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mikawa

63rd Friendly Examination Sumo Tournament (2018-08-04)

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At the start of August every year, the Japan Sumo Association hosts a regional tournament for sumo clubs and dojos around the Kanto region, with oyakatas actings as shimpan and rikishi acting as gyoji and yobidashi. It's the tournament that was featured in Begin Japanology's episode on sumo.

Second Yusho for Hirano, No, Not that Hirano

Having now become a member of Tachikawa Renseikan Sumo Dojo, I spent the entire day sitting with the club, and shouting "Ganbare!" every time a club member stepped onto the dohyo, clapping when they won, and feeling dejected when they lost. The day started off pretty well for the club, with Matsuoka reaching the final of the kindergartens division, and Hirano Juito (a younger brother of Hirano Shurato, yes, THAT Hirano) won the Grade 1 division, his second successive Yusho in this tournament.

Remember Kanazawa Towa?

Former member of Kinboshi Sumo Club and current member of Kashiwa Junior Sumo Club, Kanazawa Towa still has his incredible strength from back in his Kinboshi Sumo Club days, and his sumo has improved quite a bit since then. Whilst you can see that his wrestling experience still gives him a wider range of tools than most, there are still those out there whose sumo is just better than him. Qualifying for next year's Wanpaku Tournament shouldn't be a problem, but today, quarter-finals it is.

Good, But Could have been Better

This pretty much sums up Tsurumi Yusei's performance today, as he won 2 bouts and no more. Bearing in mind though that just a year ago, he lost his opening bout in the Wanpaku qualifiers in Tachikawa City, I'd say that he's come a long way since then, and will continue to improve.

We have Three Musketeers, How About You?

Going into the Grade 5 division, traditional powerhouses Komatsuryu Dojo boasted 3 contenders for the title, Nakazawa Musashi, Yoshioka Ryudai and Mashiko Takuya. They were all defeated by the same person - Kodama Hayato. To be honest, I expected Hayato's biggest challenge to come from his long time rival and the much bigger Takuya, but in actual fact, Ryudai gave him the most trouble out of the 3 as he clamped both of Hayato's hand's in the middle, thus neutralising Hayato's biggest threat - his incredible arm strength. However, he couldn't maintain it forever, so valiant effort Ryu-chan. Kodama Hayato would go on to win his second successive title in this tournament.

Miyazaki Keijiro, Sasaki Ifu and Hirano Noato appeared for Tachikawa Renseikan, with Noato getting the best result of the three. To be honest, Noato was looking in control of his bout when his opponent turned the tables, he was visibly distraught afterwards. By the way, the Hirano family currently have 4 boys - Shurato, Noato, Juito and a toddler whose name I don't know.

Shocks Galore, Again

In the Grade 6 division, just like at last weekend's Wanpaku Tournament, we started off the day with Kashiwa's Nsihijima Yura, last year's Primary School Yokozuna, being the favourite in this division, and he had no problems reaching the semi-finals. Just like last weekend, he faced Hayashi Rei of Nagano and lost. Just as we were set for a Hayashi Rei yusho, guess what? Komatsuryu's Saito Chugo showed us what he was capable of and shocked Rei in the final.

Tachikawa Renseikan had a few participants in this division, with Hirano Shurato getting the best result. His sumo looked pretty confident today, that is, until he gave away a morozashi-grip in his third bout. He tried a few times to move his right hand inside, but to no avail, and each time he was pushed backwards, eventually out of the ring.

What Started So Well......

Team Tachikawa were hoping to end the day on a positive note in the team competition, but went out 3-2 to their first opponents, Yaizu Junior Sumo Club. It was such a disappointing result, especially considering they had chances to seal the deal before the deciding bout, but c'est la vie. The team competition was won by perennial contenders Komatsuryu A, who were also winners last year.

Chikara, A Sumo Wrestler's Son

Yes, he was there with his whole family. When I first saw him today, I had doubts in my mind about whether or not he really was Sasaki Chikara, as he looked very different from when he appeared in that documentary (however, there were still traces from 6 years ago). Chikara says that he is currently in his second year at High School, and is continuing to do sumo. He also likes to play baseball. His friend, who was seen both at keiko and at home playing the Duel Masters card game with him, no longer does sumo and has chosen to concentrate his efforts on tennis.

A Word on Tachiai

I spoke with one of the Tachikawa Renseikan coaches today about the tachiai, and he says that there are 3 main ways to approach it - by taking your opponent's charge with your chest, by going forwards with arms-a-thrusting, and by charging into your opponent head-on, with your head. Which one you choose depends on your style and your opponent.

Edited by mikawa
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NSK pics - -kyu grade examinations and the tournament

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the oyakata from guidance who are involved in this

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the kids

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finish

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