Sumo monster 200+

[Igordemorais 75]

Of course most people can put on weight if they want to and can set their own schedules. That's not Takanoyama. The sumo lifestyle is not an inactive one. I'm sure that if he didn't go through a strenuous workout every day and just sat on the couch in front of the boob tube sucking down Pilsner for 10 hours at a stretch, he'd develop a beer gut in no time. But his metabolism is such that given his muscle mass and the amount of exercise he gets, the weight just doesn't pile on as you'd expect for most people. It happens. I may be jealous as all hell, but I'm not going to deny it just to make myself feel better.

Maybe he should supplement his chanko diet with McDonald's as well. Drinking a ton of beer would be a good start too, although I've read that rikishi drink a lot of beer to begin with (just as a side note on bad habits sumo wrestlers have, I've read that Kaio was a heavy smoker!).

His fast metabolism probably adds on to the fact that he has to consume many, many calories in the first place to maintain what little he has with all of the training he's doing (this was awhile ago but remember that picture of Michael Phelps carrying a tray with a mountain of McDonald's food on it? They said that he has to consume something ridiculous like 10,000 calories a day to maintain his muscle). Hell, I know what having a metabolism like that is like. I hardly get any exercise and I'm still rail thin. That's starting to slow down though, I'm afraid.....

Phelps consumes 12000 calories a day, but this is because he spends hours in the pool. where the body spends massive extra energy keeping body heat, since the water dissipates it much more than air.

Which is why you're always starving after you leave the pool when you stay there for 1 hour.

[Jaak 7]

Takanoyama:

185...187 cm

Hatsu-dohyo 11.2001 age 18, 88 kg

Makushita debut 03.2004 age 21, 91 kg

Juryo debut 07.2011 age 28, 101 kg

Ama:

180...186 cm

Hatsu-dohyo 01.2001 age 16, 88 kg

Makushita debut 2002.05 age 18, 88 kg

Juryo debut 2004.03 age 19, 113 kg

Sanyaku debut 2006.05 age 22, 113 kg

Ozeki debut 2009.01 age 24, 126 kg

Chiyonofuji:

177...183 cm

Hatsu-dohyo 1970.09 age 15, 71 kg

Makushita debut 1972.09 age 17, 89 kg

Juryo debut 1974.11 age 19, 97 kg

Sanyaku debut 1978.07 age 23, 96 kg

Ozeki debut 1981.03 age 25, 115 kg

Yokozuna debut 1981.09 age 26, 115 kg.

[sumofan 6]

No, we know for a fact for quite a few years now that he is trying his best to gain weight to no avail. You should read this which is the latest on the subject.

I know about the insulin case, but i can't help but think it was all the oyakata's idea, and Takanoyama couldn't do anything but play along (Naruto oyakata had a pretty nasty reputation, i don't think the deshi could talk back to him if he decided on something).

Actually, the Kyokai inquiry into the matter stated that Takanoyama had admitted to it being his idea, and considering this was after the oyakata's death there was little reason to go with that public line if it wasn't true. He has also been quoted in the sports papers several times since his juryo promotion (which predated the insulin revelations) that he wants to get up to at least 110 kg.

Isn't it a very Japanese thing to take the heat for your respected superior, especially if he is no longer around?

I would expect public statements be rather 'diplomatic', regardless of what the actual fact of the matter is.

[Bugman 384]

As a relatively new fan to Sumo i have to say i found this thread rather upsetting, first i found out that yaocho was a regular part of the sport some months back, ok so i got used to that because i like the sport, now i'm reading that heya's regularly beat their rikishi? and that some of the rikishi i've been cheering for have administered or helped with those beatings?

It's pretty disappointing, just so that i can get this out the way now and not find out later, are rikishi all on steroids too? because thats the only thing left that could further disappoint me and i may as well find out now instead of a few more months down the line, the insulin thing is particularly shocking.

My experience with Sumo has been a rollercoaster of highs and lows, i'l always like the sport but finding this out, that some heya's beat up their rikishi is news to me, i knew they were tough but i thought it was all in an honourable tradition that had limits, i didn't realise it creeped into the area of senseless physical abuse. (yes i know, naive as hell i must be)

Edited January 19, 2012 by Bugman

[Asashosakari 19,306]

Isn't it a very Japanese thing to take the heat for your respected superior, especially if he is no longer around?

The inquiry statements buried (apologies for the choice of word) the late Naruto in pretty much all other aspects though, so I find it hard to believe that they'd choose to blame Takanoyama on that one issue.

[Manekineko 200]

It's pretty disappointing, just so that i can get this out the way now and not find out later, are rikishi all on steroids too? because thats the only thing left that could further disappoint me and i may as well find out now instead of a few more months down the line, the insulin thing is particularly shocking.

Quite possibly, as it's not explicitly banned. Someone with more time and patience will be able to dig up several threads on that topic.

