|
| Attention to Akeni
|
|
Carolyn Todd
SFM's newest addition to the writing staff takes an
in-depth look at akeni, their history and production techniques
|
|
| Rikishi of Old
|
|
Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda slides former yokozuna Minanogawa under his SFM microscope |
|
| Eric Evaluates
|
|
Eric Blair
Eric's wit scythes through the SML and makes clear his opinion of where the future lies for online sumo forums. |
|
Eternal Banzuke Phase II
|
|
Lon Howard
Stats, equations and mathematics all lead to a list of sumo's most prolific up and downers
|
|
|
|
|
Heya Peek
|
|
Mark Buckton
Mihogaseki, former home of Estonian sekitori Baruto is toured (and peeked at) by SFM's Editor-in-Chief
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nagoya Basho Summary
|
|
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Nagoya basho summary, along with the henka sightings results
|
|
|
Lower Division Rikishi
|
|
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila casts his watchful eye over lower division goings on in makushita and below.
|
|
|
Aki Ones to Watch
|
|
Carolyn Todd
Carolyn takes over the job of rikishi job performance prediction for SFM as she looks at those to keep an eye on come September |
|
|
Kimarite Focus
|
|
Mikko Mattila
Our man Mikko's latest trio of kimarite get thrown about the SFM literary dohyo |
|
|
Amateur Angles
|
|
Howard Gilbert
Howard returns with the second of his columns on the amateur sumo scene.
|
|
|
Sumo Game
|
|
| SFM's very own quiz comes in for a bit of self scrutiny by our secretive man of questions. We'll call him 'X'. |
|
|
Sumo in Print
|
|
Barbara Ann Klein
SFM’s Editor reviews “The Little Yokozuna”, a book for “young” (and older) adults
|
|
| Kokugi Connections
|
|
Todd Lambert
Check out Todd's bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites
|
|
Fan Debate
|
|
Facilitator - Lon Howard
Keri Sibley and Eduardo de Paz ponder the concept of ‘to pay or not to pay’ makushita salaries
|
|
SFM Cartoons
| |
Stephen Thompson
Sit back and enjoy the offerings of one of sumo's premier artists |
|
Lets Hear From You
|
|
| What was it that made you a sumo fan? SFM’s own Todd Lambert details his path into sumofandom
|
|
|
|
| Sumo Quiz |
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke. |
|
|
|
 |
|
said
the tachiai should be performed with lowered hips and both hands
touching down, and that the gyoji wouldn’t allow matta after the hands
had touched. Observers from that time have suggested that rikishi
simply stopped touching down with their hands so they could make matta
any time they pleased, and that over the years, matta finally got so
bad that the Kyokai felt they had to act. They 'acted' by
declaring that a matta would be called if both hands didn’t touch, and
that the offender would be given a loss if matta was repeated often
enough
The immediate effect of this edict was that rikishi began starting
their charge from a low crouch instead of the near-standing
posture. It’s possible they were instructed to do so by the
Kyokai so that Article 5’s ‘lowering of the hips’ would be part of the
actual move forward, or maybe the rikishi thought that by doing so, a
much more convincing pretense of touching down could be made, thus
diminishing the likelihood of a loss being declared. But
whichever or whatever the case, the practice of beginning the tachiai
in this manner has endured to this day, and just like before 1984, as
time has worn on, the pretense of complying has become more and more
transparent, so that in actual practice today, any informed observer
can discern that a clear minority of the rikishi are in full compliance
on any given day. Moreover, once the torikumi (bout) has begun,
gyoji rarely call a halt to it, so non-compliance has more potential
for advantage than for the intended
disadvantage.
Footage of pre-1984 torikumi bears
|
|
|
|
out
that most tachiai collisions took place from a near-standing
posture. From that posture, a rikishi’s head was mostly upright
to begin with and so it took no special effort to keep his eyes on the
opponent. Also, from that posture, if one rikishi suddenly jumped
to the side, the move was usually detected at once and his opponent was
less likely to be caught so off guard that he fell on his face, which
often happens today with your ‘full-blown henka.’ Because of
this, the benefits of jumping to the side were minimized compared with
today – and were certainly more subtle – which is why I don’t remember
henka being an issue back then.
The pre-1984 tachiai henka was much like the ‘half-henka’ that
Chiyotaikai exploited in 2005 when injury sapped his tsuppari – the
ozeki would take an oblique slide step to shift an opponent’s weight
unexpectedly. For many, it was used as a means to smooth the
route to the opponent’s mawashi. Kitanoumi and other top-rankers did it
all the time, but because rikishi weren’t falling flat by themselves or
flying off the dohyo, it didn’t raise eyebrows or disturb
sensitivities. If a rikishi was criticized for the maneuver, it
was only to warn that he was diluting the strength of his own
charge. What’s more, in those days the word ‘henka’ wasn’t used
in connection with the tachiai. Rikishi have sidestepped at the
tachiai for decades, but in perusing all of my pre-1984 sumo magazines
and books, I haven’t discovered the word ‘henka’ at all – lending
further evidence (for me) to the fact that the slow birth of henka as
we know it today was born with
|
|
|
|
the 1984 announcement that Two Hands Down would be enforced.
This action by the Sumo Kyokai was intended to decrease matta. I
can’t imagine that matta could have been worse then than it is today,
and so conclude that this ‘shot in the dark’ has missed its mark.
In fact, speaking just for me, I much prefer the pre-1984 tachiai to
what is going on today. The rikishi have ignored the rule both
pre- and post-1984, so that part hasn’t changed; but the visible
difference is that now – since rikishi start the tachiai from the lower
posture – the premium on gamesmanship has ballooned way beyond
reasonable proportion, resulting in fewer real tachiai collisions, and
more sightings where rikishi simply fall flat or run themselves
out. Deciding which of the two versions I’d rather watch is not
very challenging.
Since the change – to my knowledge – no match has been lost due to
excessive matta, despite the warning that it would happen.
So, as with pre-1984, we have what we have because Two Hands down –
which has existed throughout – is not strictly enforced. This is
not a criticism by me, it’s just a fact – and moreover it’s a fact I
won’t criticize because, as a foreigner, I’m slow to disparage the
cultural mindsets at play in administering Japan’s national
sport. But like any fan, I can say what I like to see, and I can
tell you I liked watching the ‘old’ tachiai a lot more than I like
watching the ‘new’ one.
Home
|
|
