mokele

After watching sumo for many years and thinking about it, my feeling is that the only way to handle the problem of henka is to change the rules of the tachi-ai for sumo. I doubt very much that this will happen, given the conservative nature of the Kyokai. Instead of the wrestlers themselves determining when a bout starts, the gyoji could make a dramatic gesture after which the bout is officially started. It could be similar to drag-racing, where a series of lights go off after which the cars cross their respective lines and the race is on. This business about henka violating unwritten rules of courage and sportsmanship in sumo is too vague for my taste. Heck, I remember former yokozuna Wakanohana III (brother of Takanohana) using henka sometimes in important bouts. Even his brother criticized him for it, but it made sense. Wakanohana was a small yokozuna and needed to sometimes use guile rather than power to win bouts. Mainoumi used to jump aside quite a bit, and so did Kyokudozan. Small, fast rikishi will always use henka to gain an advantage in sumo, more than bigger, less mobile ones. As fans we should just accept it as part of sumo.

That certainly explains a lot about his inability to advance beyond Sekiwake. Thanks for this insightful post ShiroiKuma. Maybe I have s soft spot for the "gentler" rikishi, ones who emphasize technique and pure power rather than violence. By violence I mean harite, the rougher forms of tsuppari and the nodo-wa. Along with Wakanosato I remember others like him from the past such as Mitoizumi, Kushimaumi and Takanonami. They always preferred to use clean nage techniques and powerful yotsu-zumo rather than violent ones. It's certainly more pleasing to the eye to watch a well executed throw than to watch slapping and neck thrusts. It's a matter of taste perhaps, but I always think of guys like Wakanosato (or Takamisakari) as 1 of the "good guys".

I have to disagree that Baruto will end up as a mediocre Makunouchi rikishi. Unless his quick rise through the lower ranks and Juryo was something of a fluke he has a very bright future. He seems far more promising than all the other rikishi that have recently joined Makunouchi. I think that he just needs to find his style when facing the joi-jin. He's very big and strong but he's slow on his feet and he prefers yotsu-zumo over oshi or tsuppari. He should work hard at quickly getting a good belt grip. His style should end up a little like that of Takanonami, another tall, big and strong rikishi without much speed who was a good ozeki for several years in the late 1990s. If he improves his tachi-ai I think he's a sure bet to make ozeki within 3 years, probably sooner. Furthermore, Baruto seems cheerful and personable, signs of intelligence. I think that he will learn to overcome his limitations fairly soon as long as he doesn't suffer a serious injury.