Sumo quiz 2

[Kaikitsune Makoto 210]

Sumo quiz 2!

Don’t draw conclusions on the maximum points on each questions. The 2p is just a standard and does not hint to the amount of correct answers or number of facts to be explained in the answer!

All answers DIRECTLY to my newly wed hotmail-account sumoquiz@hotmail.com ! When 3 days has passed I will copy paste everyone’s answers to this thread in one long reply, give scores to each question answered and so everyone can see how everyone else has replied but freerider problem is avoided! Some questions are very hard, some are hard, some are moderate, some are easy, some will irritate you, some will discourage you. If for some reason you want to participate but do NOT want your replies published in the long reply-mail, let me know that. But the default of course is that everyone’s replies will be published here just like you would reply to them to the thread itself.

1. Analyze utchari from muscles’ point of view! Which muscles get most stress and whose strength must be good in order to have a safe (relatively) and strong utchari? Who lifted KaioU up in 2000 while trying an utchari but lost and got the whole of KaioU slamming on top of him when falling next to shimpan? 2p

2. Who had shotput experience, was tsuppari-machine and whose career was finally finished by retina detachment injury? 1p

3. Which of the following rikishi have a kid/kids? 2p

a) Musoyama

b) Asanowaka

c) Oginishiki

d) Wakanoyama

e) Aogiyama

f) Tochiazuma

4. Who has oddly thin calves? (only 1 answer is accepted…) 1p

a) Aminishiki

b) Tosanoumi

c) Kaiho

d) Musoyama

e) Wakanosato

f) Tochiazuma

g) Kyokushuzan

h) Kasugao

5. Who is Chiyotaikai’s main sanyaku (from komusubi to yokozuna) training partner? 1p

6. Which of the following is an illegal move in sumo? 1p

a) farting at the tachi-ai

b) hitting foe’s ear hard with an open palm

c) grabbing the thin part of mawashi which goes between the legs vertically

d) smashing foe’s nose with forward leaning head first massive tachi-ai

e) grabbing foe’s wrist and throwing him around in a large circle while staying put at the center point of the created circle

7. What are/can be the differences between sekitori’s mawashi and makushita and lower ranked rikishi’s mawashi in honbasho? 2p

8. What kind of sentences/words gyoji yells during a bout and in what kind of situations? 2p

9. Who is he? He was exceptionally young for his era when he was promoted to yokozuna. He was quite short had a well-fed round belly but surprisingly he was an excellent technician who challenged one of the biggest legends in ozumo in bouts which created a huge interest in their rivalry and this rivalry probably boosted sumo’s popularity a lot because of certain construction site emerged. His rivalry with this yokozuna X continued after their careers but was refined to co-operation as both were at high positions in Kyokai (or the predecessor of modern Kyokai) 1p

10. Who is he? Very strong and tenacious rikishi whose career was burdened by severe back problems which eventually resulted in his early retirement. Winner of many technique prizes and very capable of both oshi and yotsu-sumo. He won more than 5 yushos during his career. Oyakata now. 1p

11. Who is he? Paradoxically one of the biggest characters in the history of ozumo. Incredible quality, lightning fast oshi-sumo and respectable amount of yusho especially considering the less frequent honbasho schedule than nowadays. When he started his career in jonokuchi he was already then supreme. It has been speculated that modern dohyo diameter 4.55m is due to his presence as dohyo was too small for his foes who went backwards and out when he erupted at the tachi-ai. (dohyo was less than 4m in diameter then) Hence reform was made and 4.55m became reality. Little man only lost a few times during his many years as yokozuna. After his active career he trained some prominent future stars and also adviced rikishi to have healthier life style! 1p

12. How old is the present Kokugikan? 1p

13. Explain what makes KaioU vulnerable to Tochinonada sumo-wise! What is the problem with Nada that KaioU has which he doesn’t have with other rikishi at all? Hint: think like Nada does :-/ 2p

14. When did chonmage style become solely rikishi’s hair style and what was the reason chonmage lost its prevalence amongst normal people? 2p

15. What is the common nominator for Wakanosato, Takamisakari, Hayateumi, Takanohana, Kotonowaka injury-wise?

Deadline is on Monday evening CET time. Please do take part even if you would happen to feel that you can’t answer much at all……

[Fujisan 533]

I will offer 2 answers,1 Im sure of the other Im nearly sure of.

Q6 Im nearly sure is 'C'

Q8 I know two-

"Nokotta,nokotta" is shouted throughout the bout and just means "hang in there," but if the pace slows it changes to "Hakkeyoi" which apparently means "Keep going."

