finish is often more dramatic. Roughly speaking, there are two main reasons for the bout to finish with yoritaoshi rather than with yorikiri. There are tenacious rikishi who'll fight to the end and attempt to hang on at the jutted hay bales while the attacker is exerting pressure. In such circumstances, they may try sacrifice throws or twist their bodies in order to cause the attacker to step out before they fall. When those last ditch attempts or desperate back bending defenses fail, yoritaoshi is quite the natural outcome. Another main reason for yoritaoshi is a clumsy fall due to fast and bulldozing attack by the opponent. In such cases the defender simply loses control of his legs or the attacker is in such a dominating position, using so much power that the defender doesn't have time or the leverage to defend properly and yoritaoshi can ensue. 


click here for enlargement

Since 1990, yoritaoshi has proved to be the 8th most common winning technique in Makuuchi with an average of 55-60 yoritaoshi per year. That accounts for 3.5% of all Makuuchi bouts. If one takes into account all divisions, yoritaoshi is actually the 5th most common because in lower
Next Home