Pica-Pica

Pass the eye bleach, please!

It all sounds perfectly innocent to me..... (In a state of confusion...)

What a surprise! The Japanese were 10,000 to 1 outsiders for the tournament. The Springboks -- although shocked and dismayed by the loss -- graciously admitted their opponents played a smart game.

He's a talented artist -- I love it! (Applauding...)

Greetings and welcome!

I did a double-take at the name, but welcome anyway... (Laughing...)

Good luck to Brodie, and good on you, Nishinoshima, for helping him out!

Are there any heyas with a strict "No foreigners need apply" policy? Not that there's anything wrong with it, but I was wondering what their reasons are for such a policy -- or at least the reasons they give publicly.

Thanks for mentioning this book, Kasutera. I was wondering how I had missed it, and then I realised it's brand new -- copyright 2014! The books listed by Mukonoso and Jejima are definitely worth looking at (adding to your collection).

No knives here -- in fact, I agree with you! But he was, at one time, known as much for his humility and dignity as for his brilliant playing. As for the last 25 years, well...let's try to remember him as he was on the field, as described in this excerpt from an Irish Independent article: "There was, however, another quality that carried him beyond all rivals and it is that attribute which nags so poignantly now...It was humility, an ability that welled out of him at the most vital of occasions and was probably captured for all time when he supplied the pass for Carlos Alberto's crowning goal in the defeat of Italy in the all-time World Cup final of 1970. Pele was so superb that day because his creativity was so controlled, geared so absolutely to the needs of a team already bristling with exceptional ability."

Re-posting from an older thread: This should come as no surprise, given professional Sumo's long-standing connections to the yakuza. This is what Jigoro Kano (judo) had to say about Sumo in the early part of the 20th century: "Sumo has been practiced in Japan since ancient times, and in one respect it is quite valuable as physical education. It is also recognised as helping to cultivate a strong and brave spirit...Sumo has also been criticised for making people coarse and unrefined... I would like to point out that sumo developed as entertainment, not as physical or moral education, and in the past many sumo wrestlers, regarding themselves as entertainers, were unconcerned about their behaviour or health. I have heard that these days there are ozeki and yokozuna who conduct themselves with propriety and are men of quite good character, and I regard this as a promising trend, but we must make a clear distinction between sumo as entertainment and sumo as a method of physical and mental training. If sumo is promoted without reservation, those who take it up may imitate sumo wrestlers as entertainers and eat and drink to excess, and indulge in idle talk and complacency. Professional wrestlers and boxers are generally people of low character, and no matter how superior their skills, they are mostly looked down on by society."

That might be true now, but it wasn't always so, which perhaps says more about football audiences and society in general than about the players and the game. Some great footballers were -- and are -- modest and dignified: Messi and Zidane come immediately to mind; Pele, Seeler, and Charlton if you want to go way back. I think today's puerile and obnoxious behaviour started in the 1970s; nobody would have tolerated it before then. Anyway, football is a European game, and players should be allowed to show natural emotions such as joy, frustration, and despair. Sumo, on the other hand, is thoroughly Japanese, and rikishi (especially foreign ones) must abide by the culturally-dictated rules. This little gem proves there are great yet humble footballers out there -- and they're definitely not sissies! "When asked which he preferred, FIFA president Sepp Blatter commented that 'Lionel Messi is a good boy that every father and every mother would like to take home. He's a good man, he's very fast, and he's not exuberant, he's playing well, he's dancing. He's a kind man, a good boy. That’s what makes him so popular, and naturally he’ll always get a lot of votes because he plays well and scores goals' before saying that Ronaldo 'is something else. He is like a commander on the field of play. This is the other side of football and it's good to have commanders on the field. They don’t have the same attitude and that gives life to football. One has more expenses for the hairdresser than the other but that doesn't matter. I can't say who is the best. I like both of them, but I prefer Messi.'"

Welcome to the forum, and good luck starting your sumo training group. With 10 years of judo under your belt, you will learn the techniques very quickly (sumo is the grandaddy of judo). Naganoyama's link to the Sumo Kenko Taiso pages is definitely worth looking at, although the instructions are somewhat vague, so you will have to cross-reference using other sources (YouTube, etc.). These pages were a useful resource when I was researching sumo exercises for my blog, but I had to watch a lot of videos of actual rikishi training to put all the pieces together. You can download a free tutorial of some sumo conditioning exercises from my blog. However, since I developed the sumo fitness routines with a non-sumo audience (including martial artists) in mind, I changed some of the exercises a bit to provide the best workout for less flexible non-sumo athletes. Anyway, I hope this helps!

I'm confused about the idea of a "cheap and fast" win, as opposed to a win gained through text-book perfect technique. It seems sensible that Hakuho (or any other rikishi) would apply the basic and timeless martial arts principle, "minimum effort for maximum outcome" whenever possible. It mightn't always be pretty, but if it works, it works!

Egyptian = mummification.........good one! :-D

bow? With that face, he could have been in showbiz!

There are definitely some methods that should be changed for the health and safety (and I don't mean pampering) of the rikishi!

Orora has some serious vascular issues, and he doesn't look like he's fit under the fat. Letting the poor guy carry that much weight seems rather cruel to me.

I'm not sleeping; I'm checking my eyelids for leaks.

(Sigh)...I feel like a giant persimmon....

Hey, we're like that two-headed llama in the Dr. Doolittle film.....only the wrong way around!

I've had ONE blown-out knee ligament, and that was no fun. I can't imagine putting that much weight on it, let alone training and competing in sumo. Why doesn't he get surgery to repair the ligaments -- would a yearlong (or longer) recuperative absence effectively end his career?

I posted this comment in the Day 3 Hatsu thread, but the relevant conversation seems to be here, so I'll re-post it: It looks like Aminishiki has some kind of metal hinge under his bandage/brace. What are the rules (if indeed there are any) about bandages and, especially, braces. There seem to be a lot of rikishi propping themselves up in this way. Is it due to weight? Diet (more Western-style foods)? Training and competition schedules? How much time do they get to recover from injuries without jeopardising their rankings? Somehow all the support mechanisms seem incongruous in such a pared-down sport.

Sporting events would be a lot more dignified if players emulated the behaviour of rikishi.

One-handed press-ups? C'mon, man, don't take everything so literally! It looks like Aminishiki has some kind of metal hinge under his bandage/brace. What are the rules (if indeed there are any) about bandages and, especially, braces. There seem to be a lot of rikishi propping themselves up in this way. Is it due to weight? Diet (more Western-style foods)? Training and competition schedules? How much time do they get to recover from injuries without jeopardising their rankings? Somehow all the support mechanisms seem incongruous in such a pared-down sport.