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drat, somehow I completely missed that this thread exists. Cool! I also post on a sumo forum called... Sumoforum.net. I'm Dr.Radical over there too. Some of my favorite rikishi are Aminishiki, Takamisakari, Harumafuji, Kotoshogiku, and I guess I'm pretty interested to see what Chiyotairyu does in makuuchi.
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Apr 12, 2012 23:42
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tarepanda posted:I ran into a sumo wrestler yesterday after I got off the bus. He was super kind and talked with me for a bit. He said his name was Tamaasuka. Again, he was a super nice guy. You met a former makuuchi (top division) wrestler! That's pretty awesome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamaasuka Edit: Also where do you live, if you don't mind me asking and where did you see Tamaasuka? Getting into sumo makes me want to go back to Japan so loving bad to go to a tournament, see if I could get into a sumo practice in the morning, etc. Dr.Radical fucked around with this message at 23:48 on Apr 12, 2012 |
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Apr 12, 2012 23:43
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tarepanda posted:I got a picture with him, too. Such a nice guy. He and his family were waiting at a stoplight while going home from a public bath or something. This was in Ryogoku. It was all chance since I stayed on my bus too long and missed my normal stop. Ha, that picture is awesome. It's hard not to root for a rikishi when you get to see what their personality is off the dohyo. Go to a day or two of a tournament for sure. He's in juryo now which is still awesome, even if it's not the absolute top division. It makes sense you saw him in Ryogoku, though. A lot of stables are in the Ryogoku area as well as chankonabe restaurants.
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Apr 13, 2012 00:06
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The kyokai's website has ticket info: http://www.sumo.or.jp/eng/ticket/index.html I'm pretty sure if you're a foreigner, you can't buy tickets off the internet or phone unless you have a Japanese bank account (can anyone confirm this?). There are a certain number of tickets available that you can buy at the box office at the Ryogoku Kokugikan, though. You have to get in the line in the morning, though to get them day of. If you get there early enough, you'll for sure get tickets. If you have any Japanese friends who would like to go with you, I'd bet you could just get them to buy off the internet and save yourself some trouble. As far as which events to go to, you should really just go to the grand tournaments. The grand tournaments have every division up to the top division with ozeki and yokozuna and you can get tickets. There are exhibition matches and stuff when they tour Japan but if you're in Tokyo, I really don't see a reason why you shouldn't just go to an actual tournament where things are actually on the line and it can get very interesting, plus you can see all the big names! Since Tamaasuka is juryo now, he'll be competing in the division before the top division with ozeki, yokozuna (makuuchi). Makuuchi starts at 4pm and goes to 6pm so I'd say juryo is probably 2 or 2:30 to a bit before 4. As far as Baruto, I've read the same things and I've never read anything or seen anything in interviews that disproves that. He also seems to make sure all of his opponents are ok if he knocks them down hard or throws them off the dohyo. From what I've read, Baruto is basically thankful that he's in sumo because when he was in Estonia, he really didn't have many choices besides being a thug and he got mixed up with some bad people and doing stuff like that is kind of against his nature.
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Apr 13, 2012 01:07
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Fryhtaning posted:There's a lot of intro info in the OP - check it out when you have a little time to kill. You could just come for juryo and makuuchi or (and I have no idea why) just juryo and only be there for a couple hours. I think a lot of people do that anyway. Few people come for all of the divisions and stay for the day (although I think it would pretty interesting to go to some lower level matches, pick out a wrestler you think is doing well, and then follow them throughout their career). Seeing all the matches in at least juryo and makuuchi would definitely get somebody more interested though and you might even come out with some new favorites. Just get some tickets and go man!