Edited October 4, 2003 by Fujisan

[Fujisan 533]

Okay sorry I didnt realise you wherent expecting answers here,sorry.

[Kaikitsune Makoto 210]

Ok..I humbly bow and take the hint. Only two persons have replied so far to the quiz. The quiz doesn't have demand and I guess possible reasons are:

a) too difficult

b) too many questions

c) Kintamayama is right. People don't give rat's behind on how rikishi win as long as one of them falls or goes out of the dohyo (the fact that there are about 10% of sumofans who know what is Kotonowaka's favourite grip is completely bizarre)

d) people are too self-critical and refrain from answering at all if they don't know the replies to more than 30% of the questions in their opinion

e) email answering was too complicated idea

f) it is autumn

g) it is weekend

h) Buyuzan beat KaioU

But! You still have chances to take part. I will publish the results and correct answers on Tuesday evening instead of Monday evening and hope for the best and sharpen my sumo quiz seppuku dagger in case my dandruffed honour forces me to engage into that act as a consequence of failure to draw interest in sumo quizes! (and I am 100% sure interest exists with better questions..) After sumo quiz seppuku I will only take part in Asashoryu-bashing threads and reply to every one of Kintamayama's "Daily joke X"-posts with "Hahahahah! More!! (Clapping wildly...) :-D (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) ".

[Kintamayama 47,178]

c) Kintamayama is right. People don't give rat's behind on how rikishi win as long as one of them falls or goes out of the dohyo (the fact that there are about 10% of sumofans who know what is Kotonowaka's favourite grip is completely bizarre)

No need to get angry just because I'm right again. And FWIW, 10% knowing Kotonowaka's favorite grip is a gross exaggeration.

We couldn't care less..

We want to know who wins. Sometimes, by what kimarite..and we like to pretend that we have a stand regarding henka and stuff. But what is x-yama's favorite grip??

Come now..

I'd rather read some toshiyori kabu-babu babble.

And, I have halted the daily jokes for a while due to low morale.

AND- all answers (a-h) are correct.

Purple Rain

Edited October 5, 2003 by Kintamayama

[Tokimori 0]

(Clapping wildly...)

[Kaikitsune Makoto 210]

No need to get angry just because I'm right again

(Clapping wildly...)

But what is x-yama's favorite grip??

Come now..

Ja! But when X-yama has been in sumo for 3000 years and has over 100 uwatenage wins and over 95% of the cases with left uwate, then kinda assume it is well-known feature of a rikishi. If one doesn't watch the grips at all, even then it has been reported hundreds of times that Kotonowaka and left uwate is deadly combination.

I am biased though. My crusade would be to let people know about the joyful aspect of sumo in the actual details of the wrestling. What

[Fujisan 533]

The answer to that is a combination of A,B and E.

[Yubiquitoyama 4]

I can't speak for all the others out there, but the reason I don't care for most of what you describe is very simple: I don't see it. I am not perceptive enough to get even a tenth of what you see in a bout and this has changed little even after seeing a lot of bouts and even after trying to put some details to mind. In the end that means that I don't care about it because there is no way I can really learn it. I can see if I consider a bout interesting or not, but exactly what happened is hard drawn from me, other than in a very rudimentary analysis. And it doesn't take away the joy of sumo for me, because I'm blind anyway as regards to that particular area.

As regards what muscle does what, it's entirely uninteresting to me because I have never done sumo myself, but is simply a fan watching others do sumo. Again, the exact physical properties being used in a sumo bout is not something I could really understand even if I wanted to, which is the main reason I have learned not to want to.

Different things draw different people to a thing like sumo. I have a sickly fascination with records, statistics and weird trivia surrounding sumo, which I consider a sport in its purest form (in a very personal interpretation of that). Although some frown at that, I am happy to continue watch sumo on my own principles and hope that others accept it. I assume the same is true for most of us. (Being mellow...)

Edited October 6, 2003 by Yubiquitoyama

[Kotoseiya Yuichi 3]

When a basho starts, I usually remember who's kadoban, who is a new guy in makuuchi and who might become an ozeki or a yokozuna. Injuries, results of the earlier bashos or how guys have done in the keiko are complete mysteries to me. Who can remember such details? When the basho is over and few weeks have gone (like, say, now) I can remember usually the winner of the makuuchi yusho, occasionally also that of juryo. Nothing more.

