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SOS - Shinjinrui on Sumo |
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Chris Gould
Chris sinks his teeth deeper into how sumo can go about pulling in the younger fans in part two of a three-part series.
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Azumazeki up close and personal |
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Steven Pascal-Joiner / William Titus
A wiz with a pen and a wiz with a lens get together with SFM to share
their time with Azumazeki Oyakata - Takamiyama as was - with the wider
sumo following world.
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Rikishi of Old |
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Joe Kuroda
Joe Kuroda takes a detailed look at the life and times of a former yokozuna forgotten by many - Maedayama.
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Eric Evaluates |
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Eric Blair
Eric calls the musubi-no-ichiban kimarite call on nakabi in Kyushu as perhaps only he could.
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Heya Peek |
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Jeff Kennel
First time heya visitor Jeff Kennel wrote about, photographed and even
made a video of his time spent at Arashio Beya prior to the Kyushu
Basho. All to be found within.
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SFM Interview |
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Mark Buckton
Mark interviews Russian up and comer Wakanoho of Magaki Beya.
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Photo Bonanzas |
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See behind the scenes at the Kyushu Basho, morning training in Arashio
Beya through the eyes of an artist and exactly what the Azumazeki lads
had to eat halfway though the July Nagoya Basho. All originals, all
seen here and nowhere else, and all for you.
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Kyushu Basho Summary |
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Lon Howard
Lon wraps the Kyushu Basho in Fukuoka and throws in some henka sighting results for good measure.
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Lower Division Rikishi |
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Mikko Mattila
The lower divisions, their members and results get the once over thanks
to Mikko's eyeing of life down below the salaried ranks.
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Hatsu Ones To Watch |
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Carolyn Todd
Carolyn ponders and puts fingers to keys on the ones to watch come January and the Hatsu Basho.
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Kimarite Focus |
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Mikko Mattila
Mikko's latest clarification of a handful of 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 makushita tsukedashi and what it means in real terms.
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Kokugi Konnections |
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Todd Lambert
Click on Todd's bimonthly focus on three of the best sumo sites online.
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Fan Debate |
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Facilitators - Lon Howard / Carolyn Todd
Two SFMers talk over the yokozuna benefiting from weak opposition - or not as the case may be.
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SFM Cartoons |
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Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
In this issue's cartoon bonanza, sit back and sample Stephen's artistic offerings.
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Sumo Odds ’n’ Ends |
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SFM's interactive elements including Henka Sightings, Elevator Rikishi and Eternal Banzuke!
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Lets Hear From You |
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What was it that made you a sumo fan? Starting with issue #10, the SFM
staff will reveal a little of their own routes into sumo fandom -
starting with Benny Loh.
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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 next basho’s banzuke.
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more
than an introduction from Coach and graciously spent an hour of his
time with us. I left wondering what I would see the following morning
during keiko.
We arrived the following morning at 7:00 AM under a light drizzle to
see morning keiko already in full swing. Several of the lower-ranked
rikishi were out practicing on and around the dohyo. The main practice
of the morning was moshiai-geiko - a rikishi fights until he is beaten.
A crowd of about 50 local people had gathered, half under one of the
canvas covers and half under a collection of umbrellas. We were ushered
under a second covering where we sat on nice, simple cushioned chairs.
At 7:15, Takamisakari came out and began shiko, which he continued for
40 minutes in silence. I watched for signs of what Azumazeki oyakata
had alluded to the day before: how hard were the rikishi training
without the oyakata being present and how much respect were they
showing the guests of honor. Several of the young rikishi waiting for a
chance to fight said a quiet good morning and give a short bow to
people who were obviously of some importance. It is always hard to tell
how much politeness is enough politeness in Japan or, indeed, if there
is such a thing as too much. At 7:20, Ushiomaru arrived and immediately
began shikiri by himself on the dohyo edge.
The oyakata arrived at about 7:25 dressed in a suit and tie with his
dog in tow. They sat under a third covering, alone amidst two rows of
chairs. The rikishi who had been doing teppo against the concrete
supports holding up the dohyo cover, toweling, and stretching, now
started to gather around the dohyo edge and call out for a chance to
get in on the moshiai-geiko. At one point the oyakata shouted at one of
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his
rikishi lingering too long and toweling himself off. At that point,
there were 13 rikishi training, the rain had stopped, and the air was
heavy with humidity. The spectators were fanning themselves and the
rikishi were clearly suffering in the heat.
The fervor of the practice was, as the oyakata said yesterday, peaking
under his supervision. At about 7:45, he called Ushiomaru and
Takamisakari over —neither of whom had yet stepped onto the dohyo—and
talked with them briefly. A large black SUV pulled up behind the
oyakata; he got in the car and was gone. The two makunouchi men were now in
charge.
Ushiomaru stepped onto the freshly swept dohyo at about 8:00 and put on
an impressive display of oshidashi and tsukitaoshi. The rikishi he
faced the most—Kubota—lost ten bouts in a row to the juryo rikishi. At
one point, Kubota received a head butt from Ushiomaru before falling to
the ground. Although he was clearly hurt, rubbing his forehead and with
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jammed
neck, Ushiomaru grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back onto the
dohyo. One of the foreign observers wondered aloud if he should keep
fighting. This was sanban-geiko (two rikishi fighting over and over);
he clearly didn’t have a choice.
Takamisakari’s morning keiko was not as successful as Ushiomaru’s. He
too picked a rikishi of similar stature—Takamifuji—to face off against.
Takamifuji beat Takamisakari 4 times in a row after Takamisakari won
the first bout. Takamisakari growled loudly and breathed hard
throughout the practice. He lost more than twice as many bouts (12) as
he won (5). He was 1-6 in the Nagoya basho at that point and was
clearly in a bad mood. Throughout the morning practice, he didn’t talk
with anyone and spent most of his time alone doing shiko.
Several of the lower-ranked rikishi had long since disappeared and as
the practice was winding down. I could smell two things: chanko-nabe |
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