Sumo's Foreign Invasion Mark Buckton Sumo - still Japanese or truly International? Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda A look at a rikishi of yesteryear with Umegatani II our man for June Heya Peek John Gunning John attends asageiko at Takasago-beya to give us the first of his bimonthly looks at sumo's stables Photo Bonanza Kurt Easterwood & Quinlan Faris Kurt & Quin treat us to some of the best sumo pics around - and seen nowhere else May Basho Review Lon Howard & John Gunning Lon gives us his Natsu Basho summary and his take on upset of the tournament while John chips in with his 'gem' of the basho Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila Mikko provides his round up of the boys in Makushita and below at the Natsu Basho July Basho Forecast Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton Pierre predicts the Nagoya Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch next time out Sumo 101 Barbara Ann Klein Rhyme and reason behind the pre-tachiai rituals that mystified us all as beginners Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila Mikko walks us through A, B & C Minusha John McTague John's unique view of news from outside the dohyo Las Vegas Jungyo Teaser Ngozi Robinson Months away but like kids at Christmas we are still too excited not to mention it Online Gaming Moti Dichne Hear from the founder of Guess the Banzuke (GTB) on exactly what makes it tick Le Monde Du Sumo The original team at MDS tells us how it all started Sumo Mouse Todd Lambert Heya Links Galore and a focus on 3 Fan Debate JR & EB square off: Right or Left - which should Asashoryu use when receiving kensho? Let's Hear from You What was it that made you a sumo fan? Ngozi Asks Question of the month - What is Sumo? Sumo Quiz The Quizmaster Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho's banzuke

divisions yoritaoshi is relatively common, possibly due to the bigger differences in power and perhaps because lower division rikishi are more prone to try desperate tawara moves whereas sekitori know when to give up in impossible situations to minimize the risk of injury. In the great rivalry of the 1990s between yokozuna Takanohana and Akebono, yoritaoshi was surprisingly often the winning technique. Akebono beat Takanohana 5 times with yoritaoshi, while Takanohana overcame Akebono 3 times in bouts that were great battles to the end. Akinoshima used to try tawara tricks in most situations

and as a consequence lost 40 bouts to an opponent using yoritaoshi. Of currently active rikishi, Tochiazuma has 15 losses to yoritaoshi, but almost all of them against high caliber foes. Abisetaoshi is basically yoritaoshi inside the dohyo. Whereas, in yoritaoshi the loser always drops down outside the tawara, in abisetaoshi the collapse occurs inside the dohyo. The official definition doesn't even mention the belt grip as part of the technique, since the main factor is the collapse of the defender when the attacker drops his weight on top of him.

Abisetaoshi is very rare and often something unusual happens to the loser when abisetaoshi is the winning kimarite. Indeed, of the last eight abisetaoshi seen in Makuuchi, three were caused by injury and two others were slips or sudden balance problems due to attempts at bizarre moves. Abisetaoshi is more of an anomaly and rarely a true display of overwhelming power. On average abisetaoshi is seen only once every 500 bouts at Sekitori level. Home