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Apr 13, 2012 09:44
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Fryhtaning posted:What a drat shame. Like you said, he was the only reliable source of every individual match. I sent an email to the Kyokai basically saying what Araibira said in his video about them having their own Youtube channel and posted something on Sumoforum.net about suggesting everyone else do the same but it was met with mostly silence and I think one person saying "there's no point in trying." Sigh. Would it really kill you sumo nerds to take 5 minutes to send a letter? It's worth a try. Simply point out that a large number of Araibira's viewers were Japanese, not just a few thousand foreigners, and that having a Youtube channel opens up the possibility of literally hundreds of thousands of views.
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May 2, 2012 08:02
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Oh no! Chiyotairyu pulled out. Anyone see if he was injured?
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May 14, 2012 08:41
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It was an excellent tournament for sure. Kyokutenho winning was a nice surprise. Kisenosato losing to Baruto was pretty great as well just because it made it so a maegashira was going to win no matter what.
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May 20, 2012 18:48
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If anyone is interested, they should really check out NHK's video on Kaio's retirement ceremony: http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20120527/k10015408881000.html A foreign lady on Sumo Forum takes a lot of sumo pics and took some of the ceremony too: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.428326763857723.101765.100000412083343&type=3&l=5ff431b8b7 For those who don't know him, Kaio was a venerable ozeki who recently retired. He got into Makuuchi in the early 90s and has set a record for most wins. If you want to see him from his recent matches, just search "Kaio" in youtube. You can probably also see some old matches from when he was younger too. These retirement ceremonies just make me feel so  . Sometimes you just see something nice and it makes you feel good.
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May 29, 2012 02:59
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Well geez, I hope this gets going again once the tournament starts. Anyway, the banzuke was posted on the 25th. Here's a link to both makuuchi and juryo. http://sumo.goo.ne.jp/eng/hon_basho/banzuke/index.html Obviously Kotooshu and his injury is something to pay attention to. I'm also a fan of Aminishiki's so I wonder how he'll do this tournament. Lastly, let's see if Koykutenho can keep it up. Any thoughts?
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Jun 29, 2012 21:20
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seorin posted:Even he doesn't think he can. He was interviewed on the news and said he doesn't expect a repeat performance or anything, but he just wants to keep trying his best. It didn't seem like the usual kind of forced humility, either, I think he really believes that. He was also talking about maybe trying to keep at it until he turns 40. Kaio was reasonably competitive until he retired at 39 so in general it doesn't seem completely crazy but for Kyokutenho, he has 3 years to go. That's a lot of tournaments.
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Jun 30, 2012 16:00
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Fight Club Sandwich posted:You know how pitchers will add vaseline to the ball and cleat each other, or how boxers used to take the padding out of their gloves? Are there famous examples of cheating in sumo besides boring match fixing? Maybe like steroids that make you fat or something? Is there an equivalent for unsportsmanlike conduct like diving in soccer? Well, there's a move called henka wherein the henka-er will step to the side at the beginning, leaving his opponent to fall over or be pushed down. While not illegal, it's kind of frowned upon, especially if you're a yokozuna or ozeki. Why it's legal when it's frowned on so much, I have no idea and neither do a lot of people who follow sumo. As far as steroids, I get the suspicion that some rikishi take them (ever notice how some have bad acne on their back and chest?) and I've heard people on the sumoforum.net forum (some of the forum members there are actually in Japan covering sumo as journalists or take photographs and thus have some insight) talk about how they think so too but I haven't read anything really confirming this. As for your second question, there is plenty of amateur sumo in Japan going from grade school all the way up to college. In fact, if you're a college yokozuna and want to go in to pro sumo, you automatically get ranked higher than other people starting (I think you're put in makushita, one division below the salaried divisions.). As far as pickup sumo, I'm not really sure. I would bet that kids wrestle each other when they're playing (probably less so these days than in days past) but I don't know about adults doing stuff like that unless they're drunk or something. If this is your first time checking out sumo, I highly suggest you keep watching. Sumo is pretty drat interesting and can be intense/suspenseful as hell. Anyone, including the yokozuna, can have a bad day and gently caress up, and the mental side of it is a pretty big part of it as well. And if you're wondering about their work ethic or athleticism, I suggest you check out a sumo practice. I went to one when I was in high school on a school trip to Japan and I have to say it completely changed my perception of the sport. That poo poo is no joke whatsoever.
