Adil

OK, 808Morgan, I'm blaming you for this one. I actually sat down to write chapter 5 of my doctoral dissertation (last chapter! Yippee!!!), but then I saw your animated gif and noticed something. The pic above is the result. A) Let's look at pic A first. This is a split second before Terunofuji collapses. (1) His left leg is planted on the dohyo and (2) his right leg is more or less straight. B) Now let's look at pic B. This is a split second after pic A and everything has changed now. This is the exact moment Terunofuji starts to crumple onto the dohyo, as you can see from (3) his release of the inner left handed grip which he cannot hold any longer because of the pain. Reason: He wanted to pull a shitatenage, but (4.1) Kisenosato's right handed grip and (4.2) the position of his right leg are putting his and Terunofuji's combined weight on Terunofuji's right leg, as Teru's left leg (5) is no longer planted on the dohyo to support their weight. His right leg (6) is at a very ugly angle now, and it is very lucky that he toppled backwards as opposed to a devastating knee crush (Endo & Aminishiki); this would have been crippling because he was not just falling on himself, but Kise was on top of him as well. He might still go kyujo, but it could have been a lot worse. It was great seeing him walk back without the wheelchair after the match.

Strange falls always catch my eye. Sadanoumi... What happened there?

Oops... Looks like we posted at exactly the same moment!

Thanks in advance for day 12, Moti. Just saw it on Youtube. Cheers!

Osunaarshi vs Okinoumi: What a crushing victory! Reminded me of a similar victory by Harumafuji vs Kisenosato; I believe it was Hatsu of this year, and Harumafuji's victory over Kise in the Haru basho of this year was also somewhat similar, but slightly less humiliating. There should be a new name for this kimarite: Chokeslam-o-toshi

I mean, like, Terunofuji is OK, but do you think he could perhaps one day possibly be as good as the mighty Gagamaru? Morty, Posted 10 March 2015 - 18:00: If Gaga did what he did today every day he'd be a Yok by now. I still haven't stopped laughing at that one! Sorry Morty, just being cheeky.

Aminishiki has never been averse to a henka here and there, but this basho, he has had three already: day 1 vs Tokoshoryu, day 8 vs Endo and day 9 vs Ikioi. At his age, and with the condition of his knees (especially after that knee crush he had in Haru this year), he could be forgiven for sprinkling the odd henka here and there, but I sure hope he doesn't make it a permanent habit of employing too many henka every basho. I enjoy his bouts very much. I don't like too many pulls, but I sure do like Aminishiki's: He doesn't do the kind of pulls where guys move their outward facing palms down, bring them up and down again in quick succession in vague hopes of getting a hatakikomi or a hikiotoshi. He plants his hand(s) firmly on the opponent's neck or shoulders and wrenches them with all his might while backing away, making the dohyo look much bigger than it is.

Right! This story has a lot of 'drrring rrring' potential. How about it, Moti?

Haha! Congrats on your promotion.

Hahaha!! Moti, you nasty guy...

Gold, Moti. Pure gold. How I love your drring ring skits! Hahaha...

If Ikioi REALLY does that (I'm not sure; I certainly haven't had that feeling), that's idiotic; you can't let up when your opponent is still in the match. I was talking about extreme cases when it is unreasonable: Pushing like a crazy train even after you are 100% sure that you have won the match, something which I said Kotooshu may have been guilty of based on my hazy (and possibly warped) memories of only the last few years of his career. Let's talk about a crude example from today. Let's say Dewahayate kept pushing after Wakanosato stepped out and they both crash landed. That would have been extreme. On the other hand, the Osunaarashi/Chiyotairyu crash landing yesterday seemed OK to me because it went with the flow and it was impossible for Chiyotairyu to stop by the time his victory was 100% in the bag. Let's not polarize the 'restraint at the tawara' issue. The pendulum doesn't have to swing from one extreme to the other: Extreme A: Keep pushing even after the victory is in the bag until you crash-land on top of your opponent off the dohyo. Extreme B: Push your opponent to the tawara, then stop and only try to gently nudge him over the straw so that you don't hurt him. That having been said, I'm fully cognizant that there will be times when guys will fly off the dohyo. It comes with the territory.

Toyohibiki vs himself! Haha. As for Kotooshu's crash landings...I've been meaning to bring this up for some time but just never got around to it. I joined the fray very late and only saw the last couple of years of his career, but even in those few years, I sometimes felt this about Kotooshu: He was very reckless when it came to pushing people off the dohyo. Like, when he's got all the momentum in pushing a guy out, he didn't put the brakes on at the tawara like guys usually do: He would just keep pushing like mad until both guys crashed out. Maybe it was just his fighting style, or because he had a grudge against some guys because he had to settle a score. Or it could simply be a case of my memories getting warped because of only one or two matches.