I understand your disappointment, and I hope you'll stick with sumo regardless... We need more frogs in this Forum.

[yorikiried by fate 2,027]

At least in connection to the early 80s (and specifically to late super-bloomer Chiyonofuji) the steroid speculation turns up now and then.

[sumofan 6]

IIRC, when they talked about the drug testing, they were specific that it was only drugs they were testing for.

And one of the members here identified textbook examples or steroid induced rashes.

So all in all, I'd say that steroids are probably used to some degree, by some sekitori.

@bugman: beatings, bullying, hazing, etc... yep.

The higher they get, the better the treatment. The lower they are...

Life at the bottom of the hierarchy is pretty brutal.

[Borislav 4]

I am quite sure that Takanoyama's problem is psychological. Something like anorexia, taken to a whole new level.

I wonder why nobody mentions Baruto - 190 kg only, but surprisingly agile for his weight. I remember the cartwheel he did last basho :)

[sekihiryu 51]

Of course most people can put on weight if they want to and can set their own schedules. That's not Takanoyama. The sumo lifestyle is not an inactive one. I'm sure that if he didn't go through a strenuous workout every day and just sat on the couch in front of the boob tube sucking down Pilsner for 10 hours at a stretch, he'd develop a beer gut in no time. But his metabolism is such that given his muscle mass and the amount of exercise he gets, the weight just doesn't pile on as you'd expect for most people. It happens. I may be jealous as all hell, but I'm not going to deny it just to make myself feel better.

Maybe he should supplement his chanko diet with McDonald's as well. Drinking a ton of beer would be a good start too, although I've read that rikishi drink a lot of beer to begin with (just as a side note on bad habits sumo wrestlers have, I've read that Kaio was a heavy smoker!).

His fast metabolism probably adds on to the fact that he has to consume many, many calories in the first place to maintain what little he has with all of the training he's doing (this was awhile ago but remember that picture of Michael Phelps carrying a tray with a mountain of McDonald's food on it? They said that he has to consume something ridiculous like 10,000 calories a day to maintain his muscle). Hell, I know what having a metabolism like that is like. I hardly get any exercise and I'm still rail thin. That's starting to slow down though, I'm afraid.....

Phelps consumes 12000 calories a day, but this is because he spends hours in the pool. where the body spends massive extra energy keeping body heat, since the water dissipates it much more than air.

Which is why you're always starving after you leave the pool when you stay there for 1 hour.

Phelps? I heard Barry Sears talking this in a podcast. Sears has a Ph.d in biochemistry and is the originator of zone eating. He said Phelps is incredibly inefficient at making ATP Adenosine-5'-triphosphate which is basically your bodies chemical energy at the cellular level. By consuming so many calories (and crappy food too) he is making a heck of a lot of free radicals and increasing the aging process.

Sears has guided swimmers at Stanford University in their nutrition and other elite swimmers too, his regime of efficient eating of no more that 2500 cals a day of the right foods has yielded 25 gold medals. He advises - advised the Garmin team in the tour de France, again not consuming the huge amounts of calories as the others because their bodies were very adept at making ATP.

Phelps is a 408 cu in (6.7L) gas guzzilng V8 engine. The Sears zone swimmers are 2.5l (150 cu in) supercharged engines. One engine is a lot more efficent.

[Kuroyama 715]

I am quite sure that Takanoyama's problem is psychological. Something like anorexia, taken to a whole new level.

That's incredibly unlikely to go unnoticed over 10 years in a communal living situation.

I wonder why nobody mentions Baruto - 190 kg only, but surprisingly agile for his weight. I remember the cartwheel he did last basho :)

There aren't many other contexts where a man could be said to be "only" 190kg, are there? But most sumo wrestlers are incredibly agile for their weight, unless they're dealing with chronic injury.

[DawidPoland 1]

I am convinced that Baruto has the power to be a new Yokozuna!

[Yubinhaad 11,657]

I am pretty certain that Takanoyama's problem is actually a tapeworm, which Conrad Murray secretly concealed within a syringe full of insulin and then injected into Takanoyama on the orders of the late Naruto-oyakata. I learned about this on a visit to the sacred laughing cow, whom I later discovered was actually Hiyonoyama after he takes his uniform off. The cow, in between fits of laughter and force-feeding me liquid cheese, also mentioned that Sakumayama is the result of a secret union twixt Itai and Kototenzan and that President Kennedy was shot by Harvey Wallbanger. Then the Colonel offered me a recording contract, but before I could sign it I put on a white jumpsuit and impersonated Agnetha from ABBA. Before long, I was living on an island with Pioneer 10, but the relationship soured due to a lack of tachyons and the probe returned to the control of Sir Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler, neither of whom were available to comment. Does that clear things up?

[Bugman 384]

I am convinced that Baruto has the power to be a new Yokozuna!