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Jul 7, 2012 02:41
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Ah, in all of that I forgot to talk about some recent sumo news, namely Kotooshu's foot problems. I gotta say, I really feel for the guy. He's expected to wrestle in the next tournament even though his foot is still hosed up and I'm kind of worried he's going to gently caress up his career by getting a worse injury. If he had just stuck it out on the last day of the last tournament and even phoned in that last match, he might not be in this mess. I would be terrified if I were him.
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Jul 7, 2012 02:45
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Kotooshu seems to be doing alright so far. No telling what the rest of the basho will be like, though. Chiyotairyu is back in action!
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Jul 9, 2012 22:01
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Anime Reference posted:It's weird to think of a 6'1" 220lb guy as too small for his sport. Keep in mind that Chiyonofuji was 97kg around the time he entered makuuchi and was around 115kg when he became yokozuna. I think Takanoyama has shown that he has the spirit and will to make it in makuuchi, he just has to work on his technique and bulking up. Of course it's just as likely that he flames out but that's kind of the way sumo is, it seems.
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Jul 12, 2012 06:30
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So we all like Chiyotairyu because he's probably the gooniest rikishi, what with those sideburns, right? His recent losses are really of no worry, I think. Once he gets more experience, I think he'll be great. He's not rising as fast as I thought or hoped he would, but he's definitely rising.
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Jul 17, 2012 04:31
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Wow, Day 12 was pretty excellent. Harumafuji is just throwing everyone around. My favorite win of the day probably came from Aminishiki's edge of the ring throw. Edit: But there were plenty of good matches today.
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Jul 19, 2012 22:38
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Scipiotik posted:This thread makes me happy, I used to watch a ton of sumo back when Akebono was around, but then sort of forgot it existed. This has rekindled my interest. You should check out Araibira's youtube channel. He uploaded these TV programs of archived sumo matches. Starts in like 1936 and goes to fairly recently. I'm trying to make my way through them but I've only watched a couple of them. Anyway if you want to relive some memories, there's a couple episodes on 90s sumo. http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC45B282804264895&feature=plcp
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Jul 19, 2012 23:15
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Sad news, goons. According to Kintamayama on the Sumo Forum, our favorite sideburned rikishi, Chiyotairyuu was recently diagnosed with diabetes. I guess he's lost 20 kilos and needs to develop new eating habits. I wonder what this means for him... I seem to remember hearing about another rikishi with diabetes so maybe he can find a way to maintain weight and strength while eating properly.
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Aug 26, 2012 19:40
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I don't know anything about diabetes and how it pertains to athletics, but I really wouldn't expect a KK next basho. He probably needs some time to get used to his condition and what he has to do to make things go ok. That being said, I think he'll bounce back. GANBATE HOOHIGERYUU! (That's what I'm calling him from now on...) Edit: Ok, from what I'm hearing at Sumo Forum, diabetes is a common problem with rikishi (not really surprising upon thinking about it for a second) and that they learn to deal with it. Those with diabetes will occasionally have and off basho, though. Dr.Radical fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Aug 26, 2012 |
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Aug 26, 2012 19:55
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Aki basho should be great, I hope. I'm also interested to see what Joukouryuu does when he's eventually in makuuchi.
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Aug 28, 2012 04:18
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Just Winging It posted:strong (mythological) animals (typically -ryuu for dragons as in Asashoryuu and -hou for phoenixes as in Hakuhou), Not to be the "Uhhh, actually..." guy, but a hou isn't a phoenix. It's the Japanese pronunciation for the Peng: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peng_(mythology) But people call it a phoenix a lot despite there not really being any similarities besides them both being birds, it looks like. Sorry! I couldn't help myself!
