Yokozuna Comparisons
Joe Kuroda
SFM’s historian, JK, wraps his two-part article on the greatest of the tsuna wearers

Amateur Sumo's Global Aspirations
Courtesy: International Sumo Federation
What exactly is it and furthermore, what does it do? The ISF explain themselves and their purpose in existing

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
Man or myth? Sumo's first yokozuna comes under the spotlight

Heya Peek
Barbara Ann Klein
Tokitsukaze-beya and its famous find themselves the target of Barbara's peek into life inside the heya

SFM Interview
Mark Buckton
Featuring interviews with amateur sumo's European Sumo Union General Secretary and the President of the newly founded Irish Sumo Federation

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Would chanko exist without sumo? What is chanko anyway? Find out in Sumo 101

Photo Bonanza
See the Haru
Basho through the eyes of the fans in the seats as SFM gives the mantle of photographer(s) for this basho to Barbara & Gerald Patten. And don't miss our all-Mongolian Bonanza supplied by our Editor, Barbara Ann Klein

Haru Basho Review
Lon Howard
Lon gives us his Haru Basho summary, along with the henka sightings results

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila
Mikko Mattila covers the lower division goings on like nobody else around

Natsu Basho Forecast
Mark Buckton
Mark Buckton glances back to look forward in his ones to look out for come May

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Our man Mikko takes us on a tour of his chosen kimarite

Sumo in Print
Mark Buckton
Our gaming thread takes a break for April so we can look at the Spanish language book on the sport not long since released

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites today

Fan Debate
Facilitator – Lon Howard
April's man VS monkey debate covers the issue of reducing the number of honbasho

SFM Cartoons
Benny Loh & Stephen Thompson
Sit back and enjoy the offerings

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that
made you a sumo fan? Thierry Perran lets us in on his reasons for loving this sport

Readers’ Letters
See what some
See what our featured letter is for this issue

Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.

  We have one ex-rugby professional who at 5 ft 9 in weighs in at over 20 stone.

MB – And your training methods?

CC – Both Graham and I are trained as sports scientists with both of us graduating from England's renowned sports college, Loughborough University. As part of my master's degree in sport I attended 6 universities in 5 countries, including the German Sports University in Cologne, and have amassed a wealth of coaching methods in a wide variety of sports.

Both Graham (scrumhalf) and I (fullback) have a rugby background and, together with our fitness coach, Mike McGurn, who is also fitness coach to the Irish rugby team, we are adopting a scientific approach to training. Strength training is not dissimilar to how the rugby scrummagers train. Concerning technique – at present, we study sumo school on television and study online sumo training programmes.

MB – Do you see sumo taking off in Ireland?

CC – A lot hinges on our application to join the IFS and

Sumo Ireland President – Colin Carroll











the ESU. If admitted, it means we have a clear objective – that is to get the best possible team Ireland can produce to the European and World Championships. With this end goal in sight it would trigger our search throughout Ireland for budding sumo stars to try to win the Irish Close in sumo.

I have no doubt our search for a dream team of “Sumo Paddies” would capture the imagination of the entire nation. Ireland is a sports-starved nation and one looking for a national team that may put Ireland back on the sporting map after we failed to qualify for the soccer world cup this summer.

I am certain sumo will take off in Ireland. No doubt about it. It must be said the reason I am so confident is because the management committee of Sumo Ireland all have the same vision and we are a close-knit team.
MB – Politics now – has the north / south issue come into play in setting up the federation?

CC – Working in a legal practice, I have huge respect for doing things according to the book, hence my reservations about lodging any formal application with either the ESU or the IFS until our house is fully in order.

A number of weeks ago, the issue of Northern Ireland came up, and it is such a sensitive one. Happily, sport has helped to heal many of the wounds of the past. For example, the Irish rugby team, like most sports in Ireland, are an All-Ireland team. To this end, we are continuing to work along these lines and can now say that entitlement to represent either Ireland or Great Britain rests with the individual in Northern Ireland.

As a side note to the above, a meeting was held with Peter Smyth, Secretary of the Irish Sports Council on 12th March in Dublin. Peter fully backed Sumo Ireland's insistence that Northern Ireland athletes may elect to represent Ireland and also that Sumo Ireland has the right to be an All-Ireland body.

Next