Winner of Natsu 2002? No idea... Someone's chronic injury? No idea... Wrestling styles? Chiyo pushes, Kotonowaka grabs, others do something else... Kyokutenho is tall, Kaiho is kind of small, forty in all, Takamisakari jives, Tosanoumi dives, Maru eats endives...

All I understand about the actual bouts is that there are two big guys. Often one goes over the line except sometimes both. Often one falls except sometimes both. Practically always one wins and the other one loses. How can anyone remember afterwards what happened? Does anyone care? How can anyone guess what will actually happen in a bout? (Anything except the actual result, that is.) Nages, kakes, yoris, boris, tsuris, oshidashi, Poshy Spice...

I know Tosa makes funny noises and lands on his belly but he's kind of predictable. Kotonowaka tends to do something that infuriates me and Tochiazuma sails past the bout without me hardly noticing him. Others do something else, one in two wins, the rest lose. Skippadi skappadi.

No, sorry, I have no idea about someone's favourite grip. (Being mellow...) That's Greek to me...

[Fujisan 533]

I dont even recognise half the Makuuchi division yet.

You think you start with little knowledge Koto.

[Manekineko 200]

I admit, I'm mostly like Yubi-zeki when it comes to appreciating techniques. But I do appreciate Kai-zeki's comemnts and efforts to enlighten us immensely. I admire the way he analyzes the bouts, and envy him his keen eye for that sort of detail. There is no part of sumo that is not interesting for me, and I would watch 100 Kitanoumi bouts, although probably in bunches of 10. I am one of 2 people who tried to answer the quiz, altough the first 2 questions got me properly mistified. (Clapping wildly...)

[Kintamayama 47,178]

I think Kaikitsune's soliloquay was one of extreme genius. He made his point eloquently and even grandly admitted he is waging a losing war. Yubi and Kotoseiya's answers were equally fantastic. Anyone who wants to get into Sumo should read these two posts. This thread should be studied in high places.

Still, I have to agree with Yubi that I can't for the life of me see what Kaikitsune sees. To me, it's two guys grappling and wanting to win.

Regarding the 100 bouts of Kitanoumi, I would have no problem whatsoever watching them at once. I can enjoy a good bout without checking out who has morozashi.

I just received a tape of Chiyonofuji's great days, and there are 50 bouts from his winning streak, and they are an incredible watch.

Edited October 6, 2003 by Kintamayama

[Tokimori 0]

For me Kaikitsune is a marvelous educator. Every time he analyzes matches I sit down and look through the matches again. And every time I can see what he's been talking about. It's great!

I am interested in techniques and who are using them. It's marvelous to know before the fight that if both like the hidaruyotsu, it will probably be a hidariyotsu fight. It adds to the excitement. "What, migiyotsu! It can't be!"

So I am very grateful to Kaikitsune for his efforts in teaching us his knowledge. Sharing his visions...

Thank you, Kaikitsune!!!

(Clapping wildly...) :-D (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...)

P.s. I also answered the quiz... I love quizzes... D.s.

Edited October 6, 2003 by Tokimori

[Kashunowaka 300]

For me Kaikitsune is a marvelous educator. Every time he analyzes matches I sit down and look through the matches again. And every time I can see what he's been talking about. It's great!

I am interested in techniques and who are using them. It's marvelous to know before the fight that if both like the hidaruyotsu, it will probably be a hidariyotsu fight. It adds to the excitement. "What, migiyotsu! It can't be!"

So I am very grateful to Kaikitsune for his efforts in teaching us his knowledge. Sharing his visions...

Thank you, Kaikitsune!!!

(Clapping wildly...)  :-D  (Clapping wildly...)  (Clapping wildly...)  (Clapping wildly...)  (Clapping wildly...)  (Clapping wildly...)  (Clapping wildly...)

I'd like to second that. I think Kaikitsune-zeki's analysis is often different from everyone else's in its attention to detail, and I learn a lot from him. When watching other sports I often learn a lot from the colour commentator and the studio commentary, and this adds greatly to the enjoyment of the sport. When I watch sumo, it's either the web feed (no commentary), Dale's movies (with a few seconds of play-by-play) or Eurosport (with a commentator who cannot even pronounce Kotoryu). So I'm on my own when it comes to analysing what I see. The insightful comments posted in this forum (and to a lesser extent on the mailing list) are a great help.

When it comes to the quiz in question, I really would have liked to answer it but didn't, because:

a) too difficult

b) too many questions

d) people are too self-critical and refrain from answering at all if they don't know the replies to more than 30% of the questions in their opinion

g) it is weekend

I don't think the quiz in itself was too difficult, but the above facts combined made it too difficult. I'd like to sum it up as

i) too little time to answer

We had some friends at dinner Saturday, so I spent most of the day cooking, and most of Sunday sleeping or moving rather slowly. (Clapping wildly...)

