August 2006

Shoryu Diagnosis:  No Power Loss

The 600-Win Club

   
Shoryu Diagnosis:  No Power Loss
Wins First 14 for Number 17:  Hakuho Shows Strength
by “Yukikaze" for SUMO SHIMPO

There was perhaps a small amount of drama heading into the Aichi Prefectural Taiikukan – namely, whether the elbow injury that had forced yokozuna-East ASASHORYU (Mongolia) to ‘ride the pines’ in May would have any carryover into the 2006 Nagoya Basho.  That question lasted perhaps five days at the most, as the “Mongolian Express” won his first 14 torikumi to take hold of the Tenno-Hai for the 17th time.  There might have been some question as to whether SHORYU went all out in his senshuraku loss to ozeki #1-East HAKUHO (Mongolia).  (Takanohana (65) had been known to ‘mail it in’ on the final day if he had the Cup clinched.)  But this writer doesn’t believe SHORYU dogged that last match, for two reasons:  1) he still had a chance for a zensho yusho, and 2) he probably didn’t want HAKUHO to look too good for purposes of any future Yokozuna Deliberation Council action.  From the moment of his shonichi loss to komusubi-East (and SHORYU stablemate) ASASEKIRYU (Mongolia), HAKUHO was forced to play catch-up.  A day 9 loss to his Natsu playoff opponent, sekiwake-East MIYABIYAMA, turned out to be the difference between a playoff and a chance at the brass ring – and a 13-2 jun-yusho which (as far as the YDC is probably concerned) sends “Sleeping Thunder” back to Square One.

HAKUHO’s performance was easily the class of the ozeki contingent.  The other performances ranged from acceptable to poor.  #1-West CHIYOTAIKAI won 9 of his first 10 torikumi, but then lost his last 5 for a 9-6 mark.  That effort was matched by #2-East KAIO who was never able to establish a pattern, but who now has 660 Makunouchi Division wins:  at this rate he should move past Takamiyama’s mark of 683 next January.  This marks the second tournament in a row that #2-West KOTOOSHU (Bulgaria) has been underwhelming:  he won 6 of his first 8 matches, but could only finish with an 8-7.  Is the “Bulgarian Blastwave” in danger of becoming the “Bulgarian Bust-out”?  #3-West TOCHIAZUMA actually won his first 8 bouts to remove the kadoban that had hung over his head, but then collapsed completely to an 8-7.  These efforts may have had some of the audience reaching for their cushions to throw them in disgust – but no ozeki will be vulnerable going into the September action.

In the lower sanyaku:  MIYABI was at 5-5 heading into day 11, but then won his last 5 matches to stand tall at 10-5.  This gives him 24 wins in his last two basho at sekiwake, which places him in a very solid position to regain the ozeki rank he last held in September 2001 as a member of Musashigawa Beya’s powerful “College of Sumo Knowledge”.  (There has never been a banzuke in which six sumotori have been ranked at ozeki.)  Sekiwake-East KOTOMITSUKI fought very hard for a man who might (realistically) be out of his depth, and scratched out an 8-7 to keep treading water.  ASASEKIRYU may have derailed HAKUHO’s yokozuna hopes and helped his sempei, but that drew bad karma upon him:  he found himself where SHORYU was last basho, on the outside with an injury and finishing with an effective record of 1-2-12 – but unlike his stable brother, he will be sliding down into the hiramaku lists for the Aki action.  Komusubi-West KISENOSATO was taking it on the chin in the early going; but 6 victories in the last 7 days gave him a hard-fought 8-7 and a sanyaku paycheck for at least a couple more months.

In the maegashira ranks, rikishi from Kataonami Beya distinguished themselves:  #10-East TAMANOSHIMA posted an 11-4 mark and garnered the Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) while stablemate #12-West TAMAKASUGA also went 11-4 and won the Gino-Sho (Technique Prize).  Other noteworthy hiramaku performances:

#4-West BARUTO (Estonia) (9-6)
#5-West KOKKAI (Georgia Republic) (10-5)
#8-East TOKITENKU (Mongolia) (10-5)
#10-West IWAKIYAMA (9-6)
#11-East TOYONOSHIMA (9-6)
#12-East TOCHINONADA (10-5)
#13-West TAKEKAZE (10-5)
#14-East HOMASHO (9-6)

Un-noteworthy:  #3-East ROHO (Russia) was suspended for a couple of days as a disciplinary action (see Moore article in this issue for details).

