Rare Footage of a Young Takakeisho

[mikawa 1,794]

Back when Takakeisho got promoted to Juryo, NHK made a short program about the new sekitori, revealing that the young rikishi is, afraid of ghosts?

During an interview, his father Sato Kazuya showed us some photos of Takakeisho during his elementary school days (I honestly could not recognise him in the photos prior to the one he took with Takanohana). But more importantly, they showed the final bout of the Middle School Championships back in 2011, when Sato Takanobu (Takakeisho) faced Utetsu Fumiya (Onosho). To think that these two won the Kanto-Sho this past basho......

 

[Katooshu 3,478]

I remember a few years ago on Masa's channel watching a tournament from Takakeisho's first year in high school at Saitama Sakae, and while it's usually the school's coach Mr. Yamada who is the primary figure there to support his charges, in Takakeisho's case there was another man who had taken the lead and was constantly next to him between matches, talking to him, getting him to go through certain warm-up routines, and paying close attention to the other matches to scout out possible opponents. In fact coach Yamada was almost just standing looking on behind them!

I assumed it was his father, and now seeing all the extra coverage on Takakeisho, turns out it was. Definitely a big involvement with his son's sumo life. Incidentally, the way Takakeisho is so often timing counterattacks and using pivots to sidestep or turn his opponent reminds me a lot of the training I did as a boxer. I know Takakeisho had an early striking background in karate, and I wonder if that had a role in shaping his style...

Incidentally, the support Takakeisho has gotten from his father reminds me of the relationship between Mantaro Haruyama and his father.

 

Edited November 28, 2018 by Katooshu

[Akinomaki 41,720]

10y Karate kid 30+kg -> 12y wampaku 70+kg -> 15y 130kg o

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

Father’s push for feeding frenzies makes winner of Takakeisho

Quote

In his father’s eyes, Takakeisho had one glaring weakness as a child: He was reluctant to stuff his face with hamburgers and fries.

The father, Kazuya Sato, 57, enforced a strict rule that the young Takakeisho had to put on weight every day to secure his future as a professional sumo wrestler.

Although Takakeisho sometimes lost his appetite for that rule, he followed his father’s strict orders.

And on Nov. 25, he credited that upbringing for winning the Kyushu Grand Sumo Tournament, his first championship.

“The goal for my father and me was to become a successful sumo wrestler,” Takakeisho said in an interview after winning the Emperor’s Cup. “I am glad that I was able to produce a few results today.”

Takakeisho’s childhood featured a lot of sumo practice--and a huge diet.

A hamburger restaurant was a popular destination for the Sato family in Hyogo Prefecture. His father would inevitably order four large plates of french fries and four large hamburger steaks.

Takakeisho said at one time he hated even looking at the dish.

To get around the daily rule of packing on weight every day, Takakeisho once hid a 1-kilogram weight in his pocket before stepping on the scale. But his father caught him cheating.

Takakeisho weighed about 30 kilograms when he was in the third grade but tipped the scales at more than 80 kilograms by the time he was in the sixth grade.

The father and son not only practiced sumo at home, but they also went to a number of sumo clubs together near their home.

When Takakeisho was attending Nigawa Gakuin Elementary School in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, he joined a sumo school headed by Hisayoshi Yamaguchi, who is now chairman of the Kansai Amami sumo federation.

Yamaguchi likened Takakeisho and his father to the main characters in the popular baseball manga and anime “Kyojin no Hoshi” (Star of the Giants).

“The two worked closely together under a Spartan educational program,” Yamaguchi said. “The relationship was like that between Hyuma and Ittetsu Hoshi.”

Ittetsu was a former professional ballplayer who wanted his son Hyuma to follow in his footsteps. The strict training helps Hyuma eventually join the Yomiuri Giants in the manga.

As Takakeisho bulked up, he began disliking what he was once good at--sprints.

But he became stronger as a sumo wrestler and went on to win national titles at Hotoku Gakuen Junior High School in Nishinomiya and Saitama Sakae High School in Saitama city.

Takakeisho said he was able to put up with the training because his father was not draconian in his approach.

Kazuya Sato was in the audience at the Fukuoka Kokusai Center to witness his son win his first sumo tournament.

“Our past history flashed before my eyes,” Kazuya said. “Although I was strict, he really stuck to it.”

Takakeisho’s real name, Takanobu, was another sign that Kazuya wanted his son to become a sumo wrestler.

The kanji character for “Taka” was taken from the name of popular yokozuna Takanohana, of whom Kazuya was a big fan.

In fact, Takakeisho would later join the sumo stable opened by Takanohana.

Years earlier, Takakeisho took part in a sumo class run by Takanohana and asked the retired grand champion how he was able to beat much bigger opponents.

Takakeisho remembers Takanohana stressing the importance of repeating the basic sumo skills, such as “shiko,” or stamping the ground after raising one leg very high.

Takanohana quit the sumo world in September after a protracted dispute with the Japan Sumo Association, so Takakeisho won his first tournament as a member of the Chiganoura stable.

Takakeisho said he at first could not understand what Takanohana meant when he stressed the importance of fundamentals.

But the 22-year-old komusubi said he now recognizes that Takanohana was advising him to always face oneself, rather than an opponent.

“I want to always remember (Takanohana) in my heart and hammer that belief into my core,” Takakeisho said.

http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/AJ201811260030.html

 

[mikawa 1,794]

Many thanks Otokonoyama for sharing such a detailed story of Takakeisho's upbringing. It's interesting that he says that his father's weight-gaining regime was an important factor to being successful as a sumo wrestler. I think that aside from this, being able to find a style of sumo that suits his qualities so well, and practising and perfecting that style for years and years was also an important factor in his quick rise, particularly considering how effective that style is against all kinds of opponents.

Also, Takanohana is completely right about practising the basics over and over again. They help wrestlers to gain such a high level of balance and leg strength which they really cannot do without. 100 shikos is demanding enough on your leg muscles, suriashi even more so (speaking from personal experience).

Edited November 30, 2018 by mikawa