[Onnagumo 4]

For me Kaikitsune is a marvelous educator. Every time he analyzes matches I sit down and look through the matches again. And every time I can see what he's been talking about. It's great!

I would also like to second that. I often do the same thing after reading Kaikitsune's analysis of the matches. I learn a lot from it.

And to me the medical postings are very, very interesting too.

So, although I don't nearly have as much knowledge of this beautiful sport as Kaikitsune-zeki (Clapping wildly...), I love reading his postings. Please keep them coming, Kai-zeki!

My reason for not answering the quiz is a combination of a, b and d, but that doesn't mean I wouldn't love to see the answers.... :-D

[Asashosakari 20,223]

My position is somewhere between Tokimori and Yubi's...I find Kaikitsune's bout analyses incredibly fascinating, but I'm also afflicted with the problem that I just won't see most of those details on my own. Which makes Kaikitsune's posts even more valuable to me, of course...extremely high signal-to-noise ratio, so to speak, and usually "signal" that doesn't come from anybody else.

I do enjoy reading about all aspects of sumo - I just don't feel comfortable commenting much in bout analysis threads due to my own relative ignorance on the subject...everything I could say, is being said 100x better by others here. :-P

[Doitsuyama 1,259]

For me it clearly is a case of too many questions in too few time. This is the reason why I didn't answer the first quiz as much as I liked to do. Before I even could think about doing this the answers were out already. This time I took my time today to answer the second quiz.

My serious suggestion is to reduce the quiz from 15 to 5 questions. Advantage: You can make more quizzes this way before you are running out of questions... :-P

[Zenjimoto 40]

I, for one, opened this thread too late. I am generally not big on quizzes, but by the time I opened this, it was pretty much already too late to make the deadline. Or if it isn't, I am too tired now to wrack my brain and internet search engine to find the answers, which, if answered correctly, would show a definite expertise in sumo trivia that is currently beyond me. I also usually don't enter contests that I don't seem to have a reasonable chance of placing well in... and this one seems like it's not one of the ones where I would... :-P

Cheers

Z.

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

Once again, I'm about to write something (putting the words in my head as I read the thread), only to see Zenjimoto-zeki saying exactly what I had in mind :-)

[Doitsuyama 1,259]

But! You still have chances to take part. I will publish the results and correct answers on Tuesday evening instead of Monday evening and hope for the best and sharpen my sumo quiz seppuku dagger in case my dandruffed honour forces me to engage into that act as a consequence of failure to draw interest in sumo quizes!

Hi Kaikitsune-zeki! I hope the dagger stayed where it belongs, and no seppuku to your quiz incarnation was done... because I took my time to answer this one and am curious to know what the answers are...

Edited October 8, 2003 by Doitsuyama

[Kaikitsune Makoto 210]

I hope the dagger stayed where it belongs, and no seppuku to your quiz incarnation was done... because I took my time to answer this one and am curious to know what the answers are...

Dagger is back in the closet hengar yes. I have had busy days so answers to quiz has been overdue. I will publish all answers by the end of this week, probably quite soon actually. This also means that if someone is STILL interest in taking part, you can stilll submit replies. Only when the correct answers are published here, the deadline has arrived.

Thank you all for all the kind words! It is good to hear many people find my postings interesting and even educational! I like analyzing sumo so surely that will continue in the future!

I had to make about 5-6 bread doughs before being able to "master" the flour adding + kneading phase well enough to have an easily mouldable and more or less acceptable dough for bread baking. I had to take 3-4 blood samples before I learned how to pull the vacuum pipe off so that the needle confidently stayed in the vein etc. I think I needed only this 1 quiz to understand how to modify it better the next time to draw more activity and less exam-like burderning appearance. Next sumo quiz will be 5 questions with representatives from all 5 levels of difficulty :-(

There is learning curve for everything! :-P

[Zentoryu 154]

I can see a lot of the things that Kaikitsune sees in a sumo bout, which is probably why neither one of us was surprised by Iwakiyama's performance this basho, though I admit I am far inferior to him in that I do not see it in as great a detail as he does. He sometimes picks up on things that I have to go back and watch the tape and wonder how I missed it. :-D

These things come from years of watching bouts and wondering why Rikishi A always beats Rikishi B, but can never beat Rikishi C. The only way to find out sometimes is through bout analysis. That's how you learn to pick up on the things that Kaikitsune always picks up on.

