IS SUMO WRESTLING?
By Tonkatsu (Harry Dudrow)
The introductions to books in English on sumo frequently have some disclaimer to the effect that sumo is not wrestling. One book said it was "Closer to judo than wrestling." Perhaps the definitive statement of this view is found in the introduction to The Essential Guide to Sumo by Dorthea N. Buckingham, The Bess Press Inc., 1994. "Certain words in the glossary are not translated. The word used for sumo contenders is sumotori. There is no use of the English word "wrestler," which implies a connection between the Greco-Roman style of wrestling and sumo. What at first may appear to be similarities between the two in fact are not. Sumo has more in common with traditional Japanese martial arts than it does with wrestling. To use the term "sumo wrestler" is like referring to a cricket player as a baseball player, or, more directly, calling a Greco-Roman wrestler a sumotori."
This writer's first assumption on encountering this view was that the Japanese didn't want sumo to be compared to professional wrestling; an understandable concern. However it's fairly clear that it goes beyond that. So, is sumo wrestling?
The English word wrestling derives from the English word wrest; which means to twist or wrench. The Oxford Dictionary of The English Language gives the following definition: "1. a. The action or exercise of two persons grappling or gripping in a contest of strength and adroitness, the one endeavoring to throw the other by tripping or overbalancing him; the fact of contending or throwing in this manner." My wife's Webster's gives a similar definition, adding only the phrase "Without striking blows." (That would surely disqualify professional wrestling.) Of the half dozen or so dictionaries of American English that I consulted, only one made any reference to freestyle or Greco-Roman wresting, or pinning ones' opponents shoulders to the mat.
In my Compact Japanese Dictionary, on the English side, it says: "Wrestle n. v. Kumiuchi ( o suru ) kanji; sumo ( o toru ) more kanji.
Then, wrestling n. Resuringu, katakana. On the Japanese side we find, " sumo (the same kanji as follows sumo (o
toru) on the English side) sumo wrestling." Every Japanese/English dictionary I checked had the same kanji for the Japanese word sumo and the English word wrestle.
In his greeting to the competitors at The seventh World Sumo Championships, Mr. Seiji Yoshida, President of the Japan Sumo Federation said this: "First, let us look at the history of sumo. A sculpture has been found in ancient Babylonian remains. It has two people with a belt around them and their arms intertwined. It is estimated to be over 4500 old, the oldest record of this kind of sport. In Egypt, a wall painting of martial arts estimated at over 4000 years old has been found. China and India also have many oral traditions and accounts related to sumo that are recorded in ancient writings. From these relics it can be surmised that sumo is not merely from Japan, it was in ancient time, widely known throughout the world."
In the Korean page of the World Championship program, all the competitors are listed as doing "Korean Ssireum (sumo)." Clearly the Japanese think of ssireum as a form of sumo (some Koreans I know might not agree).
Clearly, the English word wrestle does not just apply to freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling. One thing is for sure, wrestling in its many forms is the worlds oldest and most universally-practiced sport. In most of those forms the object is simply to throw your opponent, not pin him. We submit that sumo is one of those forms. For that matter, so is judo. Granted, certain aspects of modern sumo such as the tachiai (closer to football)
tsuppari, and head slapping don't fit the strict definition of wrestling, but then meanings can change. There is certainly plenty of twisting and wrenching in sumo.
What about saying "Sumo wrestler?" Well certainly, among sophisticated sumo aficionados such as the readers of this journal, it would be rather gauche. But, it does help you to be understood when addressing the unenlightened. We think that saying "sumo wrestler" is more like saying pizza pie (pizza is Italian for pie) than calling a "Baseball player a cricket player."
Well, that's my view: what's yours?
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MUSASHIMARU WINS INJURY-RIDDLED AKI BASHO
By Yukikaze (Jim Lowerre)
Ultra-durable Hawaiian yokozuna MUSASHIMARU took the yusho for the 1999 Aki Basho, with a 12-3 record against a field noticeably lightened by the withdrawal of several top stars over the tournament's course. With this triumph MUSASHIMARU has won all six official basho one time each.