There were no kinboshi awarded.  The Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) also was not awarded.

It may not have been as decisive as BARUTO’s zensho effort earlier in the year, but #6-East HOCHIYAMA’s 13-2 easily dominated the Juryo Division standings and will probably result in promotion to the top row for the Aki festivities.  Other notable performances among the ‘contenders for the first rank’:

#2-West KASUGANISHIKI (9-6)
#3-West ASOFUJI (9-6)
#4-East KAKURYU (Mongolia) (9-6)
#4-West SATOYAMA (9-6)
#5-East SHIMOTORI (10-5)
#3-West ASOFUJI (9-6)
#8-East OTSUKASA (9-6)
#13-West SHUNKETSU (10-5)
#14-East TAKANOWAKA (9-6)
#14-West RYUO (Mongolia) (9-6)

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The 600-Win Club

(updated after Nagoya 2006)

* Non-Japanese

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“Legendary” Yokozuna (10+ Yusho)

(updated after Nagoya 2006)

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JUNIOR DIVISION YUSHO WINNERS

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RESULTS OF 2006 CALIFORNIA OPEN SUMO CHAMPIONSHIP
(Hughes Community Centre, Claremont, CA)

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Dan Kalbfleisch Top Dog at California Open
by “Tonkatsu” for SUMO SHIMPO

July 22, 2006 saw mother Dudrow’s number one son rise early after a mostly sleepless night due to a severe attack of SRI (sumo-related insomnia) and greet the sun on his sixty-sixth birthday.  He quickly assembled himself for the drive to Claremont and the seventh renewal of the California Open Sumo Championships.  At least this morning he didn’t have to load the dohyo into his truck.  As usual, he forgot something (the waiver forms).  A quick to-go breakfast from Jack in the Box and he was on the road.

With invaluable help from Monica Ryczek, Cameron Ryczek  and Alicia, the Mount Baldy Room was quickly set up to await the ring and (hopefully) some wrestlers.  Jim Lowerre arrived and assembled the dohyo; but it had been less than a month since he’d had his appendix removed, so he would be running the scoring table this day.  There were some nervous moments in the next hour as most of the competitors were late.  Finally, eight kids, one woman and eight men answered the bell.  The 2006 California Open Sumo Championships were under way.

The action started with the children’s matches.  The Little Kids’ bracket consisted of Judy Morrow (SCSK), Shannon Cochran (GSS), and Eileen McNair and John Stowbridge (Goltz).  The bigger and a lot bigger kids were divided into two two-man pools who then also fought a four-man open division.  The first pool consisted of Cameron and Zeff Farias (both Goltz).  The second pool had Brandon Freel and Steven Simpson (both SCSK).

As the biggest kid in her group and the champion from Goltz Sumo IX and Shunbun 2006, Judy appeared to be the favorite.  But Goltz Judo girl Eileen had other ideas, going 2-0 to take the gold.  Judy was second and Shannon third.

In bigger boys’ action, Cameron took two in a row from Zeff, who was making his sumo debut.  The same pattern prevailed in the biggest boy’s pool with Steven taking a pair from Brandon, who was also making his sumo debut.  The kids’ action finished with an open division in which the four boys ranged from Zeff (85 pounds) and Cameron (90 pounds) to Brandon (142) and Steven (208).  The resulting competition was just like the All-Japan Elementary Championships where kids are matched by age and not size.  Steven took first, but Cameron came through for the silver while Brandon got the bronze.

Michelle Pike was the only entrant in the women’s competition.  As usual in such cases, Michelle had the choice of getting her entry fee back or receiving the championship medal:  she took the latter.  Just so her drive wasn’t in vain, she fought an exhibition against Steven Simpson.  Steven had a slight age advantage over Michelle, and a significant weight edge, but she finally prevailed in two well-fought matches.