Nor could I ever compete with Kaikitsune when it comes to explaining what he is seeing in his always interesting and educational posts. In this I stand in awe of him and wish I had that ability. :-( :-P

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

So today the quiz answers should be posted here? Of course, "today" is a relative term to the poster's time zone... :-P

[Kaikitsune Makoto 210]

Here are the results of the competition! Doitsuyama was a clear winner with very good knowledge! Second place was a tough race between Asashosakari, Yubiquitoyama and Manekineko. With 13p Asashosakari managed to take the 2nd place closely followed by Yubiquitoyama 12.5p and Manekineko 12p.

Doitsuyama 16.5/21

Asashosakari 13/21

Yubiquitoyama 12.5/21

Manekineko 12/21

Tokimori 7/21

Fujisan 3/21

1. Analyze utchari from muscles’ point of view! Which muscles get most stress and whose strength must be good in order to have a safe (relatively) and strong utchari? Who lifted KaioU up in 2000 while trying an utchari but lost and got the whole of KaioU slamming on top of him when falling next to shimpan? 1p

Utchari doesn’t really rely on leg strength as the leg work is mostly secondary there. To lift someone up like that and hoisting them over one’s hip requires a lot of trapizeus + other upper back muscle power and overall lower back and hip strength. Hayateumi lifted KaioU up in Nagoya 2001 (sorry about that….here is the link to the bout http://www.banzuke.com/~movies/nagoya2001/...kaio_hayateu.rm ) , the stress was equal if not more compared to successful utchari stress so hence I asked about that. It was quite a display of power from Haya! I reduced the maximum points in this question to 1p due to error in the year.

2. Who had shotput experience, was tsuppari-machine and whose career was finally finished by retina detachment injury? 1p

Asanosho. He had shotput experience which Syd Hoare very often mentioned during Eurosport coverages. His major back injury dropped him all the way back to sandanme and on his way back up his jar became full after retina detachment injury resulting in his intai. Asanosho’s tsuppari was shotput tsuppari.

3. Which of the following rikishi have a kid/kids? 2p

a) Musoyama

b) Asanowaka

c) Oginishiki

d) Wakanoyama

e) Aogiyama

f) Tochiazuma

Asanowaka, Oginishiki and Wakanoyama (twin girls) have kids. Asanowaka can read cartoons with his kids as he does all the time anyway. Visual evidence of Oginishiki’s child was exhibited when he was shown cuddling his newborn baby just prior to koen to Canada in 1998 (documentary of the event). Wakanoyama has twin girls who are hopefully less hairy that their dad. I took into consideration a false reply when contemplating how to count the points. So answer ”Wakanoyama and Aogiyama” only brought 0.5p where as ”Wakanoyama” brough 1p and ”Wakanoyama and Oginishiki” brought 1.5p.

4. Who has oddly thin calves? (only 1 answer is accepted…) 1p

a) Aminishiki

b) Tosanoumi

c) Kaiho

d) Musoyama

e) Wakanosato

f) Tochiazuma

g) Kyokushuzan

h) Kasugao

Tosanoumi! Aminishiki isn’t optimal answer because he is small in general too whereas Tosanoumi has very big body but strangely small calves! Manekineko knew well. Maybe women notice these things better. I have been told that women like calves, both male anatomical and babyanimalistically animalistic.

5. Who is Chiyotaikai’s main sanyaku (from komusubi to yokozuna) training partner? 1p

KaioU yes. He is pleased with the fact that he can train his oshi so well with brick wall with the modern car bumper shock absorbing ability in head on collisions. This means that Taikai can push very well without hitting an unmovable object which would kill his wrists. Still Taikai can use all power at maximum and still have major resistance => very good training!

6. Which of the following is an illegal move in sumo? 1p

a) farting at the tachi-ai

b) hitting foe’s ear hard with an open palm

c) grabbing the thin part of mawashi which goes between the legs vertically

d) smashing foe’s nose with forward leaning head first massive tachi-ai

e) grabbing foe’s wrist and throwing him around in a large circle while staying put at the center point of the created circle

c.

I can imagine the impact pain d brings. I have personal experience of alien head colliding with my nose in other sports. Tachi-ai seems a good way to get good impact there! E is done in Titanic and school yard bullyism. A is done all the time in sumo.

7. What are/can be the differences between sekitori’s mawashi and makushita and lower ranked rikishi’s mawashi in honbasho? 2p

Sekitori has silk mawashi, it can be colourful unlike lower ranked rikishis’ mawashi which is always cotton and black. See Doitsuyama's sagari-detail for extra spice.