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Sep 2, 2012 19:11
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Kikkoman posted:I've been watching sumo for a year and absolutely love it. I'm very happy to see that Harumafuji is healthy this year for the aki basho. Last year, he had a butt infection and as such couldn't follow up on his championship in Nagoya. I've been meaning to get that for Kindle. You should check out this one too as it's got a lot of cool tidbits about rikishi: http://www.amazon.com/Sumo-through-Wrestlers-Eyes-ebook/dp/B006C1I5K8/ref=sr_1_4?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1346805867&sr=1-4 My only gripe with it is that all of the pics showed up as broken image icons...
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Sep 5, 2012 01:45
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Just Winging It posted:日: Sun, 馬: horse, 富: wealth, 士: warrior. So, yeah, translating names gets silly fast. Although the image of a samurai dude riding into the dohyo on a horse loaded with gold and made out of burning plasma is quite something and if it were to happen, interest in sumo would be sky high I always thought that the names with Fuji in them were referring to the mountain, not the meaning of the individual kanji, so Harumafuji would be like Sun Horse Fuji. Kinda like a lot of rikishi have yama in their name. A mountain is a big, powerful thing and Mount Fuji is a powerful, revered thing. Chiyonofuji would be Thousand Year Fuji (a thousand years basically meaning forever), Yamamotoyama actually refers to his actual last name, Yamamoto so that would be Yamamoto Mountain (a mountain of a guy, I guess). As for the Koto names, yeah they're all Koto because of their heya, but some of them have meanings like Kotooshu's kanji used to be 琴欧州 with the last two kanji meaning "Europe", where he's from. He later changed the last kanji for luck (as rikishi often do when they're not doing well or just want to turn over a new leaf in their careers. Harumafuji used to be Ama, for instance). I think their names are just supposed to be poetic. Sun Horse Fuji or Thousand Year Fuji is pretty drat poetic if you ask me. I've also thought about Japanese surnames in terms of their translations. Two examples that I can think of are Kurosawa which would mean Black Marsh (My favorite director is Mr. Blackmarsh) and I had a professor in college named Kuromiya (Prof. Blackshrine). Really makes sense when you think about some English or German names.
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Sep 7, 2012 05:26
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Funkysauce posted:To all the Japanese speakers in the thread, where did you learn the language? I've been self teaching on and off for years now but I don't think that it works for me. I know a bunch of words and the kana memorized, but can't seem to find fluency or a good way to practice. Sorry for the derail. Unfortunately I stopped my Japanese language education after 2nd year in college (regretful, very regretful). I went to Japan a few times which helped me pick up some things, but I'm by no means fluent or really even that good at it. The best way to gain fluency is to just live there, really.
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Sep 7, 2012 16:10
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I did a visit during a morning practice when I was in high school on a school trip to Japan. It's really what kind of opened my eyes to what sumo really is instead of the usual American perspective of it. I cannot for the life of me remember which heya it was. I don't even really remember our teacher telling us much about it outside of "We're going to a sumo practice! NO TALKING."
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Sep 7, 2012 17:04
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Funkysauce posted:What other etiquette needs to be observed? No talking, stay out of the way, etc? Do I get up and leave when we've had enough, do they tell me to gently caress off? I'm trying to google this but I can't find anything well written. I can't really remember much besides just sitting there and not talking. I don't think you'd have any danger of being in the way, though, as you'd probably just sit on the raised floor where the oyakata sits and watches. It seems like your best bet would be for someone who is fluent in Japanese to make arrangements for you and go with you so you know what's up. Edit: Sorry for so little info. It's just one of many times in my younger life where I really wish I had just paid a little more attention to what was going on around me. Dr.Radical fucked around with this message at 00:26 on Sep 8, 2012 |
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Sep 8, 2012 00:19
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Funkysauce posted:Way better stuff today! Again I don't know why there was a monoii and they STILL couldn't make the right call, but either way it was more exciting sumo today. I dunno, you have to remember that they don't have the benefit of slow-mo replays and even with the slow-mo it was kinda hard to tell. Good day today, though. All of my dudes won. Aminishiki is pretty inconsistent but he is a joy to watch when he's on. Seeing Harumafuji demonstrate his power is always fun too.
