THE GENERAL PROCEDURE:

Three components are used in determining a rikishi’s position in the Ranking:

1.	Move On Quotient (MOQ):  The average number of banzuke spots moved per basho (currently 42 spots on the makuuchi banzuke):  Starting with the 2nd basho in the string, count the number of spots moved – whether up or down – from the previous basho, and do this through the final basho in the string.  Total all those figures and divide by the number of figures used.  This is the MOQ.
2.	About Face Quotient (AFQ):  The percentage of time the rikishi changed direction on the banzuke:  Starting with the 2nd basho in the string, record a plus (+) if the rikishi moved up the banzuke from the previous basho, and record a minus (-) if the rikishi moved down (no mark is necessary if there was no movement).  Then, starting with the 3rd basho in the string, determine if there was a change of direction or not; e.g., after a plus (+) is recorded, a change of direction occurs with the next minus (-), and vice versa.  Finally, divide the total number of direction changes by the total number of times a direction change was actually possible (i.e., number of basho in the string, minus 2).  This percentage is the AFQ.
3.	Elevator Index (EI):  Simply multiply the MOQ by the AFQ.

Rikishi are then ranked according to their Elevator Index, highest on top.  To rank the rikishi by Longevity Adjusted Elevator Index (LAEI), simply multiply the EI by their Longevity Factor (LF).  The LF is determined by counting the number of basho in a rikishi’s qualifying string and then placing that number to the right of a decimal point which follows the numeral one (1).  e.g., if there are 30 basho in a string, the LF is 1.30; if 50 basho, then 1.50, etc.

SPECIFIC RULES

1.	A rikishi must have an unbroken string of at least 30 consecutive qualifying basho in order to be listed in the Ranking.
2.	A rikishi’s string is assumed to start with his first makuuchi appearance and end with his last.  There are only two exceptions to this general rule: i. When a string begins with the first makuuchi appearance, in order for it to remain unbroken, as you count down the list of basho, the total number of makuuchi appearances must at least equal the total juryo or below appearances.  At any point, when this is not true, that string is broken, and a new string is assumed to begin with the second makuuchi appearance, with the same test applied.  The string actually begins with the first makuuchi appearance where the test is passed. ii. If the last makuuchi appearance is immediately preceded by three consecutive juryo or below appearances, the string will not end with that appearance.  Instead, go up to the next-to-last makuuchi appearance and apply the same test.  Keep going up if necessary.  The string actually ends with the last makuuchi appearance which is not immediately preceded by at least three juryo or below appearances.
3.	If a rikishi doesn’t accumulate a string of at least 30 consecutive qualifying basho under these rules, he may still qualify to be listed in the Ranking by foregoing both exceptions listed in #2, above.  By doing that, the string still must contain 30 basho – if it doesn’t, the rikishi will not be listed in the Ranking.
4.	In calculating the Move On Quotient (MOQ), a rikishi is credited with zero banzuke spots moved for any basho in juryo, and for the first makuuchi basho when transiting back from juryo – regardless of how many actual spots were moved – and no credit is given for a change of direction for either basho.
5.	All sanyaku ranks other than East are considered West, e.g., S2e, S2w are both counted as Sw. *

* Trying to be exact in accounting for more than two spots for each sanyaku rank (in cases where that occurred) required a system which sometimes produced nonsensical outcomes further down the banzuke, such as rikishi going from M6e to M7e, yet being credited with a 0 or a 1 count in spots moved, even though two spots were actually moved.