we'll get excitement from having a few new Mainoumis around rather than a few new Konishikis Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yubiquitoyama 4 Posted July 28, 2003 To get back to the topic, I think there is reason to worry. All along, Musashigawa-oyakata and Maru have said that they don't like to enter the basho and try to compete, unless Maru is able to perform at "Yokozuna level". Maru entered. But he didn't perform. Since I doubt that they went through all that trouble of entering (especially an out-of-town basho) as a "nicety" to the Kyokai or the fans, I must assume that they were shockingly mistaken about Maru being able to show the sumo that is expected of him. That, in turn, I take as a severe warning sign. If a Yokozuna THINKS he can perform, but doesn't, then we got trouble. Another basho like this, and the pressure to retire will be heavy. Two of them, and he's toast. His time may have come... For the longest time, we thought Takanohana would be able to come back. He sure fooled us once, but in the end, he could not do it. I don't see all that much reason to believe that Maru, who, with all due respect, is not Takanohana, could do it, either... Would be a shame to see the last of the giants go... Cheers Zenjimoto In general I agree on what you say here, but I see one positive sign in this. Rather early on in Musashimaru Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted July 28, 2003 Actually, I seemed to get the impression that his wrist wasn't TOO bad, but that the bigger problem was that he was just not trained enough to compete? Or am I imagining that? As far as next giant, purely height-wise, perhaps Koto'oshu could be a candidate, but from what I've seen, he'll have to put on a LOT of weight :P Cheers Zenjimoto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kashunowaka 300 Posted July 28, 2003 While I hope Musashimaru heals and returns to 100%, I doubt it will happen. If it hasn't happened so far, why now? Quick analogy.... Maru's wrist = Grant Hill's ankle Pardon my ignorance... who is Grant Hill? ;-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Onnagumo 4 Posted July 28, 2003 As far as next giant, purely height-wise, perhaps Koto'oshu could be a candidate, but from what I've seen, he'll have to put on a LOT of weight :P That shouldn't be too much of a problem. He has a good example in his future oyakata ;-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yubiquitoyama 4 Posted July 28, 2003 As far as next giant, purely height-wise, perhaps Koto'oshu could be a candidate, but from what I've seen, he'll have to put on a LOT of weight :P That shouldn't be too much of a problem. He has a good example in his future oyakata ;-) He Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Takanobaka 0 Posted July 28, 2003 While I hope Musashimaru heals and returns to 100%, I doubt it will happen. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kintamayama 47,183 Posted July 28, 2003 [As for Kotooshu, it's a possibility....he IS built similarly to Akebono when he first joined, but then again, he's Hungarian and not Hawaiian.... Bulgarian, actually..Bandey is Hungarian.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kintamayama 47,183 Posted July 28, 2003 Actually, I seemed to get the impression that his wrist wasn't TOO bad, but that the bigger problem was that he was just not trained enough to compete? Or am I imagining that? As I was doing my well-paying job of translating the various articles during pre-basho, it was crystal clear (to me at least) that no way was he going to be ready. It seemed to me that Maru was the one pushing to get in , while Oyakata kept repeating that adage "WE SHALL SEE".. The reporters always stressed the fact that he could not use his left hand at all, till the very end of keiko, hence his new moniker "The Fugitive". Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Tokimori 0 Posted July 28, 2003 The reporters always stressed the fact that he could not use his left hand at all, till the very end of keiko, hence his new moniker "The Fugitive". (Annoyed...) :-P :-S I love nicknames... ;-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fujisan 533 Posted July 29, 2003 Okay,so I should get a more up to date Sumo book but it was said that you couldnt remember a time when Konishki lost weight and 3stones is quite alot that he lost. As for Maru-I've just got a gut feeling that his time is coming to a close,sorry but I have. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yubiquitoyama 4 Posted July 29, 2003 Okay,so I should get a more up to date Sumo book but it was said that you couldnt remember a time when Konishki lost weight and 3stones is quite alot that he lost.As for Maru-I've just got a gut feeling that his time is coming to a close,sorry but I have. I have had that feeling time and time again for years, so maybe it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