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Sep 10, 2012 17:47
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Jesus, this tournament keeps getting better and better. Some thoughts after watching day 6: Chiyotairyuu: I have to say, I'm pretty impressed with this guy. Despite being significantly weakened by diabetes (he lost 20 kilos for gently caress's sake) he's still hanging in there. He's going to be great with more experience. Aminishiki: Looks to be having a good tournament and I think he could bring some trouble to some of the contenders. Of course that's always a possibility with him. He might not always have a great record, but it's foolish to underestimate him on a match to match basis. Kyokutenho: Having an excellent tournament and looking really good. Comparing this tournament to last tournament is just mind-boggling. Harumafuji: He has two things going for him that I think will push him to the top this tournament. The first is his health. If he keeps healthy, he is so loving good. The second is confidence. Going undefeated so far will help him push through in tougher matches, I think. Confidence is such a big part of doing well in sumo. Harumafuji has both now so I think he's really going to rip poo poo up. And finally, Takanoyama: While there have been some relatively light yokozuna, the lightest in modern times were all around 120 or 130kgs. Takanoyama is at about 101kg now. Takanoyama has some good matches where he can outsmart or out-technique people but even in those matches like today, he still gets thrown around like a rag doll. He just doesn't have the weight or strength to stand his ground like other relatively light rikishi such as Harumafuji. I suspect he'll ping-pong back and forth between juryo and makuuchi until he retires, his metabolism slows down, or he just finds some way to gain more weight (COUGHdrugsCOUGH). Or maybe he'll surprise us all and stay skinny but improve his technique to the level that his weight isn't a problem. Probably won't happen, though. Edit: Oh yeah, I forgot to mention this site: https://www.sumoreference.com It's really good for comparing rikishi throughout history. While you can do some pretty thorough queries, the system confuses the hell out of me and I just stumble through it until I can find what I want. Also, Takanoyama didn't use steroids. When he couldn't gain weight, his oyakata injected him with insulin he had for his diabetes, which sounds insanely dangerous. Dr.Radical fucked around with this message at 21:28 on Sep 14, 2012 |
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Sep 14, 2012 21:24
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I don't really think a write up of past wrestlers is necessary but it would be interesting to some degree. On the other hand, as I said earlier, sumoreference.com is hugely useful. Along with that, Araibira posted some videos called The National Art of Sumo that cover sumo from 1939 to the late 2000s (presumably from Japanese TV. I asked Araibira on Facebook where they came from and he strangely said he has no idea.  Of course if anyone who lives in Japan or has lived in Japan has any idea, it'd be greatly appreciated.). If you're curious about styles used throughout the 20th century or who the big names were, I'm going to assume you can't do much better. Of course all of these videos are an hour long or more and there are almost 20 of them so it's pretty daunting to go through all of them. I've only watched 2 or 3 but they're pretty interesting.Edit: Also, as much as I want a new yokozuna, jesus would it be great it Kyokutenho won another tournament. Dr.Radical fucked around with this message at 18:46 on Sep 17, 2012 |
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Sep 17, 2012 18:43
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Yup, top of maegashira/komusubi is a meat grinder. You gotta face all the top ranks within the first half of the basho which can do horrible things for confidence. A lot of rikishi get up there and then just have terrible tournaments.
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Sep 18, 2012 21:35
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Hakuho showing his ugly side will make the Harumafuji/Hakuho match all the more interesting. Push forward future yokozuna!!