8. What kind of sentences/words gyoji yells during a bout and in what kind of situations? 2p

Doitsuyama’s reply answers this well:

”nokotta: encouraging yell to rikishi indicating they are both still in and should keep on wrestling, also yell by which gyoji expresses he has proven the tachiai. hakke-yoi: encouragement yell at rikishi who don't show enough initiative to execute kimarite matanashi or jikan ippai: order to rikishi to begin torikumi without further delay te o orosu (or similar): order to touch dohyo with both hands simultaneously by both rikishi”

I only expected nokotta and hakke-yoi so those brought full 2 points. I am not sure if nokotta is the ”tachi-ai approved!” yell though. I was under the impression that it is actually ”Hakke-yoi!”! ”Hakkeeeee-yoi!..nokotta nokotta nokotta…”

9. Who is he? He was exceptionally young for his era when he was promoted to yokozuna. He was quite short had a well-fed round belly but surprisingly he was an excellent technician who challenged one of the biggest legends in ozumo in bouts which created a huge interest in their rivalry and this rivalry probably boosted sumo’s popularity a lot because of certain construction site emerged. His rivalry with this yokozuna X continued after their careers but was refined to co-operation as both were at high positions in Kyokai (or the predecessor of modern Kyokai) 1p

Umegatani II. Hitachiyama’s great rival who won 3 yusho. He was only 168cm tall but weighed way over 150kg. Their rivalry as competing yokozuna lasted about 10 years at the beginning of 20th century. Their retirement was the end of Hitachi-Ume era. Tachiyama was the dominating yokozuna during the last active years of these two yokozuna though. Construction site X refers to building of new Kokugikan which was put into use in 1910.

10. Who is he? Very strong and tenacious rikishi whose career was burdened by severe back problems which eventually resulted in his early retirement. Winner of many technique prizes and very capable of both oshi and yotsu-sumo. He won more than 5 yushos during his career. Oyakata now. 1p

Hokutoumi. Chiyonofuji’s stablemate who won 8 yusho and 5 gino-sho. Retired at the age of 28 which is definitely ”early retirement” for a successful rikishi. In 1988 he skipped 3 basho due to back injury. He is now Hakkaku-oyakata. I am surprised that Yubi said ”nobody fits the description” :-D

11. Who is he? Paradoxically one of the biggest characters in the history of ozumo. Incredible quality, lightning fast oshi-sumo and respectable amount of yusho especially considering the less frequent honbasho schedule than nowadays. When he started his career in jonokuchi he was already then supreme. It has been speculated that modern dohyo diameter 4.55m is due to his presence as dohyo was too small for his foes who went backwards and out when he erupted at the tachi-ai. (dohyo was less than 4m in diameter then) Hence reform was made and 4.55m became reality. Little man only lost a few times during his many years as yokozuna. After his active career he trained some prominent future stars and also adviced rikishi to have healthier life style! 1p

Tochigiyama weighed about 100kg but was extremely powerful rikishi. He was an expert in oshi-sumo and won 9 yusho. He only lost 6 times during his 7 year yokozuna era. He later trained yokozuna Tochinishiki and Tochinoumi. In 1952 he performed kanreki yokozuna dohyo iri at the age of 60. The speculation concerning the dohyo diameter widening impetus was mentioned in couple of books. Perhaps he was the rikishi whose domination and sumo style prompted discussions about possibly widening the dohyo but maybe it just took some years to incubate such a plan.

12. How old is the present Kokugikan? 1p

First basho in new Kokugikan was Hatsu basho in 1985. So 18 years old.

13. Explain what makes KaioU vulnerable to Tochinonada sumo-wise! What is the problem with Nada that KaioU has which he doesn’t have with other rikishi at all? Hint: think like Nada does  2p

KaioU dominates all rikishi except Tochinonada of late when he gets right uwate. Tochinonada has the strongest left hand inside drive especially if he gets momentum. KaioU gives him all the momentum when he eastablished that right hand outrside grip and goes for throw or just generally stands around arrogantly with his dominating grip. Nada then closes his eyes and puts all his might into that forward charge. KaioU didn’t used to have any problems with Nada but for some reason Nada has lately succeeded perfectly in fighting KaioU. What Nada probably thinks is that when U gets the right hand outside grip, one must IMMEDIATELY charge forward and go all out or read the throw attempt. What KaioU would have to do is to defend more against Nada and not just take the grip and belittle. He used to beat Nada with uwatenage all the time without problems.

