Kintamayama 44,387 Posted June 17, 2004 Again, thanks to Amanogawa aided by Takatamale for this excellent translation. Outside the camp, Oitekaze-Oyakata was striding like a bear toward us, but it did not change the relaxed atmosphere within. This 37-year old Oyakata has broad shoulders and looks rather like a walking cube. He explains why he's still as stout as he was active - he never dares to decline when his Koenkai-supporters ask him "Wouldn't you like to eat this and that?" -Is Kokkai a "keiko enthusiast" ? I asked, tentatively, as I lack good sumo knowledge of the finer points of keiko. "Well, he's not too particular ( futsuu )" replied Oyakata. Here again- this word "futsuu". -But isn't he doing keiko secretly? When nobody is watching him? "I guess not" -Is that it? Do you think it's all right? "It wouldn't make much difference if I 'ordered' them to do keiko. Some just work hard, some don't. They should be responsible to act like professionals." I heard that the Oitekaze-beya policy, basically, is "Let the rikishi alone" A rikishi told me that Oyakata would get furious when he's angry, but that only happens about once a year. Oyakata says, "What's important is communication. You can see it when a deshi's having problems and possibly is trying to escape from the heya - that's when I'd speak to him. I just want to seize those crucial moments." This Oyakata cracks jokes with his young deshi -- "Don't ever cheat me, I know you're just pretending like you're working hard" "You can win for sure if you stop eating". He says, "Sometimes I say things that don't make much sense, but sometimes that's what they'd want." And during these 10 years since he founded the heya, there hasn't been any one who escaped. "Oyakata is a very good man" "He's funny" "It's comfortable being here", say all young rikishi. So this is a nice heya where you can even joke around. But as for Kokkai, to whom Japanese was "Greek" at first, the only words he knew were "this ( kore )" and "here ( koko )". Kokkai had gotten too accustomed to wrestling, so he wasn't able to practice the head-on tachiai crash. Instead, he'd rather dodge his opponent's tachiai force. Oyakata explained that sumo's "crash ( butsukaru )" was to "bounce ( hajiku )" your opponent. He demonstrated how to "bounce your opponent" using his shoulder by sitting still and not using any other part of his body. It felt like, literally, a huge rubber ball bouncing hard on me and I was, literally, almost blown off. When Oyakata first wanted to teach Kokkai this "bouncing" skill, he however had no way to communicate at all. He took out a Russian dictionary and pointed to the words he needed, saying "This ( kore )". While turning pages, pointing from one word after another, he would say, "This( kore ) --er, no no, this", struggling to explain. He also wanted to build a fire in his deshi's belly so he showed Kokkai the banzuke and pointed to the very bottom and said, "You're here ( koko ) now". Then he pointed to the top slot and said, "Not here ( koko )" then putting back his forefinger to the bottom and said, "but here ( koko )". So "kore ( this )" and "koko ( here )". In short, "bounce, and go up the ranking". These two words essentially spotlighted what quality his sumo would take. Kokkai has another "sumo master". One of his fellow countryman residing in Japan. (One from the "small community" of only 4,950,000 of the Republic of Georgia. Most of its citizens live in its capital Tbilisi and they are, as it's usually said, all acquaintances with each other.) This man's name is Zaza Gogwa [sp?????], a top violist of The Osaka Symphonia Orchestra. He's in fact Kokkai's distant cousin and has been in Japan for 8 years. He's always taken care of his fellow Georgian Kokkai since he joined the Sumo-kai. "I've loved sumo for quite a long time now" says Zaza. He never misses the NHK Ozumo broadcast and diligently follows NHK's English commentary. He would call Kokkai to give good tips, along with other "advice". --Could you give me some examples of your "advice" to Kokkai? "Hai. You clash with your opponent. He falls down. Then you go help him stand up. You give your hand. Help him and say 'Ganbatte'. This is the most important thing." So he was emphasizing what happens after a bout, not during a bout. Zaza-san is impressed with how a winner would give his helping hand to a loser and appreciate his fight. How sumo is not merely a win-or-lose sport, but the beauty of presenting your attitudes and manners. What Zaza-san sees in sumo is a winner who would help a loser stand up, rather than how well he performs in hoshitori, which maybe is a foreigner's special way of seeing this sport. But when it comes to practical fighting, Zaza-san would encourage Kokkai like this: "Do not let Mongolians defeat you" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Manekineko 200 Posted June 17, 2004 Excellent work! :-O I especially like the final advice of Zaza-san. :-P Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted June 17, 2004 Thanks to all involved for the work in translating the interview!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aderechelsea 124 Posted June 17, 2004 part two was even better .... thanks guys. But Greek are easy why does he compare them to Japanese ? ...... :-O Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kashunowaka 300 Posted June 17, 2004 part two was even better .... thanks guys.But Greek are easy why does he compare them to Japanese ? ...... :-P :-O What do you say in Greece instead of "It's all Greek to me"? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aderechelsea 124 Posted June 17, 2004 we say "san kinezika mou akougonde" which means "this sounds Chinese to me" ......... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Manekineko 200 Posted June 18, 2004 In Croatian, we say the same - it's "chinese". But if you don't know some area of knowledge, for example I don't know much about football, I woud say that football is "Greek villages" for me - I know as little about it as I know of Greek villages... (Clapping wildly...) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jakusotsu 5,817 Posted June 18, 2004 In German, we say "it sounds Spanish" and the villages are "Bohemian villages" - strange place, this world... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kaikitsune Makoto 203 Posted June 18, 2004 Kokkai is a good asset. Interview interesting. Georgia calmer a bit now. Swedes make fun of Finns' Swedish. They call it "Muumi-Swedish". I find it most disturbing. Norweigians make fun of Finns' Swedish too. Danes don't make fun of anyone as they don't exist anywhere except at times of football like now. In Finland we say "it is total Hebrew to me" when we don't understand something. Kintamayama is total Hebrew. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Manekineko 200 Posted June 19, 2004 "Muumi-Swedish" Any relation? B-) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ryunokaze 0 Posted June 20, 2004 In Australia we say "it's all Japanese to me". PS This post is only for the impartial. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites