Takanobaka

Wemt with Kotooshu as well....if there are multiple future Yokozuna in this crop, I doubt he'll make it there first, but his build will allow him to be very very good in his 30's (barring injury, which is more likely). I think he'll peak out in high Makuuchi for a couple years, then once his build expands naturally, watch out! Definately some good options in this poll. Of my top 4 choices, three already have the most votes, but I'm a little surprised that Kazafuzan doesn't have any votes yet. I suspect that he'll be in Juryo by the middle of next year as well...

Thanks for the upload! Not a particularly exciting bout. While Sentoryu is quick, he doesn't have the lateral quickness to stay upright against a guy with a major reach advantage. Even when Sentoryu was on top, Silva still had the advantage because he could punch Henry in the face while just getting stomach blows in return. Also, in that close, it allowed Silva to play his game, which is submission holds, and those last too didn't look particularly good on Sentoryu's shoulder.

Let me know if you found one in New York with your research.....trying to get in better shape, and doing a little keiko might help motivate me!

Nah, your grammar is too good ;-)

I've heard of Kabbadi as well, but I was under the impression that it's more like a game of kill the carrier. If I remember correctly, there's two ends of the field, the teams converge as one side defends and the other attacks. One person keeps shouting "Kabbadi Kabbadi Kabbadi" over and over again to prove that they're not taking any breaths, and he tries to touch as many opponents as he can while the rest of the team waits. You get a point for every guy you touch, BUT you only get the points if you make it back to your side of the field, so the defenders all try tackling the hell of the guy so he doesn't make it back before he runs out of breath. While it is the national sport, I don't think it's all that popular today. I've done some work against ESPN Star India before, and I don't recall this sport being a part of their programming....cricket and footie mostly. Maybe it's mostly something played in the playground...

I think that's Kichijoji....

By NBA people, I meant people Fudoiwa's height....I mostly meant I don't think you'll see any height records broken because people that tall (214 cm is about 7 feet, right?) who would be athletic enough to be rikishi will probably focus more on basketball instead. Only one Japanese player has ever been drafted to the NBA, and he never played (and is now the president of the Japan's National Team....can't remember his name, but he was a 7'4" center back in the 70's), so it's not super likely, but with scouts finding all these 7'5" Siberians and 7'3" Koreans and 7'6" Sudanese these days, I doubt a 7'0" Japanese would fall through the cracks...

Well, there have been several less successful polynesian rikishi than the visible ones. However, due to the rigors of even getting into the Kyokai for foreigners, it's a pretty safe bet that they will have a higher overall success rate. Also, obviously, there's the size difference, and as long as they're taught forward-moving sumo, they tend to have pretty good leverage. I think the 'other sports' answer also has something to do with why we don't see more new polynesians in Ozumo....University of Hawaii has become quite the offensive line factory lately, especially since they got a much better head coach who does more scouting than those in the past, so more people who might have gone to Ozumo are instead sticking with football through college...by the time they're done with that, they're usually on the old end of things to join a heya...

It's nice to hear that Hakuho is much more humble than many of his young counterparts ("I have much harder bouts ahead.My goal is to make kachikoshi. I wouldn't promise more at this time."). Seems like all too frequently, especially from the foreign rikishi, you hear them talking about how they will make Yokozuna and be like Asashoryu. Seems like he's taken very well to the Japanese mindset, and I wish him the best of luck in the future... Thanks for the translation :-O

What, couldn't suppress your inner desire to have someone tsuki the crap out of Mojo?? :-O Just kidding, of course (Shaking head...)

Not really.....he looked pretty tiny compared to everyone back in the day, and with his body type, he was probably one who naturally shed quite a few pounds after stopping the rikishi diet...

Something tells me thay'd join the NBA instead....

Nice thought, but is there seriously anyone Japanese who you think could possibly make Ozeki by the end on the year? Personally, I don't see it....there are a few guys who might be able to get there by the end of 2005, but I think it's safe to say that Wakanosato will never be able to string strong enough basho together without some significant injury help, and that some of the other promising natives near the top (Kakizoe, Iwakiyama, Kotomitsuki) either need more time for seasoning or more time to fully recover from old injuries. The only person presently in position for a run is Asasekiryu, and besides being Mongolian, I don't think too many people think he can string 10 and 11 win basho together at this early stage in his career. Besides, if the Kyokai is trying to set up a way so there's only 3 Ozeki, wouldn't it make more sense to have Tochiazuma fight injured so Kaio or Chiyotaikai can have a better chance of making it up to Yokozuma this basho? I guess my point is that, sadly, I see things just thinning out at the top for the next year or so. There are plenty of guys who will be ready to step up in teh next year or so, but in the meantime most of the guys near the top (Asashoryu excluded) are too inconsistent, old, or injury-riddled to stay good consistently enough to either make their way up too far or to fall down too far. Also, 5 Ozeki isn't out of the question and it has been done in the past, but history shows that more space will be made naturally there. With one Yokozuna and five Ozeki, all from different heya, they'll all beat each other up enough on the last days that it would only take consecutive mediocre basho, rather than bad basho, for an Ozeki to fall. Still, I'm firmly of the belief that Tochiazuma should sit out this Basho, and even the next if he's so required to. Surgery is no longer an option for an Ozeki - missing 3 to 4 basho for Tommy John surgery would surely knock anyone to Juryo level, and that means certain retirement for a former Ozeki. It's possible that someone in that situation could make an exception to that unwritten rule and that the Kyokai wouldn't frown as harshly, but I'm not sure anyone would want to take that first step. Remember, 40 years ago these surgeries didn't even exist, so Tochiazuma is still taking the historical option and hoping for the best...let's just hope that things work out well and that tradition doesn't come back to bite him in the butt!