Of the four yokozuna only MUSASHIMARU was genki for the entire contest. TAKANOHANA, who had sat out the latest jungyo tour with a broken finger, answered the bell to start and lost his first two matches before withdrawing on day 3. AKEBONO started well with two wins but then suffered a torn thigh muscle in a loss to KAIO and pulled out on day 4 (TAMAKASUGA was the beneficiary of both fusen-sho). WAKANAHANA stood 6-3 on day 10 but suffered a serious leg injury in a win over TOKI and lost his last five matches against other joi-jin to finish 7-8. To make matters worse for Futagoyama Beya, ozeki TAKANONAMI was injured on day 6 in a loss to TAMAKASUGA and withdrew the next day (this could be why WAKANAHANA did not pull out, because he could not). In the lower ranks, maegashira #13W YOTSUKASA lost his first two bouts before pulling out with a hip injury: this will probably send him down to Juryo for the November tournament.
With TAKANOHANA and TAKANONAMI out and WAKANOHANA hobbled, it fell to current kinboshi king AKINOSHIMA to carry the banner for Futagoyama Beya. The "Giant Killer" turned in a superb effort: going into senshuraku he stood tied with MUSASHIMARU atop the standings at 11-3. But those three losses had come at the hands of MUSASHIMARU and his stalemates MIYABIYAMA and DEJIMA, and his final opponent was MUSOYAMA, who at 7-7 was fighting to stay in sanyaku. The first of Musashigawa's college champions was more than up to the challenge: he fought AKINOSHIMA hard and crowded him off the dohyo. This made it possible for his heya-gashira to take the championship with a win over the
noticeably-ungenki WAKANOHANA.
In addition to the 11-4 jun-yusho AKINOSHIMA won both the Kanto-sho (Fighting Spirit Award) and the Gino-Sho (Technical Award). The Shuken-sho
(Outstanding Performance Award) went to TOCHIAZUMA, who scored kinboshi off TAKANOHANA and MUSASHIMARU on his way to a 10-5 record at maegashira #1E. 10-5 records were also posted by CHIYOTAIKAI, DEJIMA and MIYABIYAMA. KAIO managed to keep his " evil twin" locked up long enough to post a 9-6 record and restart his quest for ozeki promotion. Other men posting 9-6 were TAKATORIKI, WAKANOYAMA and ASANOWAKA. TAMAKASUGA, MINATOFUJI and KOTONOWAKA all won kinboshi.
In juryo action, former collegian HAYATEUMI posted a 12-3 record at #8W to take the yusho for Oitekaze Beya. He out
duels TAKANOWAKA, who went 11-4; and AKINOSHU and TAMANONADA who posted 10-5
records. DAIZEN went 9-6 at #1E, which will probably push him into
Makunouchi for the Kyushu Basho. Other men with 9-6 records were OIKARI
and DEWATAIRA. Argentinian HOSHITANGO went 8-7; American SENTORYU slipped
to 6-9.
The Makushita yusho went to sekitori-experienced #28W SAIGO (Nakamura Beya) with
a 6-1 record. The Sandanme champion was #1E TOCHISAKAE (Kasugano Beya) who
went 7-0. Jonidan was son 7-0 by Musashigawa Beya's MUSASHIFUJI at
#12E. And the Jonokuchi winner is #27E SASARA (Oshiogawa Beya) at 7-0.
Our special Shimbo-sho (Persistence award) goes to Jonidan winner MUSASHIFUJI
who joined Musashigawa Beya a year before MUSASHIMARU! Now there's a guy
who must really love sumo; and he surely knows how to stick to his dream.
Omedeto!
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SNOWFLAKES ON THE WIND
Opinions from Yukikaze
Musashigawa Oyakata (moto-yokozuna MIENOUMI) goes to the top of my list as a
great motivator and recruiter. Motivator: he finally got through to
MUSASHIMARU and made him see that he could take his game to the yokozuna level,
and the results have been plain to see this year. (The slow post-yusho
interviews should rectify with time and practice.)
Recruiter: he has brought three of the most talented college champions of recent years into Musashigawa
Beya. MUSOYAMA, DEJIMA and MIYABIYAMA have become a very strong supporting cast for their
yokozuna, fully as powerful as the Futagoyama lineup had been. (Can anyone tell me how many collegians have joined Futagoyama in the past few years?) Does Musashigawa Oyakata play go or poker? He probably wins consistently at either (or both).
