Kotoshoumi

Pleasantly surprised at the performance of Akiseyama in Juryo so far! Does anyone possibly have a link to one of his bouts? Can't seem to find any in the database. Much obliged!

I've always thought that the post-match pushes of Hakuho were made into something much bigger and that people tended to exaggerate. But I must say, that when he slapped Ichi after their bout, I was kind of shocked for the first time. Wich doesn't mean that I'm on the I-Hate-Hakuho bandwagon, but still, I found it inaproppriate.

My chaotic thoughts on day 12: Just when I thought I couldn't be more disappointed in Goeido he pulls it off against Hak. Followed by loud yelling in my living room (in a positive context). Very interesting basho so far. Amazed at the fact that, despite almost everyone agreeing Endou shouldn't be there, he's managing to secure his place in makuuchi after all. Bit sad seeing Toyo go makekoshi, I love him in everyone of his bouts. Somehow I find myself routing for Kaisei, although I never really liked him, just cause it would be amazing if he could secure the yusho. His bout was also followed by yelling, yet in a negative context.

Yelled out loudly at the Hakuho-Ichinojo match. Yelled out (a little less) loudly at Terunofuji-Sadanoumi. Very interesting start of the basho, especially cause i'm routing for sada and ichi.

All yaocho comments aside: Haru-Hak was an amazing match. Haru was doing good blocking Hak's left hand from getting a grip on his belt. At a certain moment he stops blocking Hak's hand to go on the offensive. He can't finish it, Hak get's the left outside grip and it was all over. Beautiful match and an amazing basho all over. Concerning the yaocho comments: This might be a stupid question, but who is this 'Mike' person people seem to be referring to as some sort of expert in weeding out the yaocho matches from the real bouts?

Although I like Hakuho, I couldn't help being totally excited when Terunofuji beat him. Yelling loudly: JAAAAA!!! (wich means 'yes' in Dutch ;)). It's really a curse being as good as Hakuho is, everybody just wants to see you lose. Tomorrow Hak goes up against Kise, who has beat him on a couple seperate occasions in the past. We might have a yusho after all. Edit: I saw day thirtheen today, this morning. That's why I talked about Hak facing Kise 'tomorrow', wich is actually today. :)

Toyonoshima put a smile on my face in his bout against Harumafuji.

I was just thinking that some kind of system where you don't immediatly lose rank when you get seriously injured wouldn't be all that bad. Offcourse there used to be one and it got abolished, so there must have been reasons. But the current system certainly also has his flaws.

Regular as clockwork. Many thanks!

Aminishiki-Tochinoshin was the best bout of day three in my book. Sometimes I can't believe how much of an amazing comeback Tochinoshin has made/is making, since he got badly injured in 2013. He seems better than before his injury.

I wholeheartedly agree.

Really enjoyed Tamawashi-Oosunaarashi and Tochinoshin-Ichinojou on Day 11. Botch for completely different reasons. The many faces of sumo... :)

Toyonoshima was excellent against Harumafuji today. Only rikishi so far who gave him a run for his money. Speaking of Harumafuji: he seems to be in perfect shape this basho. His speed and tactics make him so brutal sometimes. I think of all current rikishi in makuuchi, I'd be most afraid of a match-up against Harumafuji. Ichinojo looked great against Goeido today. I was glad we got to see his calm, calculating demeanor again: keeping his cool, biding his time, taking the win.

Felt bad for Goeido for his bout of day 2. So much effort, but in the end it was all in vain.

Glad to see Akiseyama returning to Juryo!

One off my all time favourite rikishi... Thanks for posting! Me not having a Japanese keyboard and all: it would've been hard to find it on my own. :)

Thanks for all the effort you put into making the videos. I greatly appreciated it everytime!

Toyonoshima was so crafty again today against Tochinoshin! Gotta love that little bugger!

Harumafuji had a really close call, but managed to reverse an otherwise critical situation at the very last bit. Great bout! Ichinojo impressed me once again. He loves to work his magic around the edges off the ring. When he gets pushed to the edge, he counters. He reminds me off Asashoryu in that aspect.

The thing is, Takayasu delivered a very well placed slap at the end. It wasn't just Hakuho slipping, Takayasu really won that one. I agree. I didn't mean to take anything away from Takayasu.

Kakuryu - Ichinojo had me on the edge of my seat! And what an upset was Takayasu - Hakuho! I yelled out loudly when I saw the outcome and one of my housemates (who are all not into sumo, wich I momentarily forgot) came to check on me and wanted to know what all the fuss was about: Me enthusiastically: "Hakuho just lost to Takayasu cause he slipped, wich I totally didn't expect! This puts Kakuryu as the sole leader of Kyushu basho with lot's of guys coming up behind him with just a couple of losses. And it was really close or he would've lost today too! Ichinojo really is a force to be reckoned with for the entire makuuchi division including all three yokozuna!" Housemate: "Who? What? The fat one slipped?" Me: "Nevermind." :)

The discussions about henka in sumo remind me off the discussions about "pulling guard" in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. My two cents: I can enjoy a good guard pull in Bjj, as I can also enjoy a good executed henka in sumo. If it works and it's legal, why should it be frowned upon? I feel it adds to the excitement and variety of sumo that henka is an option at the tachiai. I feel it's just another technique that rikishi need to be able to defend.

Toyonoshima - Terunofuji was thé bout of the evening as far as I'm concerned.

Ichinojo always looks so freakishly calm and calculating... Always biding his time, waiting for the right moment to make his move. I dig his style! I think we can also conclude that his pre-basho injuries were part of his gameplan. Hakuho-Tochiozan was unbelievably close to being a gigantic upset. The way Hakuho managed to reverse an otherwise critical situation: digging that too! So far Kyushu basho doesn't dissapoint!

There they are: hand in hand with kyushu basho come you guys' uploads! Regular as clockwork! So regular that I almost start taking them for granted, so in order not to do that, I want to thank you again for all the work you put into uploading and sharing! Ichinojo didn't look so good during the tachi-ai of his bout. Very slow. It really is his achilles heel, or would this be the work of his supposed injuries? Anyway, I hope the tide turns for him. Looking forward to day 2!