Featured rikishi: Kotoryu

[Rijicho 6]

Kotoryu

[Manekineko 200]

Sadogatake! Hirsute! Perfectly round belly! For a long time only Dragon (ryuu) in makuuchi (methinks)!

I like this rikishi. He rarely shines, but he's one of constants of makuuchi since the time I seriously started watching sumo. He was always K'ryuu the Roundbellied, always "that other Sadogatake"... First he was third/fourth to K'waka the Handsome, K'nishiki the Adored and K'inazuma the Balding, now to K'waka the Eternal and Mickey the Elbowless... and soon fourth again after K'oshu the Heartthrob becomes makuuchi regular. His constancy is easily overlooked, and that's why he's great pick for Featured rikishi. (You are going off-topic...)

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

And, he used to be good for one or two tsuridashi kimarite every basho... (You are going off-topic...)

[hoshidango 0]

He looks shorter than 183cm as publicized..

[Elenrian 0]

He weights 140 kg, and is (?)183cm tall. His highest is Maegashira 1 West (two bashos). Kotoryu was born on 1972, mars 2nd. He is 32 years old, one of the oldest maegashira!

Some Pictures:

Before Fighting...

Another one: (very little, sorry)

[Araiwa 0]

Kotoryu has had a 10-5 Basho in May. So maybe he is able to hang on in Makkuchi for several years.

Kintamayama-san has a nice pic on his site:

http://moti.sumogames.com/kotoryubike.jpg

[Mark Buckton 1]

sadogatake stable is located in chiba and is only heya with an english website.

And is a nightmare to reach from Tokyo methinks.

Also - Hyogo - for me at least - the heart of sake - some mighty fine brews come from there.

On Kotoryu - good solid and reliable - lot of time for his sumo

Kobe is cool too - Chinatown with great food, was the sight of the first Japanese golf club and where ANR - with red and white hair watched England VS Cameroon in the World Cup warm-ups a couple of years back. Crap game and 2-2 IIRC

Sorry - back to Kotoryu

[Naganoyama 5,800]

Kotoryu's nicknames are Teshi, Nakano, Tetsu.

He likes his PC and is a connoisseur of incense.

Father was Makushita Tendo. Grandfather was Osaka-zumo rikishi

Brief history back to January 2002:

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History For Kotoryu
Date	Rank	Score
May 2004	E-M9	10-5
Mar 2004	W-M10	8-7
Jan 2004	E-M9	7-8
Nov 2003	W-M7	7-8
Sep 2003	E-M3	4-11
Jul 2003	W-M5	8-7
May 2003	E-M10	9-6
Mar 2003	E-M5	5-10
Jan 2003	W-M8	8-7
Nov 2002	W-M6	7-8
Sep 2002	W-M3	5-10
Jul 2002	W-M3	0-0-15
May 2002	E-M8	8-7
Mar 2002	W-J1	12-3
Jan 2002	W-J1	0-0-15

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[aderechelsea 112]

he is one of those rikishis that don't make such impact in a basho but can win matches convincingly from time to time as easily as he can lose them.

this basho is an idicator of his impact on a tournament.He went 10-5 and i doubt that anyone has given much notice to it....

he set a personal best in makuuchi but i think more people were concerned about Kokkai's 10-5...

a good sekitori overall but a mid-Maegashira stable IMO.

at least he stands out for being one of the hairiest rikishis..... (Laughing...)

[Kashunowaka 300]

he is one of those rikishis that don't make such impact in a basho but can win matches convincingly from time to time as easily as he can lose them.

this basho is an idicator of his impact on a tournament.He went 10-5 and i doubt that anyone has given much notice to it....

he set a personal best in makuuchi but i think more people were concerned about  Kokkai's 10-5...

a good sekitori overall but a mid-Maegashira stable IMO.

at least he stands out for being one of the hairiest rikishis..... (In love...)

Good summary.

Kotoryu is the Maegashira Elevator Rikishi incarnate. Typical features: highest rank maegashira 1 or komusubi, rarely gets a sansho. A few kinboshi at most. Usually goes 8-7, except when ranked in the joi-jin which means that double-digit losses are expected. Long makuuchi career. All these things fit Kotoryu.

Kotoryu has been ranked M5 or above 14 times. In Nagoya 2003 he managed to get kachi-koshi (8-7) from M5w, but he was actually just outside the joi-jin and had just 3 bouts with sanyaku. So in effect he has never cleared kachi-koshi when ranked in the maegashira-joi.