The Aki Basho results validate the decision to promote MUSASHIMARU to yokozuna. With two yokozuna withdrawing in the first four days due to injury and WAKANOHANA crippled battling a man he clearly outclassed, the Samoan monolith symbolized the stability of the sports traditions. Granted, he should not have given a win-and a
kinboshi- to maegashira #5 MINATOFUJI: it was strictly a case of not keeping his feet on the surface. But he managed to win the bouts he had to win and probably would have defeated WAKANOHANA even if he had been
genki.
Anyone else notice that WAKANOHANA has not yet done what MUSASHIMARU just did? Even money says no new yokozuna chooses the Shiranui-gata for the next fifty years....
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TONKATSU 0
MIYABIYAMA 1
By Tonkatsu (Harry Dudrow)
Last May we were asked to host a visit by a group of top Japanese amateur sumotori who were passing through L.A. on their way home from an event in Canada. The event was hosted by the Sawtelle Judo Dojo. The youngest and heaviest of the group was 20 year old, 6'1", 356lb. Masato Takeuchi. When it came to the point in the program for us to go up against the Japanese he pointed to me. I was happy to oblige. On the tachiai, with an encouraging "You can take him Harry" from Lorinda Kasten-Lowerre ringing in my ears, I crashed headlong into the waiting arms of my youthful opponent. The video shows that I rocked him back a little as he caught me. Not only that, but I had the inside grip on his belt with both hands! Before I could decide what to do next, I suddenly found my feet off the ground and kicking thin air. I can tell you that it was a strange sensation. I think it must be similar to what the coyote experiences when he chases the roadrunner off the cliff, realizes where he is, and tries to run back before plunging to the bottom of the canyon!. In my case, I was just carried out of the ring.
Several months later I was watching SUMO DIGEST one night. They started off the broadcast with a Makushita division bout. The winner's name was Miyabiyama and he looked very familiar. It wasn't just the face, he had a large knot on his right shoulder; so did Masato Takeuchi. It turns out that he had turned pro when he got back to Japan. The rest as they say, is history.
I suppose that losing by tsuri dashi is one of the more embarrassing ways to lose,(along with hatakikomi and okuri dashi) but it takes some of the sting out of it knowing you lost to Miyabiyama!
By the way, one of our members, Joe Butler, beat one of the Japanese that night. The fact that he was able to do so is pertinent to our discussion on wrestling because, Joe had only been doing sumo a month at the time. But, he came to the match with an extensive background in Free-style and Greco-Roman wrestling. Joe, who is 5'71/2" and weighed about 205lbs. At the time, used a Greco-Roman move called an arm spin to get behind his much larger opponent and force him out by okuri
dashi.
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SAN DIEGO PBB
A group in San Diego is starting a Post Basho Bash down there. The first one will be held on Sat. 10-9 at Yokozuna's at 945 Otay Lakes rd.. Suite N in Chula Vista (619) 482-0134. The time is from 7PM to 9:30PM. For more info contact G. Jay Walker at, walker@nhrc.navy.mil. They have no plans for a PBB inDec., but do plan one for Feb.
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JAPANESE REFEREE CRITICAL OF DECORUM
By Tonkatsu
At last years North American Championship there was no official referee. Matches were refereed by Japanese team members in shorts and T-shirts, Mr. Yonezuka and Roger Heffernan. This year we made arrangements with the casino to bring Mr. Ernie Hunt an experience referee down from Northern California.
As chance would have it, the coach of the Japanese team, a Mr. Okuda, is one of the top amateur referees in Japan. It was decided to have him referee, and Mr. Hunt serve as a judge, a role that Mr. Hunt was quite satisfied with. One of the reasons for this was that Ernie's grasp of the commands in Japanese was weak.
Of course, since Mr. Okuda spoke no English, other than those commands, his only way of communicating with the wrestlers was by gestures. This proved to be a problem when it came to the tachiai. Last year, the ISF adopted new rules for amateur tachiai that differ
substantially from what we see the Pros do. The new rules require that the wrestlers place both fist on the ground, not touching the shikiri sen lines. They then go on the command
"hakayoi" from the referee. Most of the wrestlers, particularly the Hawaiians have been used to doing it pro style. None of this was gone over before the tournament. As a result, Mr. Okuda was constantly having to gesture to people to put both fist down and get them off the shikiri sen. After awhile he just gave up.