Attention now turned to the men’s weight-class competitions.  With National lightweight champion Trent Sabo already in Japan training for the Worlds, it fell to runner-up Jason Gilbert to carry the Oceanside Sumo Kyokai’s colors in the lightweight division.  His only challenger was Art Morrow (SCSK).  Art, who had just been presented with his shodan certificate, hoped to show how age and treachery could prevail over youth and strength.  Art gave it a good try, but didn’t get the cigar.

The middleweight division saw current National champion Troy Collins (CSA) win one more title by besting Doug Cochran (GSS), Brad Sutton (CSA) and Kurt Rightmyer (SCSK).  Troy plans to retire after this year’s Worlds:  it will be interesting to see which member of the very strong SoCal middleweight class can ‘sumo up’ to assume Troy’s weighty mantle.

Before going to the heavyweight action, a break was taken so that Art and Kurt could contest the 40+ Masters division.  Kurt prevailed with two consecutive wins.

Three men answered the bell to challenge for the heavyweight division crown.  Last year’s middleweight champion Dan Kalbfleisch (CSA), who had deliberately packed on some poundage to ‘fleet up’, emerged from some very fierce matches with the gold medal.  Wes Jones (OSK) took the silver and Steve Jimenez (SCSK) the bronze.

After all that, seven of the eight men stepped forward for more punishment in the Open Division.  While all the other divisions of the day were fought as round robins, the Open was a single elimination with repechage.  The combination of diverse weights (from 176-pound Jason Gilbert to 425-pound Steve Jimenez), plus the luck of the bottle draw for slots on the bracket, meant that this competition would be unpredictable as always.  At first, it looked like form was going to prevail as National open champion Troy worked his way through Wes and Steve to a final against Dan, whose road had gone through Jason and Brad.  The championship saw Dan prevail over the man known as Downtown LA’s top athlete with an oshitaoshi win that came after a very exciting battle.  In the meantime, Steve found himself faced with yet another match with Nationals nemesis Wes in order to earn a match with Brad for the bronze medal.  This time Steve prevailed, sending Wes crashing out of the ring for an oshitaoshi win.  This set up the final match of the day between Steve and Brad, each of whom had had an MTV film crew following them the whole time.  So in effect, they were not only fighting for the bronze medal but the un-official MTV championship to boot.  When the smoke cleared Brad had the bronze medal – and MTV had some great footage.

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CALIFORNIA WINNING…The adult medalists in this year’s California Open Sumo Championships gather for a group picture.  From left:  Kurt Rightmyer, Troy Collins, Brad Sutton, Dan Kalbfleisch, Steve Jimenez, Art Morrow, Jason Gilbert, Michelle Pike and Wes Jones.  (Photo:  “Yukikaze”)

<< DON’T MESS WITH US KIDS, WE BE TOUGH…The juvenile medalists in this year’s California Open Sumo Championships get together.  Front row:  Eileen McNair, Shannon Cochran and Judy Morrow.  Back row:  Cameron Ryczek, Steven Simpson and Brandon Freel.  (Photo:  “Yukikaze”)

>> WHO SAID SUMO ISN’T GRACEFUL?… Women’s Open champion Michelle Pike forces out Boys’ Open winner Steven Simpson in a best-2-of-3 special exhibition match at the 2006 California Open Sumo Championships, as US middleweight champ Troy Collins looks on in judgment.  (Photo:  “Yukikaze”)

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July '06 Nagoya Basho
by Kent Moore, Secretary, Newport Beach Sister City Association, Okazaki Committee
Exclusive to SUMO SHIMPO

Early on the morning of July 9, the first day of the Nagoya Basho, I was picked up at the Okazaki Grand Hotel by Dr. Tsuneo Okada and some members of the Okazaki South Rotary Club (Kotomitsuki Supporters Association members) and whisked away to the Sadogatake training stable facilities in Nagoya to attend morning practice.  Nagoya is less than an hour's drive away.

