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The Quizmaster
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KIMARITE FOCUS #2
Uwatenage & Uwatedashinage

by Mikko Mattila

especially superb combination of technical skill and power. At the same time, old warriors Kotonowaka and Kaio still uphold their reputation of being the masters of uwatenage. Kotonowaka is on the verge of retirement, but has already racked up an amazing amount of 128 uwatenage wins during his 15 years in makuuchi. It is, in all likelihood, an all-time record in the history of sumo. Kaio's uwatenage from the right-hand outside grip has been a uniquely powerful weapon for a decade with its overwhelming power and sharp technique. Kaio now has 71 wins with uwatenage in makuuchi, including two yusho-deciding uwatenage wins.

Uwatedashinage is a pulling over-arm throw. The rikishi takes the same posture as in uwatenage, but the difference is that there is a forward pulling movement during the throw. For every uwatedashinage there are five uwatenage making it a much less seen technique in sumo. In a normal year, around 15-25 uwatedashinage can be expected to be seen in makuuchi. Uwatedashinage is mainly used by technically versatile rikishi who are nimble and fast. The technique, at its best, is a very smooth yanking throw where the attacker has an outside grip on the belt and then yanks forward at the right time, resulting in a clean uwatedashinage. On the other hand, uwatedashinage sometimes becomes the official

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In many grappling sports, throwing techniques are often spectacular and easy to acknowledge – even without intricate analysis of what preceded the actual throw. Sumo is no exception as all the common throwing techniques can be truly outstanding displays of both power and technique. Uwatenage is clearly the most frequently seen throw in sumo. Its English term, "over-arm throw", refers to the position of the attacker's gripping hand in relation to defender's arm. The attacker has an outside grip on the defender's belt, and, from this position, throws the defender down while turning his body to the direction of the throw.

The classic belt-sumo posture is to have the right-hand outside grip and left-hand inside grip, or vice versa. When executing uwatenage, a rikishi performs the throw with the outside grip while pivoting his body. At the same time, he can assist the throw by twisting with the inside grip as in shitatehineri. yokozuna Chiyonofuji was famous for combining the uwatenage with the shitatehineri move. It is more common, though, to see the

attacking rikishi release the underarm grip and either place it somewhere on the back of the defender, under his armpit, or simply release the inside grip altogether. Sometimes the attacker grabs the defender's head with the free hand and twists the head to the direction of the uwatenage, exerting more pressure to the defending rikishi. Naturally, many uwatenage are also seen after a strong forward pressure, as in a yorikiri attempt, and then, the movement is suddenly reversed and the resisting defender is thrown forward.

Uwatenage is the 4th most common winning technique in the makuuchi division. Since 1990, there have been 1775 uwatenage wins in makuuchi indicating that, on average, about 6.5% of the bouts are decided with uwatenage in that division. Lately, the technique has become more popular again due to the emergence of many new stars who have strong uwatenage. Both Hakuho and Kotooshu have won many bouts with uwatenage during their early makuuchi career and are specialists in left-hand outside-grip based uwatenage. Hakuho's uwatenage is an