When the tournament was over, Mr. Okuda spoke very highly of the quality of the sumo, but was critical of the decorum. His criticism focused on poor opening ceremony, not bowing out properly after the matches and a lot of grimacing by certain losers. We won't say who here, because there is room for improvement all around.
While it was nice to have such an experienced referee, at some point we need to develop our own referees. It seems to us that it would have been better to have let Mr. Hunt at least referee some of the matches. After all, in those cases, Mr. Okuda would have been the Chief Judge and could have overruled him if he made a mistake. We also think that perhaps the ISF should make a training tape showing all the basic actions of the referee, and explaining the commands. It wouldn't hurt if anyone coming from Japan to referee could say at least a few rudimentary things in English, like "Move back" for instance. After all, English is one of the two official languages of the ISF.
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WHO IS A JAMAICAN?
By Tonkatsu
When the ISF was founded in 1992, the World was divided for sumo purposes into seven regions: Asia (excluding Japan), North America, Central and South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania and Japan. Absent from this equation was the Caribbean, a region which has more countries and people than Oceania.
When the first North American Sumo Championships were held in 1997, there were teams representing Jamaica, Haiti and Puerto Rico, as well as the U.S.A. and Canada. Of course all of the Caribbean team members live in the U.S.A. and in the case of the Jamaican team were U.S. citizens even though born in Jamaica. In 1998 Jamaica beat Canada for 2nd in the team competition. This led to much discussion at a meeting prior to this years tournament. Canada pointed out that they have plenty of Jamaicans in Toronto. After much debate, during which the question was asked, "If your parents are Jamaican, what are you?", it was decided that the American Jamaicans could represent Jamaica this year but next year any Jamaican team would have to prove Jamaican citizenship. For an answer to his question the person who asked it might want to check with Gen. Colin Powell . His parents were born in Jamaica, but he was born in New York.
Left unaddressed in all the discussion was the Puerto Rican team, at least one member of which has no connection with Puerto Rico other than the fact that the team captain recruited him.
At some point the Caribbean should have its own Federation. But first we need to get someone who actually lives there doing sumo.
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SUMO DIGEST
The next Sumo Digest, for the Kyushu Basho, starts Monday Nov.8th at 11:30pm on KRCA channel 62.
Sameshima-san tells us that the reason there were no English graphics for this past basho was because his computer was down. Hopefully, we will have them next time.
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CALENDAR
Oct. 1st @ Tomioka Hachiman shrine (Tokyo)
Yokozuna Monument engraving ceremony. MUSASHIMARU's name added to monument.
Oct. 2nd @ The Kokugikan (Ryogoku, Tokyo)
ASAHIYUTAKA's Retirement Ceremony (will officially become Tatsunami Oyakata)
Oct. 3rd @ The Kokugikan (Ryogoku, Tokyo)
TOYONOUMI's Retirement Ceremony
Oct. 4th @ Meiji Shrine (Tokyo) Yokozuna Ring Entering Ceremony.
Oct. 6th @ The Kokugikan (Ryogoku, Tokyo)
23rd Ozumo Charity Tournament.
Oct. 9th-10th @ Nagoya, The 1999 Grand Sumo Championship.
Oct 10th @ Orange Co. Korean Festival, Garden Grove, 12pm, Ssireum tournament.
Nov. 7th -21st Fukuoka, Kyushu Basho.
Dec. 4th 7pm @ Bonsai 754 E. Colorado Blvd. Pasadena. Kyushu Basho PBB.
SUMO SHIMPO is published six times a year by The Southern California Sumo Kyokai. If you think it's worth reading, we need you to join the Southern California Sumo Kyokai for $5 a year per individual, or $10 per family. Comments and contributions are not only welcome, they are encouraged.
Editor Tonkatsu (Harry Dudrow)
Associate Ed. Yukikaze (Jim Lowerre)
WEB SITE, We are informed by Kaminishiki that he is moving the Site, so it may be down for a short time.
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