Dr. Okada is the president of Kotomitsuki's koenkai and had invited me months before to be his guest at the tournament when I visited Japan in July to complete a writing assignment involving early Porsche automobiles and their Japanese owners.

We were ushered to a special viewing area and observed several rikishi involved in a strenuous workout session.  They were covered with dirt and sweat as a result of being repeatedly thrown in practice.  Looking on sternly from ringside was the stablemaster, who was the 53rd Yokozuna, Kotozakura.  It is he that has added "Koto" to the sumo names of all his disciples.  Sadogatake is the master name which has been in existence for about 200 years now and the 11th Sadogatake, "Kotonishiki The First," established "Sadogatake Stable" in 1955.  "Koto" is also the word for the classical Japanese zither.  Currently the stable has 20 some wrestlers, including 3 Sekitori.  I believe that Sekitori is the term used to refer to any professional sumo wrestler in the top two divisions, Jyuryo and Makunouchi.

Warming up on the sidelines were Kotomitsuki and Kotooshu.  I was astounded at seeing firsthand how the 6'7" 300 lb. Kotooshu was put together physically.  To me, he resembles an NFL defensive end with a muscular upper body and powerful legs.  13other men were involved in a series of stretching exercises awaiting their turn in the dohyo.  Kotomitsuki began his workout with a series of extended pushing moves across the ring against another stablemate.  Then came the sparring itself with Kotomitsuki throwing his lower-ranked opponents time and time again under the steady gaze of Kotozakura.  Occasionally, the stablemaster would shout at the combatants and it is my understanding that during lackluster performances, he occasionally strikes the players with a bamboo stick to "get them focused and back on task." (A bit of old educational terminology!)

Next up was Kotooshu.  For some reason the object of his and Kotomitsuki's attention on this particular morning was the Maegashira, Kotoshogiku, who looked to be thoroughly exhausted.  Again and again he was thrown and he winced and grimaced each time he hit the floor.  I was astounded to find out that these particular 3 rikishi were expected to wrestle again at 3:00 PM at the basho held at the Nagoya Municipal Gymnasium.  And I never realized that these "practices" take place each morning during the 15 day tournament.  I wondered to myself, "How can they' possibly rest and be ready to go again in just a few hours??"

Practice ended about 9:30 AM and it was time for the traditional sumo meal of chankonabe or "chanko."  Koenkai members were invited to be seated on the mats while the wrestlers showered.  After a few minutes, Kotomitsuki arrived.  We took pictures and then sampled our "brunch" which included beer and water, chanko and some interesting side dishes.  The chanko was very tasty.  I exchanged gifts with Kotomitsuki and we had a few words which were translated by one of my Okazaki friends who is English proficient.  At one point we had run out of water and I asked the lady who was serving us, "Mizou dozo?"  She replied, "What's the matter, don't you like the beer?"  Startled, I asked her where she learned to speak such perfect English?  She replied, "Oh, I went to school in Boston for a couple of years."  (These "it's a small world" situations came up many times during my visit.)  As it turned out, this lovely lady is Kotozakura's daughter and married to former sumo star Kotonowaka, who is succeeding his father-in-law as stablemaster of Sadogatake Beya.  Dr. Okada then took me over to meet Kotozakurawho immediatelyasked me how old I was.  It seems he is two years younger than I am but suffering from diabetes.  His left foot had to be amputated and I understand many retired sumotori have a variety of diet and sports-related ailments.  We said our sayonaras, took more photos and decided to visit a couple of local temples prior to going to the basho at 3:00 PM.  I also took this opportunityto purchase presents for all the Rotarians and koenkai members for distribution at a party which was to be held in my honor the following evening.