If he keeps up the good work i agree, he looks large and in charge hehe, at least at the moment.

[Kintamayama 45,086]

Does that clear things up?

Like anti-acne cream.

[Asashosakari 19,306]

I am pretty certain that Takanoyama's problem is actually a tapeworm, which Conrad Murray secretly concealed within a syringe full of insulin and then injected into Takanoyama on the orders of the late Naruto-oyakata. I learned about this on a visit to the sacred laughing cow, whom I later discovered was actually Hiyonoyama after he takes his uniform off. The cow, in between fits of laughter and force-feeding me liquid cheese, also mentioned that Sakumayama is the result of a secret union twixt Itai and Kototenzan and that President Kennedy was shot by Harvey Wallbanger. Then the Colonel offered me a recording contract, but before I could sign it I put on a white jumpsuit and impersonated Agnetha from ABBA. Before long, I was living on an island with Pioneer 10, but the relationship soured due to a lack of tachyons and the probe returned to the control of Sir Isaac Newton and Johannes Kepler, neither of whom were available to comment. Does that clear things up?

I guess that's what they call Dry wit. (Applauding...)

[Yubinhaad 11,657]

I guess that's what they call Dry wit. (Applauding...)

(Applauding...)

[Borislav 4]

I am quite sure that Takanoyama's problem is psychological. Something like anorexia, taken to a whole new level.

That's incredibly unlikely to go unnoticed over 10 years in a communal living situation.

I guess you mix it up with bulimia, which manifests itself with binge eating and vomiting. Anorexia on the other hand is just refusal to eat and is something like a lack of apetite on a psychological level. Years of judo, with its regimes and weight classes might be the reason for his disliking of Japanese food.

[DawidPoland 1]

[Kuroyama 715]

I guess you mix it up with bulimia, which manifests itself with binge eating and vomiting. Anorexia on the other hand is just refusal to eat and is something like a lack of apetite on a psychological level. Years of judo, with its regimes and weight classes might be the reason for his disliking of Japanese food.

I guess you don't realize that if his problem is that he simply isn't eating enough of the food he dislikes, then the solution is to stuff him full of what he *will* eat. You don't resort to insulin injections. I guess you also don't realize that anorexia is a VERY serious condition manifesting in a starvation diet, and that you deeply trivialize it by applying to a clearly healthy athlete.

He's had 10 years to make any necessary psychological adjustments, and some people just don't take to ethnic foods they weren't raised with.

[yorikiried by fate 2,027]

We could send him a couple of barrels of Czech beer. That should do the trick.

[Asashosakari 19,306]

I guess you don't realize that if his problem is that he simply isn't eating enough of the food he dislikes, then the solution is to stuff him full of what he *will* eat.

And as far as I've read the late Naruto-oyakata and his wife were very accomodating on that point, the okamisan even cooking Czech (or at least Czech-like) dishes for him early during his stay.

[Andreas21 184]

Hello! What do you think of such monsters as Orora, Maeta, Kainowaka, Akiseyama and a few others?

I have actually been following some of Ororas bouts just for curiosity and I found it actually quite interesting how Ororas tactics adapts to his huge weight. His Tachi-ai involves almost no forward movement. Logical, he would be so vulnerable to Henka if he would rush. His opponents usually avoid chest-to-chest battles for the fear of his weight. So they move around all the time and all he has to do is to turn not to let them attack from the side (then he loses). If he manages to grab them he usually wins by just leaning forward.

I do not think he is really weak. He looks incredibly clumsy and slow but he needs and has lots of power just to get the huge body into position. Anybody with 150kg extra weight on the shoulders would move clumsily.

Anyway, Yamamotoyama was stronger and a much better Rikishu, no question.

Also Gagamaru and Baruto are "monsters" and have, to a degree, the similar problem as Orora - they must move much more cautiously than the lighter Rikishi.

Andreas

[Flohru 176]

Hello! What do you think of such monsters as Orora, Maeta, Kainowaka, Akiseyama and a few others?

I have actually been following some of Ororas bouts just for curiosity and I found it actually quite interesting how Ororas tactics adapts to his huge weight. His Tachi-ai involves almost no forward movement. Logical, he would be so vulnerable to Henka if he would rush.

Wait, do you really think his slow tachi-ai has something to do with tactics? I don't want to speak ill of him, but I am under the strong impression that he actually IS that slow and can't really rush forward.

[Andreas21 184]

... I am under the strong impression that he actually IS that slow and can't really rush forward.

In Sadamne/low Makushita he got mostly much lighter opponents (<130kg) and then he doesn't move forward at all. With a little heavier opponent Orora - Hagane he actually moves forward at the Tachi-ai. It is still slow, of course.

I cannot be sure that he could do it much faster but even if he could he should never do it as most opponents would instinctively move backward or sideways and he would inevitably topple over.