Sumo Fan Magazine

Amateur Sumo – the sport as it should be Mark Buckton Sakai World Sumo Champs – not all about winning Las Vegas Koen Joe Kuroda Our man reports from the fight capital of the world Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda A look at a rikishi of yesterday with Kotozakura – our man for October Heya Peek John Gunning John’s early morning dash to Azumazeki-beya & report on TKOTU SFM Interview Katrina Watts sits down with SFM’s Mark Buckton to discuss amateur sumo Photo Bonanza SFM’s best yet – Aki Basho/ Las Vegas / Amateur World Champs / Azumazeki-beya visit – seen nowhere else Aki Basho Review Lon Howard Lon gives us his Aki Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results, and his take on the tournament while ‘gem’ of the basho takes a break Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila Mikko Mattila returns to cover lower division ups and downs Kyushu Basho Forecast Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton Pierre predicts the Kyushu Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch next time out Sumo 101 Barbara Ann Klein Discovers and explains amasumo & ozumo variations Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila Mikko once again walks us through his chosen kimarite Minusha John McTague John’s unique bimonthly view of news from outside the dohyo Online Gaming Zenjimoto of ‘game fame’ covers some of the very best sumo games around – his own! Kokugi Connections Todd Lambert Todd’s focus on 3 of the most interesting online sumo sites today Fan Debate Is the limit on foreign rikishi fair? See what our debaters had to say SFM Cartoons Benny Loh In the first of our cartoon bonanzas, sit back and chuckle at Benny Loh’s offerings Let’s Hear From You What was it that made you a sumo fan? Gernobono tells all Readers’ Letters See what SFM readers had to say since our last issue Sumo Quiz The Quizmaster Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.	PETR by John Gunning		country – he had his nose broken on the street one night by a teenage thug. Perhaps it was that experience that awoke the warrior in him as not long afterwards, he made the decision to come to Japan, arriving in the country in the winter of 2002 and taking up sumo almost immediately. Next Home
	I wanted to be able to write an article about Petr Matous without mentioning the phrase. But it's impossible. Every single thing that has been written about him recently in the Japanese media has included it. You cannot avoid it. So I might as well just go ahead and get it out of the way: “The Kotooshu of Tokyo University” There! I said it! Now I won’t have to write it again. Apparently this de facto moniker was coined by geographically challenged Japanese reporters wanting to cash in on the Bulgarian sekiwake’s popularity. They jumped on the fact that the Czech Republic is “a country near Bulgaria” (not my quotes) and that Petr, like Kotooshu, is tall and fair haired, to create TKOTU. Well on his way to becoming a celebrity in his adopted country, Petr’s decidedly unsumo-like physique and easy going manner, as well as his quick mastering of the Japanese language, could see him become the next BOBBY or Bob Sapp. A	native of Prelouc (click here to get an idea where this is), Petr had already studied abroad (in Ireland) before coming to Tokyo University. You could say he had his first combat training in that
		Petr Matous – “The Kotooshu of Tokyo University”