Basho Talk - Kyushu Basho 2015 +++ Spoiler Alert! +++

[Treblemaker]

I honestly think that touching down with two hands is mostly symbolic. And frankly, I'm not sure not touching down has its benefits either. On one hand, Yoshikaze always has both hands down and has an excellent tachi-ai. Kotomotsuki, who never, ever, put both hands down had possibly the fastest tachi-ai ever. Today, both HF and Kakuryu briefly touched both hands down and came out like cannons.

So, it seems to be a toe-may-toe/toe-mah-toe sort of thing. For Gaga, and others with that particular build (and the ultimate is Orora), getting both hands down can be a bit of a challenge. When you haven't seen your feet (or other parts of your body - I'll just let you play with those images - ok, maybe "play" isn't the exact term I meant, but you get the idea - don't or you'll go blind!) for a number of years, and in Gaga's case, If he were in Ontario, he might need to get a licence plate for his belt, bending over is not an advantage.

The Kyokai has to make up it's one and only collective brain cell (they all take turns using it) and decide either to call it or not. I figure if the hands are within an inch or so of the clay, that's good enough for me.

[dingo]

Exactly, Treblemaker beat me to it but I wanted to say also that Yoshikaze always has both hands down very early and that never seems to affect his tachiai in a negative way.

And with all this talk about future ozeki Gagamaru I think it would be really appropriate to post his kinboshi interview again. I watched it again and his gushing is absolutely delightful. The commentators at the end of the video make lighthearted fun of it saying that he would probably go on for half an hour if given the change :) But it's a very refreshing change from your usual arigatou gozaimasu, yokatta desu, ganbarimasu type of interview.

[Gurowake]

Kandayu escaped the shame for an equally bad decision yesterday at the Ichinojo-Goeido bout by the grace of the shimpan, who ordered only a rematch. Maybe they thought it would look bad if all contenders for Shonosuke had a sashi-chigae this basho.

Are you saying that it shouldn't have been a rematch? I think that was fairly clear that they fell together, and I don't think I've seen anyone argue one of them should have won. I doubt that the poor performances of other top gyoji have much to do with it. I'm fairly sure you know this and are just playing around, but I'm not 100% sure.

[Unkonoyama]

Kandayu escaped the shame for an equally bad decision yesterday at the Ichinojo-Goeido bout by the grace of the shimpan, who ordered only a rematch. Maybe they thought it would look bad if all contenders for Shonosuke had a sashi-chigae this basho.

Are you saying that it shouldn't have been a rematch? I think that was fairly clear that they fell together, and I don't think I've seen anyone argue one of them should have won. I doubt that the poor performances of other top gyoji have much to do with it. I'm fairly sure you know this and are just playing around, but I'm not 100% sure.

My wife and I both thought Ichinojo won the first bout when we watched it live, although it was very close. I was surprised at the big delay before the monoii was called. No monoii would have been a bad call, but I thought the rematch was reasonable after watching the replays. I also don't think the rematch had anything to do with saving the gyoji from looking bad.

[Gernobono]

Kandayu escaped the shame for an equally bad decision yesterday at the Ichinojo-Goeido bout by the grace of the shimpan, who ordered only a rematch. Maybe they thought it would look bad if all contenders for Shonosuke had a sashi-chigae this basho.

Are you saying that it shouldn't have been a rematch? I think that was fairly clear that they fell together, and I don't think I've seen anyone argue one of them should have won. I doubt that the poor performances of other top gyoji have much to do with it. I'm fairly sure you know this and are just playing around, but I'm not 100% sure.

i agree with akinomaki...anyone could see that goeido touched down first in the slowomotion-replay...i guess it was tough at real speed, but not on the replay.....and for me they saved the gyoji from another sashi chigae in a high stake match......glad to see ichnojo win to get the "corrrect" result

[Katooshu]

I don't recall watching a slow-motion replay, but in real speed I couldn't tell whether one touched down before the other. In my opinion even if the gyoji got it wrong it was an excusable error, not a glaring one such as giving Okinoumi the win over Hakuho.

[Unkonoyama]

A lot of the Japanese fans I know love Gagamaru recently, for what it's worth. I think it was that famous kinboshi interview he did that garnered attention to his 'cute' side.

She is not really a Gagamaru fan, but my wife agrees with you that his Japanese is very cute.

[Irakusamaru]

Goeido hesitated a bit at the tachiai. Goeido and Kakuryu I think are both very technical men who really only reach full potential when they completely hulk out, like when Kakuryu fought for Yokozuna promotion.

I agree. Kakuryu has been losing to guys who come out quickly at the tachiai and blast him away, which is (obviously!) disappointing because I really like his technique. He doesn't have the level of natural ability of Hakuho nor the agility of Harumafuji, but he seems to think his way through his matches.