Basically I was looking for:

a) mentioning of Nada getting his favourite grip quite automatically

b) Nada having perfect tactics of immediate pressure and on the other hand KaioU's problem in being too self-confident and non-chalant defendlessness when getting his usually sure winner uwate grip

14. When did chonmage style become solely rikishi’s hair style and what was the reason chonmage lost its prevalence amongst normal people? 2p

When Meiji restoration took place, western culture was considered ”more civilized” and some Japanese ways were considered inferior and barbaric. One of these was hair style which was then banned as barbarian from everyone else than rikishi who were allowed to continue wearing it partly because of safety factors (mage acts as shock absorber too).

15. What is the common nominator for Wakanosato, Takamisakari, Hayateumi, Takanohana, Kotonowaka injury-wise?

ACL injury. ACL is the most serious lower body ligament injury. Usually operated but rikishi are still reluctant and superstititious about going under the knife. Wakanosato and Takamisakari had successful return after operation and Takanohana’s ACL surgery was good too but he had more problems in his knee. Kotonowaka and Hayateumi are ACL-deficient. Kotonowaka doesn’t seem affected but Haya does (Haya has both knees ACL-deficient!)

ACL stands for anterior cruciate ligament. It makes a nice snapping sound when it injures and a lovely blood filled knee joint is often the consquence. Then later a surgery where a new ligament is made out of hamstring or patella tendon (and some other options too). During surgery one can experience complete numbness from chest down due to spinal anesthesia and then one can fully understand how important muscle is diaphgram. Breathing is difficult and coughing impossible. You can also watch the monitor and see your sinus-rhytm and low blood pressure. Naturally you want to see how the surgeon drills your knee and attaches screws and sucks blood with instruments.

Here are the answers of participants. Fujisan's answers are on forum.

Doitsuyama:

1. My guess is thigh muscles are most important in lifting heavy objects, so I go with them. I watched ALL Kaio bouts from 2000 from Dale's movies which was entertaining, but none featured a lifted Kaio in the air - or I just didn't see it while watching 60 bouts. Well, there still is an oshitaoshi against Chiyotenzan on day 1 of Aki 2000 which isn't on Dale's site, but this doesn't look too likely. I suspect a yoritaoshi or abisetaoshi as a resulting kimarite. 0p

2. Sugar Ray Leonard :-) 0p

3. I'm pretty sure that Oginishiki and Wakanoyama are married, so c) and d) are my guesses. I don't know if they have kids, but it really wouldn't be unusual. 1.5p

4. Ok, I watched the calves of all 8 rikishi in movies now, and I feel Aminishiki clearly has the thinnest of them. Oddly thin? Who knows... 0p

5. . I guess Kaio because I often read of training bouts between those two. 1p

6. Absolutely c). 1p

7. Cloth: Coloured silk for Sekitori, black cotton for Toriteki. Sagari are stiffened with funori extracts for Sekitori. 2p

8. nokotta: encouraging yell to rikishi indicating they are both still in and should keep on wrestling, also yell by which gyoji expresses he has proven the tachiai. hakke-yoi: encouragement yell at rikishi who don't show enough initiative to execute kimarite matanashi or jikan ippai: order to rikishi to begin torikumi without further delay te o orosu (or similar): order to touch dohyo with both hands simultaneously by both rikishi. 2p

9. I guess it is Umegatani who was only 25 year old at the time of Yokozuna promotion, 1903. This was a lot younger than the previous "record holder" Konishiki who was promoted at 30 years. It took 39 years until Terukuni set a new mark with the age of 23. Umegatani also was one of the shortest Yokozuna with 168 cm and one of the heaviest so far at 158 kg. He got promoted in the same basho as Hitachiyama, and they seem to have had a good rivalry as Yokozuna until 1914 when Hitachiyama retired. The "construction site" should be the first Ryogoku Kokugikan which opened in 1910. 1p

10. Hokutoumi, now Hakkaku oyakata. 1p

11. My guess is Tochigiyama who was pretty small at 172 cm and 104 kg and oshi-style rikishi. He had 9 yusho and was Yokozuna 7 years. Only problem is, the dohyo diameter seems to have been changed 1931, which is 6 years after his retirement. 1p

12. The first basho in the Ryogoku Kokugikan was Hatsu 1985, so the answer should be 18 years. More info: The opening ceremony was held January 9, 1985 with a Sandan-Gamae ceremony with Chiyonofuji on the East and Kitanoumi on the West side. 1p