Another failed henka today. For me, one of the best things in sumo is when a henka fails big time. Good win for Endo. What looked like a career ending/threatening knee injury doesn't seem to be bothering him at all. I don't know if it is pain-killers or the good old injury hiding routine (or a combination of both), but let's face it: Endo looks totally OK. Whether it comes back to bite him later remains to be seen. Toyohibiki has lost eight in a row? As Balki says to Larry in Perfect Strangers, "Wow, cousin! When you come clean, you really leave a ring around the tub". When he goes on a losing streak, he really goes to town with them. Osunaarashi, dinged up and all, gets his kachikoshi. Props to him, and here's hoping for an injury free career for Boody. What a bummer! Gagamaru will have to start his ozeki run from scratch. Let me get in line with all the others to sign up for the "What's wrong with Ichinojo?" club membership. As others have noted, his losses look really stupid. Could be because of some injury, or it could be a simple case of his opponents having figured him out. In any case, let's take a deep breath. He's still a baby. To put things in perspective, try comparing his astronomical rise to the rise of what some might consider to be the three most exciting new prospects of the last few years: Terunofuji, Osunaarashi & Endo. Ichinojo is younger than all three of them. Terunofuji made his debut three years before Ichinojo; Osunaarashi two years, & Endo a year and a half. Ichinojo will surely have his 'incubation' period. Remember, this is only his second makekoshi of his short career. I guess that 13-2 in his first makuuchi basho had a lot of people (including myself) over-excited. It's time now to step back and let the kid take his knocks on his way up. Only time will tell if he'll turn into an unstoppable force or an Orora. What's with all the boos after Goeido's victory? Was the arena full of Takekaze fans or something? I'm neither a Goeido fan nor Goeido hater, but he just fought smart; Takekaze goes for the pull straight after a slight push most of the time. It's not like Goeido henkaed or anything. I must say I'm bewildered. How about that bout between Kakuryu and Terunofuji? Incredible. What is most impressive about this fight and the Hakuho/Terunofuji bout the other day is that the Yokozuna have to go all out and come up with their best performances to beat Terunofuji. Props to Kakuryu today. Great mixture of power, speed and guile in there. The strength of his grip on the mawashi is just out of this world. There are some bouts that are just way too lopsided. It is one thing to have a bad record against someone, but some guys regularly get thrashed by some particular guys. Take Hakuho/Kotoshogiku, for example: After today, it's 45/4!!! And not just the record, but the bouts themselves. Another such 'lopsided fights' phenomenon is between Kakuryu and Takekaze. It's 19/0 for Kakuryu, which in itself is amazing, but just watch their matches: It looks like a bully from tenth grade is just unleashing his fury at a 5th grader. I'm curious to know what others here at the forum think: what are your favorite 'lopsided pairings'?

Seiro was not touching his right hand down for some reason. He didn't do it even the third time, but I guess the gyoji didn't want to call another matta. I am starting to pity Kotoshogiku now. I guess that's it for him now. He'll go kadoban a few times, and suddenly there'll be an announcement that he's going intai. How I wish he proves me wrong, but it's looking more and more unlikely. He just looks too busted up. At least Kisenosato is keeping the torch burning. Speaking of busted up, Osunaarashi seems to be constantly struggling with injuries. Last basho, I was thinking that perhaps he was back, but that injury against Kisenosato derailed him once more. This basho, he looks fragile again. Reminds me of Robin van Persie when he was at Arsenal. I doubt he can go far when he's got so many injuries at such a young age. Again, I hope he proves me wrong. I want to see him at the top level for many, many years. Harumafuji looked to be in terrible pain. With such a crippling injury, he'll either go kyujo or throw out a few "was/wasn't a henka"s. How can one do proper sumo with an injured elbow? And I'm definitly not going to try and understand the shinitai thing. Yes, I know what it means, and yes, I've seen many in the last few years, but it's always so muddled. There was a great discussion about it last basho, but still... I have alot to learn. What on earth was Hakuho doing? Sorry, folks, I like Takarafuji just as much as the next guy, but he didn't do anything in there that would have made Hakuho sweat. Looks like Hakuho is really, really bored and is just having fun up there. Ah, Terunofuji. He's a breath of fresh air. His rise has been astronomical. What a whopping throw... and he made it look effortless, that too with a mountain of a man, Aoiyama (Ha! Mountain!). The sky is the limit for this kid.

