Ama's father

[Bishonohana]

I guess the main focus for Ama is WINNING the matches for his lost Father... He definately focused on his sumo on Shonichi. I was afraid that he may be in too much "pain" over his loss, and lose focus on the bouts. He showed us that he will respect his father by winning! I thought I saw him wipe his eyes after the match, but it could have been not related to tears of rememberance... My heart goes out to him and hope he will "Gambarize!" Go, Ama!!

[madorosumaru]

The yokozuna was watching his kohai's bout on the dressing room TV. When Ama forced out Homasho, Ryu let out a jubilant cry. Then he applauded the brave young fellow as the gyoji proclaimed him the victor.

As for Ama, normally after a win, he would be smiling as he reviewed his bout with the press. On this day, he, quite understandably, remained quiet and downcast. The media, brilliant as always, asked him, "Do you feel differently from usual?" The answer was, naturally, "Of course."

Inquired about the effect of his father's death, Ama replied, "I'll be okay. This is my job. I gotta do what I gotta do."

[Murakami]

I am sure he really wished to attend his father's funeral. Most probably, it was his family's insisting that made him to go back to Japan for the basho. His brother is ill and Mongolians are not rich anyways. He undertstands that he is now probably the only bread winner in his family and the only thing he has is a life in ozumo.

[Manekineko]

I think that reducing it all to monetary worries is a bit superficial. Ama is a sekitori, after all, and would be paid even if he went kyujo for this basho. And he could have gone kyujo for a few days until the funeral and return later on in the basho, also.

His appearing to fight and missing his father's funeral are much better explained by (choose one):

a) sekitori pride and sense of duty (following examples of Kitanoumi and Miyabiyama...)

b) peer pressure (if Kitanoumi and Miyabiyama could, why didn't he...)

My private opinion, of course.

[kaiguma]

I think that reducing it all to monetary worries is a bit superficial. Ama is a sekitori, after all, and would be paid even if he went kyujo for this basho. And he could have gone kyujo for a few days until the funeral and return later on in the basho, also.

His appearing to fight and missing his father's funeral are much better explained by (choose one):

a) sekitori pride and sense of duty (following examples of Kitanoumi and Miyabiyama...)

b) peer pressure (if Kitanoumi and Miyabiyama could, why didn't he...)

My private opinion, of course.

By now, for Ama sumo must be a lot more than paying the bills: Sumo has become his life and he is dedicated to bringing the best form he can possibly bring onto the dohyo. You saw the way he attacked Homasho :-P Sumotalk.com said it was like "a wolverine on angel dust." Ama alone knows the perfect way to honor his father's life and death. His father was a fighter, and so is Ama. (Neener, neener...)

Oh btw, info-sumo.net has a very strange video called Sumo Evolution, from NHK. I won't get into critiquing it too much since there are David Shapiro and Hiro Morita fans out there, but the voiceovers in particular are just too much. At any rate, if you can sit through the elementary explananations that accompany most of the early scenes you will eventually get to a lengthy documentary-style piece on Ama. Enjoy.

Edited January 8, 2007 by kaiguma

[madorosumaru]

In the dressing room after the Kaio bout, Ama was desperately holding back his tears. Relieved by the victory that gave him kachi-koshi in the most trying basho of his career, Ama opened up to the gathered media.

"If I win, Mom would be happy," he said emotionally. "[When I left Mongolia to return to Japan] I could only say to her, 'I'm so sorry to leave you all alone at a time like this.' I came back to give it my all."

Against the ozeki, who out-weighed him by more than 50 kg, he used speed to mesmerize his foe. With a quick thrust at tachiai, he grabbed a right uwate. He prevented Kaio from getting a similar hold by circling to his right while applying a komata-sukui. He then followed that with a deft dashi-nage which allowed him to get behind the bigger man. From there, it took little time for him to send the outmaneuvered Kaio out of the ring with an "Adios, Amigo but Let's Do the Conga First" okuri-dashi.

"I suppose it is a bit weird to say about myself that I gambarized, but I did gambarize," he said without any hint of self-congratulations. It was the yokozuna, who watched from below the dohyo that gave him praise, "That was really good sumo. It was inspiring. I would like to applaud him." :-/

As we know, Ama couldn't attend his dad's funeral. Instead, he has called his mother five times each day to comfort her. He feels guilty that he cannot be by her side. Still, Ama says, "I am thankful for sumo." At the Kokugikan he can concentrate on just his immediate bouts and forget about all the sorrows.

Edited January 19, 2007 by madorosumaru