13. I think Kaio's problem with Tochinonada is that he has no particular strength against him. Their pure muscle powers probably are equal while Kaio's favorite migi-uwate mawashi grip is nicely matching Tochinonada's favorite hidari-shitate mawashi grip. Kaio's oshizumo doesn't impress Tochinonada much, why I don't know really. Tochinonada is most vulnerable to small tricky rikishi with pulldowns, and Kaio just isn't such a rikishi. 1p

14. According to "Grand Sumo" by Lora Sharnoff, "The chonmage was the normal male hair style in Japan during the Edo period. However, the Meiji Restoration government issued an order in 1871 for Japanese men to cut off their topknots and to adopt the more modern western hairstyles. An exception to this ruling was made for Sumotori, who need the extra hair to buffer their heads when absorbing the shock of a hard fall." 2p

15. All had knee injuries. I'm pretty sure those all were more specific ACL injuries. 2p

16.5p/21p

Yubiquitoyama

1) Eh, my knowledge of muscle names is zero or rather less than zero... I assume the calves take a lot of strain because of the odd angle. Probably the outer back muscles under the armpits too (please give me a name...). I won't even try to contemplate the issue further than that :-P 0.5p

2) Hm. I recall a retina detachment but can't for the world of me put a name to it. Asashio-5? 0p

3) I feel I should know this one... My guess is d) and e) 0.5p

4) Again a guess: a) 0p

5) Kaio 1p

6) c) 1p

7) Sekitori's are silk and can be colored while Makushita and lower have to contend with cotton mawashi. 2p

8) Hakke-yoi at stand still. Nokotta nokotta when something is happening in the match. 2p

9) Umegatani-2 1p

10) Despite the small number to choose from I think this is really difficult. Actually, I think NONE fit this description. There simply hasn't been that many rikishi with more than five yusho and forced into early retirement who are now oyakata. I'll say Akebono though in lack of better... 0p

11) Tochigiyama 1p

12) Built 1985 I think. 1p

13) This is the kind of question I have no idea about :-( 0p

14) Hm. I say 1868 and the Meiji restauration (effectively abolishing chon-mage). Maybe it was a few years in though, but that's my answer. 1.5p

15) Knees? 1p

12.5p/21p

Asashosakari:

1. – 0p

2. – 0p

3. b) Asanowaka, c) Oginishiki, d) Wakanoyama, and since you didn't specify which Tochiazuma (father or son), maybe also f) :-D 2p (very perfect reply )

4. h) Kasugao? Just guessing... 0p

5. Kaio, I believe 1p

6. c) 1p

7. Sekitori are allowed to have coloured mawashi, while toriteki must use dark/black mawashi 1p

8. hakke-yoi - in order to encourage a passive rikishi to show more initiative, I think nokotta, nokotta - general encouragement to both rikishi to keep the bout moving 2p

9. I'm pretty lost on this one...Umegatani II ? 1p

10. Hokutoumi 1p

11. No real idea here either...Tsunenohana? 0p

12. 18 years 1p

13. . – 0p

14. 1868 during the Meiji restoration, as the general male population was required to change to shorter, more Western hair styles 1.5p

15. knee injuries (ligaments?) 1.5p

13p/21p

Manekineko:

1. dunno 0p

2. dunno, sounds familiar tho'. 0p

3. c) 1p

4. b) 1p

5. Asashoryu (wild guess) 0p

6. c) (I'd like to see e) live!) 1p

7. color (none in makushita), and material I guess (not silk in makushita) 2p

8. "nokotta" during active grapling, "yoi, hakkiyoi (hakkeyoi?)" during the clinch. 2p

9. Semi-wild guess: Umegatani II, challenging Hitachiyama. 1p

10. Tochiazuma father? 0p

11. . Tochigiyama 1p

12. Awk. 0p

13. dunno. 0p

14. After Meiji restoration, when country was rapidly (forcefuly?) modernised, by empirial decree even? 2p

15. Knees, knees, poor, poor knees... 1p

12p/21p

Tokimori:

1. Lower back muscles. 1p

2. No idea. 0p

3. Aogiyama 0p

4. Kyokushuzan? 0p

5. Kaio 1p

6. c 1p

7. Sekitori can have other colours than white. 1p

8. Yokotta! = Go on! 0.5p

9. ??? 0p

10. ??? 0p

11. ??? 0p

12. 1985 1p

13. No idea.. 0p.

14. 1890s? 0.5p

15. Knee injury. 1p

7p/21p

Fujisan:

3p/21p