Kintamayama 45,137 Posted September 16, 2003 Takamisakari has resumed his pre-bout "antics". He usually goes bananas before the last shikiri, pumping himself up and all. Kitanoumi rijicho voiced his objection, and it was toned down for a couple of days. Now, Rijicho will be allowing it, on some conditions, though. These "antics" transform Clark Kent into Superman.. I mean Takamisakari into Robocop, to the obvious delight of the cash paying patrons who are flocking to see him (and Sumo..) as of late. It seems that what bothered Rijicho was the fact that Sakari was doing the pumping motion twice. He will apparently allow him to do it once, thus keeping the fans happy, and at the same time appeasing the old-schoolers who thought the antics were getting out of hand. On the day that Rijicho's initial ban was reported, the Kyokai offices received more than 200 phone calls and 50 e-mails asking, nay - begging, that the Kyokai not ask Sakari to control his shikiri. At the daily press meeting Rijicho said "I never told him not to do it. If he does it like he did it yesterday, it is fine by me!", he said, referring to the match against Wakanosato, where he did one pump only. (and lost..) Sakari did the pumping once, so that is what will be tolerated from now on, it seems. "This is serious business, done in earnest. I will continue to pump up my fighting spirit!", said Sakari, who needs two more wins to return to Sanyaku. 4 more may see him at Sekiwake, if Miyabiyama continues to shuffle his heels.. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Jesinofuji 11 Posted September 16, 2003 I kind of like Sakari's antics, his getting psyched up before a bout. If he feels they really do help him, and the fans love them, I don't see any problem with it. If other rikishi are bothered by it, they can voice their disapproval on the dohyou. Others in the Kyokai must like them because they are surely generating popularity for the sport, and they are even passing out Takamisakari-files, showing a few pictures of his pump up antics on the back, at kokugikan. I think making Takamisakari stop doing this would hurt Sumo as a whole. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Yoavoshimaru 0 Posted September 16, 2003 I wonder if there's an interesting parallel between Takamisakari's antics and Asashoryu's. Both display more personality thatn the NSK would like to see, and certainly more personality than the average Japanese person according to natives posting on this forum... Just that one is perceived as bad yokozuna attitude, and one as over-excitement? At least Rijicho was consistent in his dislike of both and didn't prefer one over the other. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted September 16, 2003 Personally I dont think a yokozuna would be allowed (or even willing to) do such antics. For a hiramaku, it's (barely) OK, apparently. When you get to the champion ranks, though, a little more dignity is on the agenda :-) Btw, I was one of the FIRST Takamisakari fans, before it was all the rage! Now, everybody is on the bandwagon :-) Same goes for Asashoryu (Enjoying a beer...) He was my favorite from Day 1 at Aki 2001 (where he was a Maegashira) (Whistling...) Cheers Z. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Naifuzan 1 Posted September 16, 2003 Hasnt everybody always loved Takamisakari? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Doitsuyama 1,185 Posted September 16, 2003 Hasnt everybody always loved Takamisakari? Yeah, I also really didn't understand Zenji... I thought Sumo was only a foreign word to him in 2000 when Takamisakari already was in Makuuchi and the rage, until his serious knee injury. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Zenjimoto 40 Posted September 16, 2003 Hasnt everybody always loved Takamisakari? Yeah, I also really didn't understand Zenji... I thought Sumo was only a foreign word to him in 2000 when Takamisakari already was in Makuuchi and the rage, until his serious knee injury. What I meant was, when I first discovered sumo, nobody even mentioned him. Then, he made his way back to Makuuchi, and nobody mentioned him. After his first basho back, nobody mentioned him, and it took another two basho until people became really aware of him (I am talking about the general forums-dweller here), and finally later on, he became the latest pop culture craze. What I tried to say was, my "favorite rikishi" setting in various forums and games has been reading "Asashoryu, Takamisakari" for 2 years. Back then, it was a relatively uncommon setting (as opposed to the many "Takanohana, Musashimaru" ones), but in the meanwhile, everybody has gotten on the bandwagon, and my setting looks like a cliche (Shaking head...) Maybe I need to change it to "Kakizoe, Kokkai" before they become all the rage! (Shaking head...) Cheers Zenjimoto Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
