Why is this forum dead? Let's brainstorm here

[Igordemorais 75]

It must be clear to you then why Takanoyama has so many fans. He brings a whole fan friendly package: he's very handsome, in extremely good shape, has great fighting spirit and a hell of an underdog.

He's relatable. He stands out.

[yorikiried by fate 2,027]

When I get far enough with someone, I usually try to show the actual depth of sumo contests by showing something with Konishiki, Asashoryu and Ama's first meeting with Goeido.

Just curious, would

enhance or ruin the impression you're going for?

Zealous aggression is already covered by Asashoryu.

Seriously though, I usually try to unveil the subtelty of sumo to my compliant victims. This mostly includes video examples of technical prowess and/or unsuspected technical aspects. The Konishiki part is for making their brains receptive in the first place.

[yorikiried by fate 2,027]

It must be clear to you then why Takanoyama has so many fans. He brings a whole fan friendly package: he's very handsome, in extremely good shape, has great fighting spirit and a hell of an underdog.

He's relatable. He stands out.

I preferred and prefer him in Juryo, where his speed actually works. But let's face it: He's a freak among freaks and that makes him popular.

[Igordemorais 75]

I hold your baby. I'm very hot.

[Igordemorais 75]

Don`t you dare talk crap about the Tak Attack! He will make Yokozuna one day, by God!

[勝 Katsu 20]

Hahaha! It was fun preparing this reply...so here goes:

What's the problem in the forum?

Well...there seems to be some of this:

and a little of this:

and a bit of this:

and a LOT of this:

When we should definitely have more of this:

and this:

and this:

and maybe some of this:

or this:

or this:

[Bugman 384]

I'd try placing a penny under where i think the rikishi might land and see if he flattens it for me like a train, knowing my luck i wouldn't get away in time :)

[iron bug 8]

I post very rarely. A month or two ago I tried to stay very active but quickly realized that my posts were becoming short replies without much substance or purpose other than to agree with something somebody else has already said. Aside from wanting to make my posts worthwhile and more significant, I also have a summer job and am now preparing to start the Fall semester of school tomorrow.

The bottom line: people are busy. Finding time to come on a forum just to "chat" isn't practical. When a basho starts, then more interesting topics and discussion begin to pop up and posting is more frequent. It's nice to have that little break in the action. Your passion and spirit for supporting sumo is great, but the reality of it is that it's a very niche-like sport specific to Japan. It's even been losing interest in Japan as of late.

With things like Twitter now, especially, we don't have to log on to SumoForum to get quick updates. For example, following Araibira on Twitter gives you small snippets of info on the latest happenings of certain rikishi or tournament news.

It may be quiet around here, but the passion is at a volume that simply cannot be denied. As it has been stated before, others think it's a joke when you talk about sumo to them. So be happy that you can get anything like what is going on here at this forum because there could be no forum at all.

[Asashosakari 19,306]

With things like Twitter now, especially, we don't have to log on to SumoForum to get quick updates. For example, following Araibira on Twitter gives you small snippets of info on the latest happenings of certain rikishi or tournament news.

Oh, excellent, reposted completely without credit to those who translated. (Yeah, I know, "welcome to the Internet.")

[iron bug 8]

Oh, excellent, reposted completely without credit to those who translated. (Yeah, I know, "welcome to the Internet.")

I was unaware that it wasn't done by him. However, I think he is just trying to do a good service. Credits would be nice, though.

[sekihiryu 51]

hmmmm long time no see.....well when I joined this forum many moons ago, it was a lot more active. Guys like forum founder kotoseiya, Yoavoshimaru, aderechelsea, Jonosuke was prolific but lately I see rather quiet, Kaikitsune Makoto was a lot more active, Kashunowaka, Yubiquitayama and others, names you just dont see anymore, contributing passionately. The three most dedicated are still here though , Kintamayama, Doitsuyama and Asashosakari and the tripod on which this forum stands. I admire their enthusiasm.

I myself am a lot less active these days, one I am much busier in my real life and have less time to dedicate to pastimes like sumo. I barely even play sumogames anymore which I love. Factor in spending more of that shrinking free time on things like facebook that didn't exist in 2004 and other forums. BUT the biggest thing is the quality of the sumo is not what is used to be. Culminating in the 2011 scandals - the skipped basho, then the faux basho really took the wind of my own sumo enthusiasm. When the first real Basho happened in Sept last year I was like who the hell are all these new guys, I felt like Rip Van Winkle.

[shumitto 418]

Before even joining I had already read the same kind of posts coming from other users though. Why is the forum dead ? People are busy - and that excuse works everywhere - the scandals and all the off-dohyo issues have dented the enthusiasm, much of what there is to discuss about tradition and the more permanent aspects of sumo have already been covered... and so on and so forth...

All that holds ground, but I should add that people come and people go, and those who come, stay and can understand Japanese well enough to translate news one day get tired of this and decide to follow sumo only in Japanese. Paradoxically, the more useful you can be to the forum, the less likely you will want to. That is only a supposition based on some shallow observations, though, and there are some notable exceptions to it.

Edited August 28, 2012 by shumitto

[Manekineko 200]

I can tell you why I have become less talkative - declining passion for sumo, less free time, getting older. That probably applies to some other "oldtimers", too. ;-)

[Treblemaker 254]

It's obvious by all the replies that there are still a lot of people who still read this Forum without necessarily posting. The between-basho period is always slow, and I'm guessing that it's even more so in the summer.

Like, in this "offseason", what's there to talk about? (Other than having some people grasping at straws with the win-loss data of the various keiko sessions.)

Ex-Asa gets drunk and pounds people. That's not news. If people get drunk and pound Ex-Asa, now that's news!

Not to worry. Things will pick up in the next couple of weeks.

[Andreas21 184]

Okay, this is my first journey outside the Ozumo section.

Ridiculous statement that this forum is dead. Is a turtle less alive than a sparrow?

I love it the way it is. The share of high quality information, great. Great pictures, insider info, Rikishi talk translations. Mostly thoughtful postings. Discussions are often short but there is not much to quarrel if the facts are presented. Apparently, people are present who convincingly know something.

My time is very limited. Just enough to watch the Makuuchi bouts and read a bit from time to time, contribute a little. This forum is first choice in that.

[Treblemaker 254]

Okay, this is my first journey outside the Ozumo section.

Is a turtle less alive than a sparrow?

Well, no, but it's a hare less alive than a rabbit.

Quote the Ravin'.

[krindel 671]

Seems that at least we are not dead enough to avoid spammers :-)

[krindel 671]

Seems that at least we are not dead enough to avoid spammers :-)

(just o be clear I am referring to the frequent attacks by ad-bots creating random spamming threads not to anything someone said!)

[Otokonoyama 2,735]

These aren't the bots you're looking for.

[Afrozuna 8]

Right lets focus on solutions. How about cross-pollinating to other forums. I am aware of Sherdog and participate in discussions there but I only became aware of it after somebody mentioned it in a post on this forum. That is what I mean by cross pollinating. I have also noticed there are some new members in this forum who definitely come from Sherdog. So it seems like low hanging fruit to target other martial arts forums which already enjoy a large following if anyone is intent on increasing traffic in this forum

[Jakusotsu 5,960]

For my taste, this forum has been much to jaunty recently.

[Asashosakari 19,306]

And I've come to realize that there must be places out there on the internet where "knowing your memes" is regarded as the pinnacle of intellectual brilliance.

[勝 Katsu 20]