Wakatoryu

Hello all, Having been a fan of the Yokozuna for years, I am very disturbed to see him in his current condition. Is he injured still? (How did he get injured in the first place? Appears to be his left elbow or more?) His mind must be elsewhere also, having divorced his wife etc and whatever else. Of all the rikishi I have ever seen I would have never even dreamed I would be discussing such matters concerning him as his competitive fire has burned so much brighter than everyone else's for so long, has it gone out for good? I would have thought that with the promotion of Hakuho this would have at least ignited something in him again but it doesn't seem so....What is the reason for this? Is it all downhill from here? Such a shame, he was on such a roll to best Taiho's record and become arguably the greatest ever.............

Anyone know the number to the "Help my thread was/has been high-jacked" hot-line? lol

Hello to all, I was just wondering if there is anyone here from the Northern California area or thereabouts, (or anyone who knows anyone) that is/would be interested in practicing or training (sumo) for any of the amateur tournaments that are coming up here in the U.S? (Clapping wildly...) (Clapping wildly...) (Oshidashi...) Feel free to respond to this post or drop me a PM if you happen to be. -

Only after watching the video in slow motion did I feel this way, your opinion may be different of course. Also how can it be so easily decided who is "initiating" the attack? Was I thrown or was he "Yori-taoshi'ed?" Does a throw attempt automatically trump any other form of offensive attack? I also went for a soto-gake, and from the video it appears that is what took his back leg out enough causing him to loose his balance and fall as he attempted his throw. Perhaps a bit irrelavent but it is my personal opinion in any sumo bout if a clear winner cannot be determined with the naked eye it should be redone. Taken from the point of view of a spectator perhaps most importantly, is it/would it not be dissapointing to see a great match end with both competators seemingly having gone out/touched the ground at the same time and then after the judges call or a mono-ii have one seemingly arbitrarily declared the winner? Just my two cents there but.......-

We held a sumo tournament at my church a week or so ago as an activity for the youth and adults, it was quite fun. There was only one bout that I did not win clearly enough, and it was ruled a "re-do." My buddy isn't entirely convinced that he shouldn't have won however, so I was hoping to get everyone's expert opinion here. Here is the video link for the bout (I put it on YouTube) I am in the black and my buddy is in the blue and tan shorts, what do you think is the right call? (In a state of confusion...)

Thank you for the responses. Kuroyama - It does not appear that either of us are touching the ground yet on the video snippet you have showing on your post. Correct me if I am wrong? Nishinoshima - I may be wrong again, but I was unable to nail the video down to a single frame in slow motion where I was touching and my buddy was not. Nonetheless I agree with you, it seems likely that my elbow or something would have indeed touched just before him given the proper camera and angle in the right place to verify it. Still as far as a tournament bout goes, in Pro-sumo or amateur sumo I find it hard to believe that a tori-naoshi would not be called for, (or be the wrong call.) :-P Cheers -

That is one overweight student!

(If any?) The first time I watched professional sumo was the Nagoya basho in 1997 (which most certainly pales in comparison to many here I would imagine.) Only 2 active Maku-uchi seki-tori still remain from that time , Kaio, (who seems to be hanging on by a thread) and Tosanoumi. Up until fairly recently Tamakasuga was also still active, anyways......How about everyone else?

what about tochinonada, and dejima? unless you mean the people who were only sanyaku in that basho? Ah yes you must forgive me, I am going strictly off of memory but you are correct. They were fairly new and up and coming at the time but they were there, along with a few others perhaps (Kaiho, Otsukasa) also who are in Juryo, (unfortunately I have not always given the Juryo division the attention it deserves.)

I think it has, and I personally am not a very big fan of special competition privelages being given to rank (i.e. an Ozeki or Yokozuna can have a losing record and not be affected or miss more tournaments due to injury than other rikishi etc.) Granted my thinking may be a bit radical compared to others on the forum here, but I think it would be great if Sumo adopted a sort of individual ranking system similar to that of tennis, (with basically everyone ranked in numerical order 1 - 75 or whatever) doing away with the special privileges allotted to Ozeki and even Yokozuna. Maybe just rank everyone based on their win-loss performance going up to a year back, keeping the traditional ranks of Yokozuna and Ozeki still but just treating them as slots for the top 4 to 8 rikishi, which could change from basho to basho. While granted still most of the time the better wrestlers are still going to win the percentage of tournaments and stay near the top, due to the 15 day tournament format, I think this would allow for a little more flexibility at the top of the rankings and mix things up a little in general, (I may even be so radical as to say it would be nice to see 1 or 2 of the tournament formats change to say maybe something more resembling a world cup format involving single elimination stages etc.) Obviously hypothetical thinking here as such changes would never take place for numerous reasons, but if nothing else would it not add a bit more excitement to the sport?

I have been able to use the search function almost exclusively the past month for answers to any questions I have had, (there is quite an archive available here! Thank you very much!) There is however one silly question I have wondered about, why is Beer so preferable to the Sumo diet as opposed to milk? Is there a major nutritional difference for this I am unaware of that perhaps makes Japanese beer preferable to Japanese milk? Tradition? Cost and availability? Do the benefits really outweigh the health risks? (Incidentally, what is the law with regards to underage drinking in Japan? Do the Heya abide by this for new recruits until they have reached the legal/appropriate age?) (Cheers...)!.... ;-)

Does the Kyokai not employ or have their own doctors/specialists that they can refer rikishi to go see if they are or suspect that they are injured? It seems if a rikishi were to go and see's a doctor/specialist, (especially one within the kyokai) and they are able to verify that a rikishi is indeed suffering from a legitimate injury or ailment and give an estimated time line for recovery there should be no question as to whether a rikishi is faking it or not. Granted that still leaves the dilemma of what course of action should be taken with regards to rank in the case of a severe injury which may require many many months to heal, or much less severe injuries which may be nagging or re-occurring frequently. (Just what doctor ordered...)!

Hello to all, I am a Sumo fan, amateur competitor and former resident of Japan. I look forward to posting when I can, "yoroshiku onegai shimasu".