littlebutts

Thank you, that’s the one! I guess my memory is more or less correct in terms of the claims made re: force of impact. Much appreciated!

Not quite but an interesting video nonetheless! I appreciate it. The video in mind may have vanished from YT since I saw it. I distinctly remember them measuring Hakuho’s tachiai and stating that it was roughly equivalent to falling out of a 3rd storey window onto concrete. Kotoshogiku was the other feature because of his signature tachiai. Maybe one day I will find it again and I can share with you all.

I recall watching a brief tv clip from Japan that was measuring the force that Hakuho and/or Kotoshogiku hit with on the tachiai. Age of the video is going to be contemporaneous with their careers I’m guessing… Thanks in advance!

Kakuryu looked a bit too pleased after his win today...

Thank you! I find these pictures completely fascinating.

It looks like Yoshikaze made the right choice going back to the red mawashi. Green just wasn't cutting it.

An article was posted on Vice Brazil today about Kaisei. It's in Portuguese, though, but Google Translate did an o.k. job. http://www.vice.com/pt_br/read/o-primeiro-brasileiro-na-elite-do-sumo-japones

Very sad, and young too... for the general population, at least. Rikishi definitely undergo a bit more wear and tear than average folk...

A thoroughly enjoyable basho. Many thanks to Kintamayama for his renewed efforts putting together the daily videos. I would also guess that Hakuho is riddled with injuries and may take next basho off to put himself back together a bit. The grimace by Harumafuji after his bout with Hakuho was over may suggest he's in a similar condition, though it seems to me that Harumafuji is a bit more vocal about his injuries and pain than Hakuho is. That being said, all of these guys play their injuries pretty close to their chests. I have to admit though, what impresses me the most about Hakuho and Harumafuji (and maybe this is something that Kisenosato is lacking) is their ability to perform under huge amounts of pressure, both internal and external. Performing while injured seems to be a very valuable skill in sumo indeed, and one that likely takes a lot of really unenjoyable practice. I've broken all the toes on one foot before and continued working a manual labor job and it was not a whole lot of fun. I can't even imagine jumping onto the dohyo to push around dudes who are well over 300 lbs. That takes a certain mental toughness that some people just can't muster (Endo...)

I still really hope that Kotoshogiku wins the basho... I'd like to think of it as a late wedding gift for him. That being said, I'm a huge Toyonoshima fan so I was really conflicted about his win today. I hope this isn't just another notch on the belt for Hakuho and that Kotoshogiku can keep it together and win. Though, Toyonoshima winning a yusho would be pretty novel. This is a strange basho... but I like it! Side note: Pretty sure Ichinojo is nursing an injured back. I have a tough time believing that he just forgot to show up mentally and no one that big should be forced back so easily unless there is something wrong. The man is built like an oak tree...

<3 Thank you Kinta. You're a scholar and a gentleman. Hope you're having a great time in Thailand!

These pre-basho event pics are some of my favourites. I don't know why, but I love seeing the process of making the dohyo. Thanks!

Props to Hakuho for discovering the secret to eternal life. Never getting injured or aging must be really boring on an existential level. Can't blame him for getting bored of fighting against all of these mere mortals... This thread is getting a bit too sumotalk-y for my likes.

I don't think Homarenishiki is going to be much of a belt person in the near future. It looks like he's focusing more on pushing/thrusting/striking - also a good use of those long arms.

From what I've seen in sports like American football, more safety equipment does not make a sport more safe. In fact, in that example, the sport has been made even more unsafe because of how much harder these guys are able and willing to hit each other. There is risk of injury in any sport, not to mention a combat sport. I wouldn't mind seeing the reintroduction of kosho but even I'm not sure how they would regulate it to prevent the type of shenanigans that killed it in the first place. I've got this feeling like submitting a doctors note isn't going to cut it. And since you mentioned Tochinoshin and Baruto, two of my favourites, I would also like to point out that they had a hand in their own demise. Both of their styles rely/relied on sheer strength and power. Baruto's penchant for being a human crane and muscling his opponents out of the ring (which was impressive, no doubt) instead of focusing more on fighting on the belt was his demise. Just because you can win with strength and power alone doesn't mean you should. Tochinoshin is cut from the exact same cloth but he made the decision to have surgery and climb back up the banzuke once he recovered as opposed to retiring. I miss Baruto dearly, but at least that's a lesson on what not to do for my fellow countryman Homarenishiki.

I've always gotten the impression that a a bunch of the guys from Kokonoe have some serious mental downfalls, but maybe that's based on anecdotal information. Kokonoe oyakata always seemed like he would be a really tough and demanding coach (or person in general).

He's still green, I'm sure he'll look more comfortable on the dohyo in due time. His opponent had experience on his side. As C.S. Lewis once said, "Experience: that most brutal of teachers. But you learn, my god do you learn."

Maybe it's better to get it out of the way early... Opening day has a lot of good-looking matches, I'm looking forward to it :)

Please tell me he's taking advantage of that time off to fix that hole. I really hope so... Watching him on the doyho is nerve-wracking for all the wrong reasons.

Kotoshogiku having the 3rd most kensho for the basho makes sense since he's from Fukuoka. I'm not sure if the home advantage will help him or hurt him this basho as that kind of pressure to perform can affect performance. Goeido being kadoban will distract a little bit, at least.

Terunofuji is looking like Baruto 2.0 - the new and improved oak tree model.

So Kyokutenho has kidney stones? I know those to be extremely painful but I was under the impression the treatment was typically to "let them pass" instead of having them surgically removed.

Pretty adorable.

If Terunofuji wins then I see like 1% less effort from Harumafuji, since Harumafuji will definitely be out of the picture. Don't forget Terunofuji and Harumafuji are from the same heya. If Harumafuji's yusho chance is gone, I think he will want to help his kohai win it. While they may theoretically be from the same heya, Terunofuji is not originally from Isegahama, and I recall he is in the last-resort slot in terms of being an attendant for Harumfuji's dohyo-iri. That says to me that they are not truly integrated and merely are forced to tolerate each other. I'm kind of getting the impression that Harumafuji, Aminishiki, etc from Isegahama are doing a bit more than just "tolerat[ing] each other". For example, last tournamentTerunofuji was wearing Aminishiki's kimono for good luck while waiting for a potential playoff against Hakuho and before this tournament it seemed to me that Terunofuji's more senior stablemates were putting a lot of time and effort into helping Terunofuji train. Sometimes I like to imagine what Ichinojo would look like with similar training efforts, considering both youngsters are built like oak trees.

It's nice to see that even a yokozuna can get punished for not securing a belt grip during a yori charge. This makes for a very exciting last day of the tournament.