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Sep 21, 2012 00:21
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It looked like Hakuho was doing the same forearm smash technique in that Kakuryu match as the Myogiryu match. I wonder how Harumafuji will react to that. Of course Hakuho could lose his match tomorrow and a Harumafuji/Hakuho match won't matter, but I think Harumafuji will beat Kakuryu reasonably easy and while Kisenosato can screw things up for Hakuho, I think Hakuho is much more focused this half of the basho.
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Sep 21, 2012 18:53
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Absolutely stunning final match! Harumafuji seemed to thank god at the end. It was just really great. Such a good way to attain the rank of yokozuna. In all, it was an awesome basho. I'm kinda disappointed that Aminishiki wasn't considered for any special prizes, though. He did well and beat plenty of high ranking, tough opponents.
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Sep 23, 2012 21:00
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anakha posted:As an absolute sumo n00b, I gotta ask: Yeah, there's a ceremony for new yokozuna where they do their ring-entering (yokozuna dohyo-iri) ceremony for the first time. Edit: Which I believe will be in the month between tournments.
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Sep 25, 2012 20:09
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Yeah, I'm gonna have to go with Takamisakari. He's like that nerdy kid in school who everyone thinks is a dick because they don't understand he has social issues (some of the posters in sumo forum seem to be the kids who think he's a dick). Edit: And upon thinking about it, Asashoryu was the jock who was embarrassed by the nerdy kid and then took it out on him every time they met. Man, Asashoryu was amazing but he was a BIT of an rear end in a top hat. Dr.Radical fucked around with this message at 23:45 on Sep 26, 2012 |
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Sep 26, 2012 18:05
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Harumafuji won the one day tournament!"Kintamayama" posted:New Yokozuna Harumafuji won the All Japan rikishi knock-out tournament today at the KKan. It was the fourth time he won it after a three year hiatus. The only other rikishi to ever win this tournament 4 times were Futabayama and Akebono. Prize money- 500,000 yen. He beat Kisenosato in the final by shitatehineri. "I'm really happy. This was my first tournament as a new Yokozuna so i planned on doing sumo that would make the fans happy," he said.
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Oct 3, 2012 00:23
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Just Winging It posted:The banzuke for the November basho is out. With two yokozuna, one freshly promoted and on a hot streak and one with a poor (at least by his standards, pretty much anyone else would give an arm for his 2012 record), we'll hopefully get some fireworks. Furthermore, with for the first time in history three ozeki kadoban at the same time, one of them might not make it and that should provide some interesting stuff as well. I guess sumoreference changed URLs. It is now http://sumodb.ozumo.de/default.aspx I think the thing I'm most interested in this tournament is Hakuho vs. Harumafuji and Jokoryu. I predict that Aminishiki might make it to sekiwake but then will be thrown back into the rank and file as we have seen in the past. Or he might just get thrown back into maegashira after this tournament. Either way, he will not stay up there long unless he's developed some new techniques or something.
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Oct 30, 2012 17:09
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Pvt. Public posted:If it is the two Australian (I think?) guys that do the NHK English commentary, they are pretty good guys. I haven't watched a whole day of broadcast with them (just individual matches and leadups) but they seem to know what they are talking about and can be kinda funny too. Quite knowledgeable from what I remember. Yeah, the little bit of NHK English commentary that I've heard, I've enjoyed. I guess Mark Buckton did some thing where he streamed the basho and did commentary. I never checked it out, though because he's a jackass on the sumo forum so I just didn't bother. What would be great would be commentary from Pukulu as he's more or less a sumo encyclopedia.
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Nov 10, 2012 17:47
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Anime Reference posted:I've been wondering something, is there any significance to the color of the mawashi? Or does the wrestler just wear whatever color they want? As far as I know, no. Sometimes they change colors for a change of luck. They'll also wear different colors for special occasions like one day tournaments or other things like that. For instance, Hakuho wears a handsome gold mawashi for exhibition stuff and one day tournaments.
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Nov 12, 2012 05:59
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