[luispereira]

Hakuho's first sumo bout!!

[sesom]

The commentators at the end of the video make lighthearted fun of it saying that he would probably go on for half an hour if given the change :) But it's a very refreshing change from your usual arigatou gozaimasu, yokatta desu, ganbarimasu type of interview.

My japanese is only at a beginner-level, so I'm not able to rank his language-skills. I know he lives in Japan since ~10 years and I know some guys who live there even longer and their japanese is not much better than mine. Can one of the native-speakers tell, how good he speaks japanese?

[ALAKTORN]

^I can’t even understand most of what he’s saying but I get the feeling that his Japanese isn’t super good.

[Gurowake]

^I can’t even understand most of what he’s saying but I get the feeling that his Japanese isn’t super good.

Maybe that's the reason you can't understand it?

[WAKATAKE]

Gagamaru has been wanting to get 10 wins, so if he had won yesterday he would have been in a very good position. Once he left the ring he was obviously crying. Kitanofuji sarcastically suggested NHK bring him to the interview room to show him crying (they politely declined).

[808morgan]

zoom zoom

[Pandaazuma]

Gurowake: Goeido DEFINITELY touched down first...that is clear on the slow-mo...but the gyoji can of course be given leeway there as real time it was very close.

Unko: Regarding your wife's comment, yeah his Japanese is cute and apparently he is cute too for his direct honesty and emotions. I don't think they're big fans of his sumo, although I recently am! As for his level, he's good, but his pronunciation is still a little bit that of a foreigner. Not a criticism, of course...but it invariably gets the 'kawaii' from Japanese fans.

Edited November 20, 2015 by Pandaazuma

[808morgan]

^I can’t even understand most of what he’s saying but I get the feeling that his Japanese isn’t super good.

Actually his Japanese is pretty good!

[hamcornheinz]

Gurowake: Goeido DEFINITELY touched down first...that is clear on the slow-mo...but the gyoji can of course be given leeway there as real time it was very close.

Unko: Regarding your wife's comment, yeah his Japanese is cute and apparently he is cute too for his direct honesty and emotions. I don't think they're big fans of his sumo, although I recently am! As for his level, he's good, but his pronunciation is still a little bit that of a foreigner. Not a criticism, of course...but it invariably gets the 'kawaii' from Japanese fans.

the mysterious dead body rule.... but Ichinojo was clearly dead body before Goeido touched down.

[Kintamayama]

When judging second language skills people tend to fall in the "accent trap." Many people can master a second language but still have a heavy accent. I know a few Americans who speak perfect French but their accent is terrible. They know the lyrics but not the melody, so to speak. Gagamaru speaks good Japanese, sumo slang and all ("metcha-ureshii" - bonkers with happiness, is what endeared him to the fans in this particular instance) .He has a distinct foreign accent, but the language is good.

If you are in Japan, there is a way to understand how Japanese people perceive the level of a foreigner's accent on TV. On Japanese variety shows, most of what is being said is also subtitled on the screen, in Japanese.. If a Japanese speaking foreigner gets subtitled in kanji, that means his Japanese is excellent. If in katakana, it means his Japanese is heavily accented/not that good.

[dingo]

Yeah, Gagamaru speaks pretty good Japanese and his pronunciation isn't even hard to understand, at least for me. I think generally it's very hard for a foreign rikishi to not pick up at least decent-to-good Japanese since they are immersed in it in their day to day life at the heya, cause barely anyone can hold a conversation in English or any other foreign language. It's a totally different thing with written Japanese though, now that tends to be more of an hurdle -- even for foreign rikishi who otherwise can speak the language very well.

Edited November 20, 2015 by dingo

[Masumasumasu]

I dig Shohozan's beard.

[haboki]

Wow! What's gotten into Shohozan this tournament? He looks like a new man. And I like the goatee. I got the idea that facial hair was pretty much prohibited in Sumo. It looks good on Shohozan.

[PhorCillic]

Wow! What's gotten into Shohozan this tournament? He looks like a new man. And I like the goatee. I got the idea that facial hair was pretty much prohibited in Sumo. It looks good on Shohozan.

Erm... Pics? :D

[Kurikara]

Thanks for the mid-week yusho decider, NSK! It's 3.30 am where I live and I have to be at a lecture at 8 am. The first thing I see when I turn on the stream is Osunaarashi in a wheelchair... Now the only thing missing is broadcast dying before the yokozuna bout.

[dingo]

A goatee is a dead giveaway of an evil twin, so the real Shohozan has probably spent the basho tied up in a closet somewhere while the nefarious evil Shohozan puts in motion his world-domination plans. Which start with becoming really good at sumo.

[Kurikara]

I'm starting to buy in on the conspiracy theories.. What an easy win for Goeido.