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SOS - Shinjinrui on Sumo |
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Chris Gould
Wrapping up his look at increasing the popularity of sumo, Chris Gould caps a series the NSK would do well to refer to.
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Sumo Souvenirs |
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Mark Buckton
Souvenirs are a part of every sport and sumo is no different - or is
it? A look at collectibles and the downright trashy, the bona fide
versus the unproven.
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Rikishi of Old |
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Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda's latest look at times past focuses on former makunouchi man Dewagatake.
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Eric Evaluates |
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Eric Blair
Eric takes a no-nonsense look at the claims of fixed bouts in the Japanese media.
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Rikishi Diary |
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Mark Kent
Mark Kent - English pro-wrestler and amateur heavyweight sumotori -
takes us through the first month or so of his training and preparation
for the various European events lined up in in 2007.
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Heya Peek |
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Chris Gould
SFM's Chris Gould was in Japan for the Hatsu Basho and popped along to
the new Shikoroyama Beya to give SFM an online exclusive peek into
sumo's newest heya.
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SFM Interview |
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Mark Buckton
Mark interviews Mark - Buckton on Kent that is as Mark Kent, the UK's
only active heavyweight amateur answers a few questions on his own
recent entry into the sport.
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Photo Bonanzas |
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Sumo Forum stepped in to take the weight off the shoulders of SFM as
far as Hatsu went so we could sit back, relax, enjoy the sumo and take
a few more select pics you won't see anywhere else.
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Hatsu Basho Summary |
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Lon Howard
Lon wraps the Hatsu Basho and chucks in a few bits on the rush of henka
that threatens to sully the good name of at least one foreign ozeki.
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Sumo Menko |
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Ryan Laughton
Sumo cards of old brought to life by expert collector Ryan Laughton. None of your BBM here.
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Haru Ones To Watch |
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Carolyn Todd
Carolyn ponders and puts fingers to keys on the ones to watch come March and the Haru Basho.
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Kimarite Focus |
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Mikko Mattila
Mikko's latest look at sumo's kimarite offers unequalled analysis and in depth explanations.
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Amateur Angles |
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Howard Gilbert
Howard looks at the 'sumo factory' of lore - Nichidai.
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Kokugi Konnections |
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Todd Lambert
Click on Todd's bimonthly focus on three of the best the WWW has to offer.
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Fan Debate |
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Facilitator - Carolyn Todd
Moti Dichne comes back for more and takes on Bradley Sutton on the subject of 'Modernize the heya - yea or nay?'
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SFM Cartoons |
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Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and sample Benny's artistic offerings.
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Sumo Odds & Ends |
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SFM's interactive elements - as always includes Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke!
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Let's Hear From You |
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What was it that made you a sumo fan? Ryan Laughton - sumo fan and menko expert reveals all.
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Readers' Letters |
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See what our readers had to say since we last hit your screens.
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Sumo Quiz |
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The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself a genuine banzuke.
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impact
ahead, Tomishima shouted when exhorting the deshi to charge. The deshi
obliged, gave Tomishima’s wobbly pectorals a nasty sting, and caused
Homasho’s tsukebito to slide to the edge of the
dohyo. The sound of the impact was considerable, but paled into
insignificance after the almighty pangs that occurred an hour later
when Homasho charged at Tomishima so ferociously that the latter
instinctively sought to back away. Such was the force of Homasho’s
advance that the attendant’s back often found itself slammed against the
wall panels some six metres away.
After butsukari-geiko came the tsuki-dashi workout. Teraosho, one of
the more rotund deshi ranked at jonidan 89E, occupied the centre of the
dohyo, spread out his blubbery arms and invited a series of colleagues
to take turns in removing him from the ring via a ‘tsuki’ thrusting
attack to the upper body. It was here that the difference between the
established sumotori and the novices was most cruelly exposed. The
skinny novice missed Teraosho’s pectorals completely with his charge,
ended up thrusting against thin air, and earned a reprimand for almost
taking his partner’s eye out. Meanwhile, the weightier novice, for all
his size, appeared woefully short of thrusting power and took four
attempts to even move Teraosho let alone oust him from the ring. He,
and his inexperienced companion, spent the remainder of the training
session tossing a heavy rice bag between them, in the hope of building
up the necessary arm and leg power for more convincing tsuppari attacks
in the future. Homasho, meanwhile, set to work with the real weights,
and practiced charging while gripping a dumb-bell in each hand.
At 8.05am, two deshi departed the training session to head down to the
Kokugikan for their morning matches. As they did so, the ring was
purified by way of a sprinkling of salt prior to the day’s first
practice
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bouts,
which were between Teraosho and an equally chubby sumotori. Teraosho
began splendidly; winning four of the first five bouts, but then seemed
to decline spectacularly (perhaps due to his poorly right foot?) and
lost four on the bounce. Tomishima then entered the combat zone and
punished him in similar fashion. The last two Tomishima
Shikoroyama’s star man, later in the day
victories
came before the bespectacled eyes of the oyakata, whose 8.15am entrance
in a lime-green tracksuit had been welcomed as enthusiastically as
Homasho’s.
Amid the morning greetings, Shikoroyama swiftly perched himself on the
zabuton which had been carefully laid a couple of metres in front of my
own. His commanding presence inspired the deshi to fight harder in the
practice bouts; their grunts becoming louder with each one. To remind
the oyakata that he had been fighting for some time, Tomishima loudly
asked Teraosho if he felt fine after so many bouts. ‘I seem
good!’ came the confident reply, before each made a beeline for
the other’s belt. Teraosho’s condition was clearly far behind that of
Homasho’s tsukebito, though. The latter won the bout easily, leaving
the former to eye the oyakata nervously in defeat. The oyakata did not
look overly impressed but immediately turned his attention to the next
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practice match, won by Tomishima with a tsuppari attack that evoked
memories of Terao.
Besides Homasho, it was not too difficult to guess upon whom the
hopes of Shikoroyama were pinned. The twenty-year-old Tomishima was at
the centre of practically every exercise and proved extremely difficult
to dislodge from the victor’s corner in the moshi-ai (winner stays on)
bouts. When his tsuppari ran out of steam, he fought valiantly on the
mawashi and elicited hearty encouragement from both Shikoroyama and
Homasho as a result. ‘Use your leg!’ the oyakata implored during the
longest bout of the day, in which Tomishima eventually triumphed. It
was the only piece of technical advice that Shikoroyama felt expedient
to pass onto him.
The oyakata did, however, call the young pretender aside for a lengthy
discussion on a different matter. He evidently could not recall
Tomishima’s wrist being bandaged the day before and therefore resolved
to quiz him thoroughly.
‘You’ve bandaged it,’ he began, almost disbelievingly.
‘Yes!’ cried the young protégé, like a private addressing his commanding officer.
‘Really!’ asked the oyakata.
‘Yes!’
In response to a gesture from his stablemaster, Tomishima offered his
arm up for inspection. The oyakata felt his way along the bandage,
prodded something, and observed: ‘It hurts here, then?’
‘Yes!’ yelped the young protégé, either through unflinching obedience or flinching with pain.
It is not surprising that Shikoroyama
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