In Hatsu 1997 he won his so far only sansho: 10-5 from M11 was good enough for a kanto-sho. Three career kinboshi, one against Musashimaru and two against Takanohana.

A knee injury dropped him to the top of juryo in 2001. Kotoryu got back to makuuchi by winning the juryo yusho, his only yusho so far. If it hadn't been for the juryo visit, he would have had the currently longest running streak ranked maegashira, one basho more than Kyokushuzan (who has about a year to go before breaking Higonoumi's record, IIANM). Anyway, Kotoryu has done 46 makuuchi basho, a respectable number.

Kimarite stats since 1995 (data from http://www.scgroup.com/sumo/mtgs/Kotoryu.html):

Winning kimarite
Yorikiri          117
Oshidashi          46
Uwatenage          36
Hatakikomi         19
Yoritaoshi         17
Katasukashi        14
Tsuridashi         13
Hikiotoshi         13
Tsukiotoshi        13
Oshitaoshi         13
Okuridashi         10
Sukuinage           9
Shitatenage         9
Uwatedashinage      6
Kirikaeshi          5
Fusensho            3
Tsukidashi          2
Susoharai           2
Sotogake            2
Okuritaoshi         1
Nimaigeri           1
Makiotoshi          1
Watashikomi         1
Shitatehineri       1
Unknown             1
Uchimuso            1
Tsukitaoshi         1

Losing kimarite
Yorikiri          133
Oshidashi          74
Hatakikomi         34
Okuridashi         21
Tsukiotoshi        18
Hikiotoshi         16
Uwatenage          13
Kotenage           10
Sukuinage           7
Shitatenage         6
Okuritaoshi         4
Tsukidashi          3
Kimedashi           3
Katasukashi         3
Yoritaoshi          3
Uwatedashinage      2
Kubinage            2
Oshitaoshi          2
Fusenhai            2
Sotogake            2
Hikkake             1
Shitatehineri       1
Utchari             1
Kimetaoshi          1
Kirikaeshi          1
Shitatedashinage    1
Waridashi           1
Ashitori            1
Unknown             1
Tottari             1
Isamiashi           1

Kotoryu is an allround rikishi with good basic sumo. He sets up a lot of bouts with oshi-zumo and - like last basho - wins a lot with that, but judging from the figures alone, he is more successful at yotsu-zumo. Many wins with uwatenage as well. He is well known for his tsuridashi. 14 wins by katasukashi was somewhat surprising to me.

I am a big fan of Kotoryu. And as you can see I have reverted back to my old avatar - I thought this was a good occasion. :-D My wife is incidentally an even bigger Kotoryu-fan. Must be something about hairy guys with a pot-belly ... (Laughing...)

[Mark Buckton 1]

(Applauding...) Excellent post above and significant to my own eyes at least that the 'ages' (throws) are so small numerically in the kimarite info on how he lost.

Too solid, heavy, strong in the legs?

Should keep his eyes open a bit more to keep this number down: (in losing stats)

Hatakikomi 34

Okuridashi 21

Tsukiotoshi 18

Hikiotoshi 16

[Jakusotsu 5,715]

Kotoryu has grown during the years into one of my personal favourites - it is the world's most perfect belly he's wearing, that's for sure!

During my recent visit to Sadogatake-beya at asa-geiko, Kotoryu took aside Kotooshu to teach him the basics of uchigake, one kimarite he seems to be very proficient with as an ex-Judoka. Strangely, uchigake doesn't appear even once on the list of his winning kimarite. (More keiko perhaps... (Applauding...) )

[Tokimori 0]

Welcome to the forum, Jakusotsu! May you enlight this forum as much as the BS mailing list!

[sekihiryu 51]

Here is Chiyozakuras awesome website bio of Kotoryu. Whats interesting is that the Rikishi he has faced the most is also the one who irritates me the most -Asanowaka.

Those two have a even battle going with Asanowaka just edging out Kotoryu 14-13 at the moment. I hope Kotoryu edges out the clown before the he retires.

Also Koto beat Takanohana 2 of their 6 meetings. Two gold stars off the Yokozuna.

Here is a link to a site that lists Kotoryus record versus every opponent, the basho and Kimarite Kotoryu's full record against every opponent

Here is his goo bio ( goo as in the Kyokais Goo website). I notice his real name is Katsumi which strikes me a very feminine sounding name.