Entering the arena was very exciting as the hall was jam-packed for the first day of competition.  Several of us had on Kotomitsuki T-shirts and other apparel, as did other groups of sumo fans.  Dr.Okada had to return to Okazaki for a meeting but had secured outstanding seats for the remainder of our party.  The Jyuryo Division was just finishing up so one of my koenkai friends, a Rotary official, took me down to see Kotomitsuki in the dressing room area.  This was a great honor and on the way down we stopped in to pay our respects to Mr. Hirohiko Oshima, Director and Supreme Advisor to The Tokyo Shimbun.  With him was Mr. Torao Oshima, President of the Chunichi Shimbun-Sha in Nagoya.  Both gentlemen were told that this was my first visit to a basho and gave me a warm greeting.  We exchanged cards and gained permission to enter the locker room.  It was quite a sight with the rikishi warming up, returning from matches, having their hair attended to and (in general) psyching themselves up for their matches.  We had one more photo session with Kotomitsuki who we wished the best of luck.  He was taped in several spots due to recurring ankle and other injuries.

Finally, it was time for the Makuuchi Division to begin their matches.  The East and West players all came up in their kesho-mawashi ceremonial aprons.  Asashoryu, whose May elbow injury had mended, entered and carried out the dohyo-iri opening ceremony accompanied by his assistants in this centuries-old tradition.  After this, the 9 top-ranked rikishi entered the ring and faced the crowd.  Sekiwake Kotomitsuki was in the last row and stood just behind Ozeki Kotooshu.  After that, the referee and judges entered.  The referee was attired in a kimono patterned after the style worn by the samurai of the Kamakura period and wore a black court hat.  The judges wore black formal kimonos.  Sometimes matches have to be decided by the judges who climb into the ring and settle the matter among themselves.  It was all very impressive.

The matches began and we settled into 3 hours of exciting, non-stop sumo.  I watched intently as the names I had read about in Japan Times stories on the Internet suddenly materialized into the real deal, as they entered the ring to do battle.  Two matches had to be decided by the judges, a couple of players were thrown into the front row of fans, and another player was injured and had to be helped to the locker room.  Finally, up came Kotomitsuki paired off against Kakizoe.  But, alas, it wasn't to be as Kotomitsuki fell in defeat in his first match.  However, he must be one of the more popular sumotori as he was cheered on by the crowd during the bout and given applause afterwards as he retired to the dressing room.  However, after 15 days had passed it was Kotomitsuki again securing an 8-7 majority win, the very same record he has posted for the past 4 tournaments in a row and I am told he will be assured of retaining his status as sekiwake.  Kotooshu also finished 8-7 and Kotoshogiku had a very disappointing 15 days indeed.  And Shoryu, the "Mongolian Express," came back from his injuries with a vengeance and posted a 14-1 tournament record, winning the Emperor's Cup and only losing to the very impressive and possibly next yokozuna, Hakuho, who is one rough customer in the ring, believe me.  Prior to the yokozuna's match on day one there were no less than 20 sponsorship banners paraded around the dohyo valued at $300 apiece.  That means that the winner, Shoryu, got a $6,000 bonus for his victory.  A few days later, in a surprise, Roho from Russia was suspended for 3 days for breaking a mirror in the dressing room area and assaulting two photographers after his loss to Chiyotaikai.  He later apologized but there may be more official sanctions handed down.  And in a rare moment during the first day, the fans threw red cushions when Shoryu scowled and made rather uncomplimentary gestures toward his opponent who he had just thrown out of the ring.  My friends indicated that this type of move on the part of the fans was rare and all agreed that Shoryu is a very poor sportsman on occasions.  I have also seen this verified in newspaper accounts.

Clearly, the Japanese fans would like to see one of their own countrymen ranked #1 in the future.  But don't look for this to happen soon.

I must say that I consider myself very lucky indeed to be associated with our Newport Beach Sister City, Okazaki, and its Kotomitsuki Supporters Association members.  It was truly an honor to be invited to the Nagoya Basho by my friend, Dr. Okada, and I will treasure this experience forever.

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CALENDAR OF SUMO EVENTS (compiled by the SUMO SHIMPO staff)

CLASSES/TRAINING SESSIONS

Fees may be charged for training session attendance.  Contact the listed STAGING ORGANIZATION for latest information.

COMPETITIONS

(T) = Tentative

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