THE GENERAL PROCEDURE:

These components are used in determining a rikishi’s position in the Ranking:

1.	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 counted and divide by the number of figures used.  This is the MOQ, and is expressed as a number with two decimal places., e.g., 6.25.
2.	About Face Quotient (AFQ):  About Face Quotient (AFQ):  The percentage of time the rikishi changed direction on the banzuke:  Starting with the 2nd basho in the string and going down, 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 made if there was no movement).  Then, starting with the 3rd basho in the string, determine if there was a change of direction from the previous basho 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, and is expressed as a decimal in four places, e.g., .6315.
3.	Raw Elevator Index (REI):  Simply multiply the MOQ by the AFQ.
4.	Longevity Factor (LF):  1.xx, with xx equal to the total number of basho in a rikishi’s qualifying string.  e.g., if a rikishi has 45 basho in his string, his LF is 1.45.
5.	Elevator Index (EI):  Multiply the REI by the LF.

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 all-time Ranking.
2.	A rikishi’s string is assumed to start with his first makuuchi appearance and end with his last – with these exceptions: i. 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. ii. If using the above exception produces a string with less than 30 basho because the string doesn’t start with the first makuuchi appearance, just start the string with the next makuuchi appearance – going back in time – until you’ve gone up far enough back for a 30-basho string.  If this exception is used to create a 30-basho string, it will be disregarded when and if it’s no longer required. iii. If the last makuuchi appearance is immediately preceded by at least three consecutive juryo or below appearances, the string will not end with that appearance.  Instead, the string ends with the last makuuchi appearance that is not immediately preceded by at least three juryo or below appearances.
3.	If a rikishi doesn’t accumulate a string of at least 30 consecutive qualifying basho under these rules, his string will simply begin with his first makuuchi appearance and end with his last.  If there are still less than 30 basho in the string, it will begin with his first makuuchi appearance and continue until he retires.  As long as the string has at least 30 basho, he will qualify to be listed in the Ranking.
4.	In calculating the Move On Quotient (MOQ), a rikishi is credited with zero banzuke spots moved for any demotion to juryo, and for the first makuuchi basho when transiting back from juryo – regardless of how many actual spots were moved.  i.e., In counting the number of banzuke spots moved from any one basho to another,  both basho must be in makuuchi.  Similarly, no credit is given for a change of direction when transiting to and from juryo.
5.	All sanyaku ranks other than East are considered West, e.g., S2e, S2w are both counted as Sw. *

* 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.