ANR - you may change your options as to te number of posts the appear per page...if you set that number lower, and you don't have that great of a connection, it should load much faster (i.e. 10 posts per pae loads infinitely faster than 40 per page). I'm sure you already realized this, but hopeflly it will ease your pain... Edit: typo

Just for a quick explanation of the top one... The caption is "Third String Sumo". In American football, the third string quarterback is the guy who NEVER gets to play and just stands on the sideline, holding a clipboard, and hoping that both the starting quarterback and the backup quarterback both get injured. Probably not nearly as funny if you don't know that tidbit...

Darn....I would have loved to hear that the bug-eyed weirdo from Smap got the crap kicked out of him by Bob Sapp (or anyone else for that matter...)

Actually I think the last two are pretty funny, especially the water fountain one... Moore's humor is definately on the offbeat side, but one might think of him as the Gary Larson (Far Side) of sports cartoonists. Kurt Snibbe (Sportoon) is another one I find pretty funny, but his stuff tends to be more issue specific and thus probably isn't funny to someone who doesn't really keep up with American sports...

This is just dumb :-P From the sounds of it, this injury seems a lot closer to Musashimaru than to Chiyotaikai....

There are two men, namely Takanonami and Kotonowaka, who will probably be leaving our graces soon as they are coming upon the age of retirement. These men have dedicated their lives and livelihoods to being tall, hardy, long-lasting rikishi, but neither of them has received the adoring recognition of being Featured Rikishi that they so severely deserve. However, if we do not act, they may never become Featured, and upon their retirement, rather than being able to lead productive lives, they might end up lying in a puddle of their own urine in a hithertoforth unknown asylum rubber room, kept company only by their constant horror af being passed over by the hundreds of foreign sumo fans. So I beg thee with my impassioned plea, think of the veterans. Think about how you may never get the chance to know them. Think about the looks on their faces when they find out that they were never bestowed the honor of being the Featured Rikishi on our humble SumoForum. Think of the smell. And think about how YOU can make a difference in these men's spectacular lives.

Don't mind getting shots and the like, but don't like giving blood either.....seems like I always have a bruise for two weeks after I give a blood sample, and I can't imagine it's much better when donating blood.

I believe K-1 does about 3 tournaments a year in Las Vegas, so I wouldn't doubt that that is the venue (Tyson lost his boxing license in Nevada, but I don't believe that K-1 falls under the boxing commission, so this would be kind of like a loophole...)

;-) Caption 2: "If J. Lo became a Rikishi...."

If Beckham were a pork product, he would have to be a center cut pork chop because he's overpriced and not nearly as good as everyone says he is....

Nice! I have enough trouble just winning my group in these types of things, never mind winning the whole kit'n'kaboodle. Mazeltov!

Aah! That makes much more sense. Another variation of push ups I want to throw in is a tricep pushup. For that, keep your hands at shoulder width, turned slightly inward, start from the high position, and dip in a manner so your elbows go backwards (as opposed to out to the sides). If you do them properly you shouldn't be able to touch the ground like with a typical pushup. Best to start from the knees (rather than the feet) for that one since it really is harder on the triceps than bench dips or pull-ups. Also, I realize this isn't an arm exercise, but a great and relatively easy exercise for the abs and shoulders is 'core' (I'm not sure this is the proper name, but I've mostly heard it called the core exercise). For that, keep your forearms on the ground with your elbows shoulder distance apart while interlocking your hands. Stretch your body and get on your toes so they are perpindicular with your ankles and the rest of your body is flat. Then, lift up and just hold it. Your stomach and shoulders should be doing all the work...if you feel it in your lower back, your butt's too high or too low and you need to make sure that your back stays even. If you're doing it right, your abs will probably start twitching after about 15 or 20 seconds. Works out all sets of abs simultaneously, and traps to a lesser extent. Been doing one minute of that every morning for the last month and lost two waist sizes, plus it's way better for the obliques than sit-ups and you get more impact in a lesser time period. Good stuff. Generally, from people I have known who wanted to tone down their arms and build up endurance strength (as opposed to bulking them up), the most effective way to do so seems to be rowing. But that definately requires equipment... *note: I'll try finding pictures....my explanations seem to be horrible. Descriptive writing was never my forte.*