Joeblack

What episode of Star Trek is that one from? You are saying that Asa has actually been totally kookoo all this time? Are you for real? Are you a doctor? In what field? Or are you Asa's close friend? Do you know a friend of a friend of a friend of his? How the heck can you know this? And what is BUSHINDO?? And if he so hates this bushindo, why hasn't he left the cruel world of Sumo for some other martial arts thingy where he could make much, much more money? Or maybe the Kyokai has been holding him prisoner and brainwashing him boogy boogy boogy? Anywhere in the world, when a worker gets sick leave, he doesn't go to the neighbor's office to play mahjong. He goes home or to the hospital. If his boss catcheth him at the cinema, he sends him home for good, not for a month. And he taketh away the car too. Wow. Wow. Wow. Joeblack. I am dumbfounded. Depression doesn't just pop out like that. It is a sickness. Million pp in the world have chronic depression. It is not that they have no discipline in emotion. It is a sickness that people are born with. I say Asashoryu probably has long history of depression. Bushido is exactly what Japanese expect a Yokozuna to behave. All those "graceful", "honorable", "composure", "isolation", "indifferent" traits are all Bushido values. In another word, obedience. Asashoryu simply cannot follow those repressive values. The sumo association is punishing Asashoryu for not following those rules. Apparently, while sick, playing with kids without permission from Sumo Association is considered to be disobedient. Again, there is no written rule about playing with kids while injured. When a worker gets sick leave, he can go play with neighbor's kids while not feeling well regardless if media camera is present or not. If playing with kids is not okay, then I guess playing Wii or watching TV in public also requires permission from Sumo Association. I guess inviting media to film Asashoryu playing Wii will also angers Japanese. I am sorry, an injured person sitting at home doing nothing is very boring. When my elbow and my back are hurt, I call in sick and go to neighbor's house to play Mahjong while my body recover. I don't see anything wrong with that. The boss catches me playing Mahjong, so what? I am REALLY injured and I don't want to stay home sleeping all day long. It ain't going to help me recover. Do any of you have any ACTUAL medical proof that Asashoryu is FAKING his injury?

Not the point as shown ad nauseum in threads above. Playing soccer is indeed the point. If Asashoryu was caught running solely, I don't think anyone would have doubt about his injured status. Irrelevant. Asashoryu only had to stand beside the doyho on jungyo Japan has world class medical facilities. Mongolia doesn't even come close. Asashoryu went to Mongolia not for medical attention. Soaking in a hot spring is hardly medicine and even if it were Japan again has better ones. Relevent. Asashoryu was seeking treatment. That is why he was not able to stand beside the doyho on jungyo. Perhaps Asashoryu wants alternative treatment and no world class medical facilities in Japan can provide one. Treatment involve in spiritual, emotional support cannot be obtain in Japan. Physical injuries can be healed in Japan, but emotional one cannot. Asashoryu has emotional problem, as we can see now. However, he cannot show his emotion as a Yokozuna nor can tell the world of his problem. That is why he seeks to go to Mongol. Perhaps, seeing family members help him alleviate the symptom of depression. I even think that Asashoryu has long history of depression. He just won't come out and say it because it will make him appear weak. You know "serving" as a Yokozuna is full time job. I doubt many understand the pressure Asashoryu has to face. One has to live in a strict routine and rules everyday for no particular reasons but tradition. Asashoryu is outgoing person who has chronic depression whenever he is restricted. I doubt anyone of you live in such a restricted life and actually enjoy it. I am pretty sure Asashoryu loves sumo but dislike Bushindo, but there is no Yokozuna rank that doesn't have Bushindo requirement. The requirements are just inhumane. Ironically, the sentence is even more inhumane. That is why we see Asashoryu the way he is now. No. due to skipping out on his responsibilities to have the craic in Mongolia Asa could not attend the sumo tour A worker can have sick day leave ESPECIALLY if he is injured on a job. He doesn't have the responsibility to entertain you audience when he is injured. Please don't lecture about Japanese responsibility and self sacrifice. Alleged "soccer star" Hidetoshi Nakata is not a doctor and is only trying to cover his own arse in relation to the affair. Whether he knows less about sumo or medicine is the only debatable point. Well, you are not a doctor neither. Hidetoshi Nakata saw Asashoryu agasping in pain while you have not seen it. A normal being knows when one is in pain when he sees it. Perhaps Asashoryu should intentionally display his elbow and back pain in front of camera, so none of you will question his honor.

1. I didn't see any rule that says a Yokozuna with elbow and back injuries cannot play soccer with little kids. 2. Wrestling is more strenuous than playing soccer. 3. Asa went to Mongol to seek treatment 4. Due to strenuous nature of sumo and the injuries, Asa could not attend the sumo tour. 5. Alleged "faking" injury claim is proven false. Hidetoshi Nakata, the soccer star, claimed that Asa shows signs of pain. In conclusion, if Asa decides to play a soccer game with little kids in the neighborhood without media attention, nothing will happen. It will be treated as a loving father playing with his kids. This shows that it is indeed "the media attention" which resulted this tragedy. Asa has done nothing dishonorable. I wish Asa would volunteer to give up the worthless Yokozuna title. Asa can win all those Yushos as an Ozeki. He can break the record without needing to set example for anybody.

This is from the soccer star. Well well well, so much for the "FAKE" injury claim by Japanese media and many Asa haters. I hope Asa survive this and break Taiho's record so Japanese can forever feel the bitterness.

