Amateur Sumo – the sport as it should be
Mark Buckton
Sakai World Sumo Champs – not all about winning

Las Vegas Koen
Joe Kuroda
Our man reports from the fight capital of the world

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
A look at a rikishi of yesterday with Kotozakura – our man for October

Heya Peek
John Gunning
John’s early morning dash to Azumazeki-beya & report on TKOTU

SFM Interview
Katrina Watts sits down with SFM’s Mark Buckton to discuss amateur sumo

Photo Bonanza
SFM’s best yet – Aki Basho/ Las Vegas / Amateur World Champs / Azumazeki-beya visit – seen nowhere else

Aki Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Aki Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results, and his take on the tournament while ‘gem’ of the basho takes a break

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila returns to cover lower division ups and downs

Kyushu Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton
Pierre predicts the Kyushu Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch next time out

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Discovers and explains amasumo & ozumo variations

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko once again walks us through his chosen kimarite

Minusha
John McTague
John’s unique bimonthly view of news from outside the dohyo

Online Gaming
Zenjimoto of ‘game fame’ covers some of the very best sumo games around – his own!

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s focus on 3 of the most interesting online sumo sites today

Fan Debate
Is the limit on foreign rikishi fair? See what our debaters had to say

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh
In the first of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and chuckle at Benny Loh’s offerings

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan? Gernobono tells all

Readers’ Letters
See what SFM readers had to say since our last issue

Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.

from basho to basho during his career, all of these numbers were added up and the total divided by the number of banzuke moves (i.e. total basho minus 1) to get an average number of spots moved per basho over his career. This number was dubbed the Move On Quotient (MOQ), and expressed in two decimals places, e.g., 7.36.

Then the count went to how many times the rikishi changed direction (up or down) during his career. This number was divided by the total basho in which a change was possible (i.e. total basho minus 2 since a change in direction isn’t possible until the 3rd basho). This produced a quotient of less than zero, such as .6102, meaning the rikishi has changed direction in 61 per cent of his basho. This was dubbed the About Face Quotient (AFQ).

These two basic ingredients were plied, massaged, folded and spindled; and tested out in many ways, but finally I ended up where I began, by simply multiplying the MOQ by the AFQ to produce the CEI, or Combined Elevator Index. The Elevator Ranking then was based on the CEI, which combines how far a rikishi moves with how often he changes direction.
 RIKISHIMOQAFQCEI
1.Kyokushuzan9.690.69816.76
2.Hokutoriki7.700.78956.08
3.Tokitsuumi7.600.76925.85
4.Buyuzan9.170.59095.42
5.Kaiho7.300.66674.87
6.Aminishiki8.000.60004.80
7.Shimotori8.520.55004.69
8.Asasekiryu8.000.57144.57
9.Takamisakari6.480.70004.53
10.Tamanoshima7.340.57144.20
For the active men, now that their database is complete, it will be quickly updated with each new banzuke. By comparing new Rankings with old ones, trends can be quickly noted so when one asserts that ‘so-and-so’ is becoming an elevator man, we can ask, “Yes, but compared to who?” and find the answer right away.

OK, so how does Shoes-On actually measure up when put under the microscope? Is he really the Crown Prince of the Elevator Kingdom? Is He Ever! In spades, he ‘Da Man!’ As the top ten list above shows, he is head and shoulder blades ahead of Hokutoriki and Tokitsuumi, who hold 2nd and 3rd positions.

Mild surprises: Tokitsuumi at #3 and Tamanoshima in the top ten, and pugnacious Buyuzan managing to hang on to 		qualifying status long enough to attain his current #4 ranking. If the bulldog doesn’t make it back inside the curtain for Kyushu, he’ll go on the Elevator Retired List with an impressive record (slightly adjusted since the final move to juryo will come off the board). One more: Jumonji nowhere to be seen in the top ten. With Tamanoshima, it’s just another sign that he’s not really someone of note anymore – I expect him to move up the list as time goes on.

Kyokushuzan is indeed a special breed. With an MOQ of 9.69, he’s plainly out of sight of everyone except Buyuzan and he’s also fourth in AFQ – quite a combination! Most remarkably, he’s never been in danger of being forced onto the Elevator Retired List.

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