Kaikitsune Makoto 210 Posted April 14, 2003 Robocop aka Takamisakari is in the process of physical remodelling. Since his debut weight 132kg in 1999 he has gained only 3kg of body mass and this troubles him. Midnight snacks, protein drinks and good appetite as weapons he wishes to close down some of the large gap to 153kg makuuchi average and hopes to gain strength and weight. He let sweat flood in keiko and explained "As I am gaining weight I need to keep on good keiko to maintain agility and motion". His booming popularity hasn't changed his serious attitude and character. http://www.sanspo.com/morespo/top/more2003...2003041501.html Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kintamayama 47,115 Posted April 18, 2003 (edited) Takamisakari is not satisfied with the fact that he has no hidari-yotsu to speak of. So, he has been training hard trying to use it (50 bouts today with lower ranked rikishi, 15 of them exclusively using hidari yotsu...) He is not happy with the fact that his 64 Makuuchi wins used only 13 kimarites, and 24 of those wins were by Yorikiri. He wants to be more like Kyokushuzan ("supermarket of tricks") in being able to win by more techniques. Even he knows that it's not enough to have an off-beat shikiri that makes him popular-he needs to win.. Edited April 18, 2003 by Kintamayama Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yubiquitoyama 4 Posted April 18, 2003 (edited) He wants to be more like Kyokushuzan I assume he means the Kyokushuzan of old. Currently, I'm not sure there is any rikishi more boring to watch, in my opinion... Maybe he still accumulates different kinds of techniques to win (although I doubt it), but Kyokushuzan looks seriously tired nowadays... Only Takanotsuru can beat him in "slow and boring tachi-ai" which of course was the reason their match had the worst tachi-ai of Haru... (Sign of disapproval) In other words: That is ONE area where I hope Takamisakari doesn't try to emulate Kyokushuzan (Laughing...) Edited April 18, 2003 by Yubiquitoyama Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Fujisan 533 Posted April 18, 2003 I just hope he has more success,next time hes in the sanyaku ranks-he certainly has the talent and spirit for it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kaikitsune Makoto 210 Posted April 21, 2003 Takamisakari is not satisfied with the fact that he has no hidari-yotsu to speak of. So, he has been training hard trying to use it (50 bouts today with lower ranked rikishi, 15 of them exclusively using hidari yotsu...) He is not happy with the fact that his 64 Makuuchi wins used only 13 kimarites, and 24 of those wins were by Yorikiri Sounds good! Hidari-yotsu target parts of mawashi are jutting as much as migi-yotsu and utilizing those non-grisly silky mawashi parts is recommendable! Takamisakari is strong especially with inside grip just like Tochinonada. Neither have equally effective uwate-grip to balance the strong opposite side inside grip. KaioU is an example of a rikishi who has very strong uwate to go with strong left hand inside grip completing the famous hidari-yotsu domination of his. Takamisakari does have defensive versatility and twists on both sides, uses his hip well and is able to execute utchari type turns. I like his attitude being detemined to widen his repertoire. DIgressing from his own sumo is good in practise. Many top rankers have done that and honed their skills in their less used techniques when training against lower rankers. Takamisakari is still entertaining even with yorikiri because his defensive squirming and grip changing is skillful. He is not like Takanohana who rarely was forced to fight back and reverse the flow of the bout but Takamisakari is often winning after enduring in defense. Many tactically excellent performances against Takanonami, Miyabiyama and others. Reads his foes well and fights to the bitter or bitterless end in each and every bout. He shows growing Taikai-tsuki tolerance too. I assume he means the Kyokushuzan of old. Currently, I'm not sure there is any rikishi more boring to watch, in my opinion... Maybe he still accumulates different kinds of techniques to win (although I doubt it), but Kyokushuzan looks seriously tired nowadays... Only Takanotsuru can beat him in "slow and boring tachi-ai" which of course was the reason their match had the worst tachi-ai of Haru... He does accumulate different of kinds of techniques even now...but the quality of those is far from the expected for these rare techniques IMO. His harimanage in Haru against Nada (and also against Aminishiki although for some reason it wasn't registered as harimanage), oddest hineri against Iwakiyama and then of course his repulsive habit of prolonging the bout when getting behind his opponent. He didn't drag Takanotsuru down or try to lift him up this time but some stupid okurihikiotoshi he has done. It is totally hopeless situation for a rikishi when foe gets behind WITH a grip and yet Shuzan stalls and doesn't just beat his foe with simple fast okuridashi. Even Mainoumi walked Konishiki out from similar position without much difficulties and everybody (or 5%..) remembers Terao's kinboshi against Musashimaru back in 1999 or so. Shuzan does have neat leg trips but hasn't succeeded in those in quite some time now. Occasional hikkake comes from his great arm yanking move which he admittedly masters very well. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yubiquitoyama 4 Posted April 21, 2003 I assume he means the Kyokushuzan of old. Currently, I'm not sure there is any rikishi more boring to watch, in my opinion... Maybe he still accumulates different kinds of techniques to win (although I doubt it), but Kyokushuzan looks seriously tired nowadays... Only Takanotsuru can beat him in "slow and boring tachi-ai" which of course was the reason their match had the worst tachi-ai of Haru... He does accumulate different of kinds of techniques even now...but the quality of those is far from the expected for these rare techniques IMO. His harimanage in Haru against Nada (and also against Aminishiki although for some reason it wasn't registered as harimanage), oddest hineri against Iwakiyama and then of course his repulsive habit of prolonging the bout when getting behind his opponent. He didn't drag Takanotsuru down or try to lift him up this time but some stupid okurihikiotoshi he has done. It is totally hopeless situation for a rikishi when foe gets behind WITH a grip and yet Shuzan stalls and doesn't just beat his foe with simple fast okuridashi. Even Mainoumi walked Konishiki out from similar position without much difficulties and everybody (or 5%..) remembers Terao's kinboshi against Musashimaru back in 1999 or so. Shuzan does have neat leg trips but hasn't succeeded in those in quite some time now. Occasional hikkake comes from his great arm yanking move which he admittedly masters very well. Well, you are probably right there. But I lack the real enthusiasm that Kyokushuzan DID have early on in his career and which rikishi as Takamisakari and Asashoryu and others show. Kyokushuzan of today looks very tired even in winning, and in my opinion there is NO rikishi out there currently who looks quite as unenthusiastic towards sumo (not even Akinoshima) as Shuzan does. As long as he doesn't start to at least LOOK like he cares one way or the other, I will have a difficulty to cheer him on. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zentoryu 154 Posted April 21, 2003 Kyokushuzan of today looks very tired even in winning, and in my opinion there is NO rikishi out there currently who looks quite as unenthusiastic towards sumo (not even Akinoshima) as Shuzan does. What bothers me is his seeming lack of concern when losing. He loses some bouts so decisively, then gets up like nothing happened and sprints back to his corner to bow. It's almost as if he were just happy it was over and he didn't lose a limb or something. (Laughing...) He rarely shows any fighting spirit at all, so I have to agree with the above statements. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoavoshimaru 0 Posted April 22, 2003 Kyokushuzan of today looks very tired even in Age and experience do that. Perhaps he is not as excited about sumo now as several years ago: completely understandable. At the same time, he needs to make a salary, so he doesn't want to retire. So he fights well enough to stay in makuuchi for now, but not exciting to watch. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