Speaking of Harumafuji, I want to see him fight the way he did today and yesterday. With his blinding tachiai, his opponents are toast even before they have time to ask themselves what happened.

I was about to say the same thing. Goeido must have thought "Heck, Harumafuji does it after every third match and everyone says it's great technique; I might as well show some great technique like him!" Harumafuji also tried to sidestep Sadanoumi in the first match but Sadanoumi appeared to be ready for it. I am sooooooo glad Chiyotairyu got crushed so ignominiously. Seems like he's still using the same old "just touch the opponent and backpedal as fast as you can and hope the opponent bellyflops" approach. As long as he's using that approach, I hope he never gets back to makuuchi. And if Chiyomaru doesn't wean himself off the same bad habit, I hope he disappears too. Wouldn't it be great if we get Chiyotairyu doing his 'bat outta hell' sumo all the time? The approach with which he kicked Harumafuji's ass so bad in one match some time ago? Sorry, I just can't stop being irritated by the weak sumo from these two Kokonoe boys. By the way, is Gagamaru's ozeki run still on? How about that Kyokutenho? Every basho it's the same routine. He'll lose a couple of matches early on and the eternal "That's it... It's time for him to retire." records are played full blast. But lo, and behold! He keeps confounding everyone. This guy is a marvel, ain't he? Great effort from Myogiryu. We need bull terriers like him and Yoshikaze on the banzuke.

So, Harumafuji is at it again, huh? Just got back from work and am too tired to check, but how many henka/not a henka does that make for Harumafuji against Tochiozan? IIRC, it's the third time in the last few basho.

Shohozan is still on course for his 'zensho yusho'. Will he 'succeed' in accomplishing what Daido 'failed' to accomplish in Nagoya 2013?

I had no idea Kaisei is so strong. To push out Terunofuji like that... I must say I'm impressed. I got a cheque in my mail by mistake. It was from Ikioi to Harumafuji. I guess he wanted to pay the royalties for using Harumafuji's patented tachi-ai. As someone else mentioned about the Chiyotoori/Kitataiki match: Why was it a matta? Tokitenku's failed henka reminds me of his failed ketaguri against Harumafuji (I believe it was Nagoya 2013). Both times he lost very clumsily. Dominant win by Kisenosato. The throw was both beautiful and hilarious!

Hahahahahahaaaaaa.... Sorry, Morty... I'm sure you had a context in mind and all that... but Gaga "The Belly-flop" maru a yokozuna? Hahahahaaaa.

I wonder why Harumafuji charged at Tochiozan before Tochi touched down. Tochiozan has one of the most predictable pre tachi-ai routines, which is timed almost to the second, with no "look at your opponent for a few seconds after touching down one hand" delays. It's very easy to tell the exact second he touches down in each and every one of his matches. Even the second time, Tochiozan hadn't finished his proper pre-bout routine when Harumafuji charged, but I guess he didn't want a second matta and touched down quickly. I've had this question in my mind ever since the basho started: Do you think Harumafuji will do his side-stepping "It was a henka/It wasn't a henka" tachi-ai this basho? If yes, will he do it more than once? I might develop this idea into a game from next basho! X points for getting a guess right, X bonus points for predicting the opponent he does it against etc. Talk about a hearty uwatenage! That was one throw by Hakuho today. Chiyomaru is starting to get on my nerves with his "put your hands on the other guy’s chest or shoulders from the tachi-ai and pull them back for the quick hatakikomi" approach. It's like I'm watching Chiyotairyu. His brother Chiyotoori, on the other hand, is an absolute delight to watch. Good old fashioned belt fighter. So fun to watch.

Fabulous stuff, Tenshinhan! Loved it.

I find 1) hardly believable, borderline fantasy stuff. And 2) for me is quite condescending and judgemental. So I would dismiss your "memories" outright as lies. Wow! That is one strongly worded response. Like Asameshimae, I'm wondering what's the reason for it.

Please don't interpret so much in the word "cheap". It was in the impression of a bout which I though was very beautiful. For sure, I do like Hakuho a lot. What I was referring to is that in many bouts he is not really pressed to exploit his potential. Often opponents don't act like they have a real chance to win, and don't give it their all. Either, they just passively get into the bout just to submit to be run over. Or, they do some hopeless trick. In both cases he has to basicially stand there, doing nothing exceptional. "Cheap" in the meaning, that we don't get what he could really give us. Okay? Thanks for the response, Andreas21.