Edited June 5, 2004 by sekihiryu

[Jakusotsu 5,715]

I hope Kotoryu edges out the clown before the he retires.

Not very likely, or do You think Asanowaka will rise to Makunouchi once again?

[Mark Buckton 1]

I notice his real name is Katsumi which strikes me a very feminine sounding name.

Good point - known a katsumi (female) myself but then again a few Japanese names are 'unisex' so to speak.

Shinobu & Ayumi come to mind instantly - back to Kotoryu

[Kashunowaka 300]

I hope Kotoryu edges out the clown before the he retires.

Not very likely, or do You think Asanowaka will rise to Makunouchi once again?

Yeah, he has only done it eight times before. (In a state of confusion...)

[Mark Buckton 1]

During my recent visit to Sadogatake-beya at asa-geiko, Kotoryu took aside Kotooshu to teach him the basics of uchigake, one kimarite he seems to be very proficient with as an ex-Judoka.

Kotooshu could well use this kimarite

http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/kimarite/9.html

I've noticed him (Osh) in trouble with his opponents if he allows them inside and can't get his hands around the back or in a good throwing position and execute that throw quickly.

4 of 10 of his kimarite in Natsu were throws and he cannot live off them alone - so perhaps Kotoryu was giving him another option with which to go when the opponents come in smaller packages with lower centres of gravity and aren't as easy to throw as the boys in Juryo / Makushita have been.

That way, they will still get inside and on the mawashi but perhaps Osh can combine his height and the inside leg to over balance those set on that brief rise in posture needed to yorikiri such a tall opponent - particularly having pushed off the bales to gain a slight degree of momentum.

Edited June 6, 2004 by Adachinoryu

[Yoavoshimaru 0]

Uchimuso            1

Fairly rare, that one. (Applauding...)

[Kaikitsune Makoto 203]

Kotoryu was not a rikishi blessed with ready sumobody (like Hagiwara is for example) so he worked like a madman waking up 3am often annoying his stablemates who complained he was noisy with his teppo/shiko work outs in dark keikoba. He admired yokozuna Hokutoumi and wanted to do similar powerful oshi-sumo without much trickery. He said he had skillful fingers since he liked to remodel his bicycle and fiddle with all sorts of things but yet he wanted to refrain from becoming a trickster in sumo and concentrated on oshi. Later on he developed a lot of yotsu-skills and nowadays his right hand outside grip is very powerful weapon and manu uwatenage/uwatedashinage have been launched that way by Koto.

Kotoryu was very keen to keep a diary of his sumo life writing it every day. Daily events and his father's advice and he liked to work on developing his sumo and keiko habits by analyzing them carefully. He has an old letter from his mom he treasures which he has read countless of times in times of difficulty.

His sumo nowadays is all-around sumo. Oshi goes as his first love but yotsu is nowadays his best tool in makuuchi. He has good yori in addition to his honed uwatenage. Some interesting leg techniques he delivers every now and then. Nimaigeri-win over heart-diseased Shikishima comes to mind.

Kotoryu's worst injury came in Haru 2001 when he broke his arm in a kotenage-loss against KaioU. He had major difficulties in using his left arm effectively long after that and doesn't like to be caught in kotenage anymore.

Round belly, compact sumobody, businesslike sumo, hirsutism. What else do you need?!

[Naganoyama 5,800]

Round belly, compact sumobody, businesslike sumo, hirsutism. What else do you need?!

Currently holds longest rensho in sekitori ranks (7). B-)

[Kashunowaka 300]

Kotoryu won today (day 11 of Nagoya basho) against Kyokushuzan with his trademark tsuridashi (lift out). Last time he won with this kimarite was in Nagoya 2003 day 7 - also against Kyokushuzan, who is Kotoryu's favourite tsuridashi victim: four of Kotoryu's 14 tsuridashi in makuuchi has been against Kyokushuzan.

[Mark Buckton 1]

So, when we moving on Rijicho? Mods? Mulder?

[Kaikitsune Makoto 203]

Kotoryu retired after Haru 2005.

http://www.sumoforum.net/forums/index.php?showtopic=5907

[Kaiowaka 10]

You can find my article on the career of Kotoryu on "Le Petit Banzuke Illustr

Edited May 4, 2005 by Kaiowaka