Attention to Akeni Carolyn Todd SFM's newest addition to the writing staff takes an in-depth look at akeni, their history and production techniques Rikishi of Old Joe Kuroda Joe Kuroda slides former yokozuna Minanogawa under his SFM microscope Eric Evaluates Eric Blair Eric's wit scythes through the SML and makes clear his opinion of where the future lies for online sumo forums. Eternal Banzuke Phase II Lon Howard Stats, equations and mathematics all lead to a list of sumo's most prolific up and downers Matta-Henka: Another View Lon Howard A row that will never be fully decided but Lon gives his impressions on it all the same Heya Peek Mark Buckton Mihogaseki, former home of Estonian sekitori Baruto is toured (and peeked at) by SFM's Editor-in-Chief SFM Interview Mark Buckton Mark interviews shin-komusubi Kokkai Photo Bonanza See the Nagoya basho and Akeni photo bonanzas Nagoya Basho Summary Lon Howard Lon gives us his Nagoya basho summary, along with the henka sightings results Lower Division Rikishi Mikko Mattila Mikko Mattila casts his watchful eye over lower division goings on in makushita and below. Aki Ones to Watch Carolyn Todd Carolyn takes over the job of rikishi job performance prediction for SFM as she looks at those to keep an eye on come September Kimarite Focus Mikko Mattila Our man Mikko's latest trio of kimarite get thrown about the SFM literary dohyo Amateur Angles Howard Gilbert Howard returns with the second of his columns on the amateur sumo scene. Sumo Game SFM's very own quiz comes in for a bit of self scrutiny by our secretive man of questions. We'll call him 'X'. Sumo in Print Barbara Ann Klein SFM’s Editor reviews “The Little Yokozuna”, a book for “young” (and older) adults Kokugi Connections Todd Lambert Check out Todd's bimonthly focus on 3 of the WWW's best sumo sites Fan Debate Facilitator - Lon Howard Keri Sibley and Eduardo de Paz  ponder the concept of ‘to pay or not to pay’ makushita salaries SFM Cartoons Stephen Thompson Sit back and enjoy the offerings of one of sumo's premier artists Lets Hear From You What was it that made you a sumo fan? SFM’s own Todd Lambert details his path into sumofandom Readers' Letters See what our readers had to say since we last went out Sumo Quiz The Quizmaster Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho’s banzuke.

However, one of the classic bouts of the 21st  century to date took place in the 2002 September basho on day 13, when Takanohana had the last quality win of his legendary career against a top class opponent - ozeki Kaio, in good shape. In that memorable bout, Takanohana showed his true greatness in outclassing Kaio in belt sumo once more. But, Kaio actually went for chongake almost breaking Takanohana's balance, and this chongake attack was the absolute two seconds of fame for the largely unknown technique. Since 1990, chongake has been the winning technique in only six makuuchi bouts four of which were executed by Kyokushuzan and Asahiyutaka. Getting back to the aforementioned classic bout between Takanohana and Kaio, Takanohana had his left-hand outside grip while Kaio had found himself in an uncomfortable right-hand inside grip; but as Takanohana tried to advance and stepped up closer, Kaio cleverly planted his right foot behind Takanohana's right heel and attempted to sweep and force Takanohana back and down. Takanohana took correcting steps, maintained his balance, and managed to outclass Kaio in a grip battle after a moment of true alarm.

It was a highly unique emergence of a rare leg technique in a bout of great importance. The gasping sounds and cheers of the audience were heard at the time of the chingake attempt - rare moment of honour for this humble leg technique, of most sumo fans know very little about. Chongake is a heel-hook technique. The goal is to plant one's foot on the inside behind the opponent's foot on the same side, and fix that foot with a pull of one's own foot while pushing the opponent backwards and down. On day 7 of the 2002 March basho, Aminishiki showed how this move can take the role of a very refined counterattack when he reacted to Tokitsuumi's pull by sweeping, thus disrupting the natural flow of Tokitsuumi's leg in an awkward way, which, unfortunately resulted in an injury to Tokitsuumi himself. If you have an opportunity to watch that bout, it is highly recommended for educational purposes when it comes to polishing your understanding of the variations of chongake. More classic chongake can be witnessed on day 14 in the 2003 Nagoya basho when Kyokushuzan drops Takanonami with a neat one. Again, a search into your personal sumo archives is recommended and encouraged.

Nimaigeri is a rather commonly learned technique in judo, but extremely rare in sumo. The attacker steps on the defender's ankle while twisting him in the direction of the pinned ankle, causing a disruption of balance. In real life the technique is more like a sweep than a real pinning-down-and-pivoting technique. The weight of the rikishi and the principle of maintaining as strong foothold on the dohyo as possible at all times creates circumstances where nimaigeri is automatically next to impossible to effect in most situations. Hence, it is always a news event in kimarite buffs' world when it shows up as the winning technique. In 2005, nimaigeri was seen only three times in all divisions, and twice, the performer was Tokitenku. He even used namaigeri twice in the same tournament in March 2005 - first against Kitazakura, and then, against Tochinohana. Tokitenku also won with nimaigeri in 2004, that time against Ama. In 2006, nimaigeri is yet to emerge as the winning technique in any division, which is not really that surprising considering that before Tokitenku arrived in makuuchi, only Kotoryu had used nimaigeri in makuuchi since the early 1990s. Home