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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Elevator Rules
THE GENERAL PROCEDURE:
Three components are used in determining a rikishi’s position in the Ranking:
1.
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Move On Quotient (MOQ):
The average number of banzuke spots moved per basho (currently 42 spots
on the makuuchi banzuke): Starting with the 2nd basho in the
string, count the number of spots moved – whether up or down – from the
previous basho, and do this through the final basho in the
string. Total all those figures and divide by the number of
figures used. This is the MOQ.
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2.
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About Face Quotient (AFQ):
The percentage of time the rikishi changed direction on the
banzuke: Starting with the 2nd basho in the string, record a plus
(+) if the rikishi moved up the banzuke from the previous basho, and
record a minus (-) if the rikishi moved down (no mark is necessary if
there was no movement). Then, starting with the 3rd basho in the
string, determine if there was a change of direction or not.
e.g., after a plus (+) is recorded, a change of direction occurs with
the next minus (-), and vice versa. Finally, divide the total
number of direction changes by the total number of times a direction change was actually possible (i.e., number of basho in the string, minus 2). This percentage is the AFQ. |
3.
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Elevator Index (EI): Simply multiply the MOQ by the AFQ. |
Rikishi are then ranked according to their Elevator Index, highest on top.
SPECIFIC RULES
1. |
A rikishi must have an unbroken string of at least
30 consecutive qualifying basho in order to be listed in the Ranking. |
2.
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A rikishi’s string is assumed to start with his
first makuuchi appearance and end with his last. There are only
two exceptions to this general rule:
i.
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When a string begins with the first makuuchi
appearance, in order for it to remain unbroken, as you count down the
list of basho, the total number of makuuchi appearances must at least
equal the total juryo or below appearances. At any point, when
this is not true, that string is broken, and a new string is assumed to
begin with the second makuuchi appearance, with the same test
applied. The string actually begins with the first makuuchi
appearance where the test is passed.
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ii.
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If the last makuuchi appearance is
immediately preceded by three consecutive juryo or below appearances,
the string will not end with that appearance. Instead, go up to
the next-to-last makuuchi appearance and apply the same test.
Keep going up if necessary. The string actually ends with the
last makuuchi appearance which is not immediately preceded by at least
three juryo or below appearances.
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3.
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If a rikishi doesn’t accumulate a string of at
least 30 consecutive qualifying basho under these rules, he may still
qualify to be listed in the Ranking by foregoing both exceptions listed
in #2, above. By doing that, the string still must contain 30
basho – if it doesn’t, the rikishi will not be listed in the Ranking.
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4.
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In calculating the Move On Quotient (MOQ), a
rikishi is credited with zero banzuke spots moved for any basho in
juryo, and for the first makuuchi basho when transiting back from juryo
– regardless of how many actual spots were moved – and no credit is
given for a change of direction for either basho.
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5.
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All sanyaku ranks other than East are considered West, e.g., S2e, S2w are both counted as Sw. *
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* Note: Trying to be exact in accounting for more than two spots
for each sanyaku rank (in the cases where that occurred) required a
system which sometimes produced nonsensical outcomes further down the
banzuke, such as rikishi going from M6e to M7e, yet being credited with
a 0 or a 1 count in spots moved, even though two spots were actually
moved.
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