Every wants to see competition at highest level, not substandard. Currently, without Asashoryu, the competition will not be the best. I for one will continue to watch sumo if Asashoryu is retired defeated. This shows that Asashoryu is no longer the best. That is not the case now, we know Asashoryu is still dominant. I have to say, when Takanohana was injured, I have stopped watching Sumo from that time until his return. I naturally lost interest even musashimaru was around dominating, because I think it's not the best competition. As for those who support the suspension Think about this. Jungyo with no Asashoryu - local fans were angry that they were not able to see the grand champion Aki and Kyushu Basho with no Asashoryu - a lot more fans nippon or internationl will be angry for not being able to see the grand champion If they want to fine Asashoryu for his deed, or put him in house arrest, that is okay, but having suspension is at the expense of us, fans. I, for one, want to see how Hakuho compete against Asashoryu next basho. That isn't going to happen for half year. For those who think Sumo is all about moral discipline, I suggest you call NSK to "pressure" them to force Asashoryu to retire. Once he retires, I will certainly stop watching Sumo because I am not watching Bushido. I am sure many Japanese young people dislike sumo for its symbolism for strict behavior control. This suspension will only confirm that.

Let's just be honest. The suspension is not because of what ever ill doing Asashoryu has done. It is about it is not good for business for Asa to play soccer while he is injured. It "makes the public" perceive that Asa might be lying regardless of the truth. Therefore, the organization decided to make business even harder by suspending Asa. Brilliant (Sign of approval...)

People have been claiming that he "fakes" his injury? Did he uses his injured elbow or back while playing "few" minutes of soccer? No, so what kind of claim is the suspension based? Did they found out that the doctor had "faking" the medical report? Hell, no. There is no evidence that Asashoryu was not injured. Therefore, he was honest about his condition. The claim that he plays hooky is wrong. I can see that Sumo is not about honesty and truth. It is about Mob rule. The Counsel is trying to pacify the public, so they sacrificed Asa. So the counsel dislike the fact that Asashoryu did not participate in Keon, thus, hurt the organization. Now, they are doing the exactly same thing, suspending him for 2 bashos and hurting the organization. I will not watch the next two bashos. And to whoever wins the next two bashos, YOU are not a true winner.

That is just disgusting. Does "none of your business" make sense in Japan? It's almost like a slavery of some sort. You sign the contract, and you are a slave.

You're seeing a "trend" based on one single basho? :-D Yes, base from what I have seen in this basho, Hukuho's attack doesn't have that many variety. I want to see more techniques. That's the trend I am talking about. E.g. He tries to throw Kotooshu with right hand inside grabing the mawashi 3 times without changing his attacking stretegy. further more, I check the "other techniques" section of the pie chart. Asashoryu has whopping 23% vs 14% from Hakuho.

I know it's comparing apple with orange, but do you think sumo is weak or strong in this era in comparison to the 70'?

Asashoryu is now 100% of the way towards achieving 21 Yusho. This has been a Very Special Asashoryu Road to 21 Yusho Update. We will return to our regularly scheduled programming next basho. How come I am not surprised that this thread appeared once again? :-D I am disappointed that Hakuho doesn't have a bag of tricks to use when he's desperate If the trend continues I doubt he can win that many yusho away from asashoryu

Link? Please The article doesn't sound like a professional and unbiased news. More like a paint job to me.

You can see Asashoryu was not please with the slapping. It is indeed disrespectful. Right, it's really "disrespectful" to perform violent slapping (short of punching). If Kisenosato decide that his best is to slap everytime, which is totally legal, nobody (including the media or YDC) would criticize him for it. A stereotypical yokoszuna should absorb the slapping like a punch beg. Well, return the favor would make Asashoryu looks like a bully. I don't think Asashoryu is your stereotypical yokoszuna. Kisenosato should start to think about not dis (Blushing...) the Yokozuna. Well, there is always other forms of legal moves Asashoryu can do Kisenosato like slapping his face intentionally. I suppose do it when the bout is finished is a miscalculation of Asashoryu's part. He should have do more violent leg trip when the bout is in progress. Then, he would get criticized for performing violent sumo instead of a minor painless kick that the Japanese media is so shocked of. I am claiming the opposite. You don't see the real person inside that yokozuna title if the person is asked to not show his emotion.

Disgusting. I am disgust of the hate people have against Asashoryu. Asashoryu is competitive. That is the reason why he is a winner. His competitiveness has driven him to win game after game. Although sometimes, he just cannot control his anger. That bout against Kisenosato, they were slapping each other crazy. Rikishi such as Chiyotaikai likes to slap. It is disrespectful to slap a person especially a Yokozuna. You can see Asashoryu's despise for slapping fest every time he engage in one. Naturally, he tends to disrespect Kisenosato and Chiyotaiki. The kick is just a warning to Kisenosato. Maybe it is a little bit out of control, but it is no big deal. Asashoryu really shows his emotion, which is different than all other previous Yokozunas. It's okay for a Yokozuna to show some emotion. That just make him more human. Yokozuna being graceful and emotionless is just a stereotype the Japanese media and the YDC implanted into the mind of viewers. Asashoryu is not Takanohana, who can endure slapping punishment without saying a word. Asashoryu is just being himself. I am glad to see a real side of him. I predict Asashoryu to do something outrage against Hakuho for the henka. (In a state of confusion...)

Why does the banner still have Asashoryu's name on it? Anyone answer?