Current Issue -- December 2006

Shoryu Ends 2006 Perfectly

Junior Division Yusho Winners

   

Shoryu Ends 2006 Perfectly
Fifth 15-0 Eclipses Taka’s Mark
by “Yukikaze" for SUMO SHIMPO

Winning four yusho in a calendar year would be considered an exceptional season for most sumotori – unless your shikona happened to be Taiho, Kitanoumi, or Chiyonofuji.

It would have been safe to figure that yokozuna-East ASASHORYU (Mongolia) must have been somewhat ‘torqued’ to only have three Cups to his credit for the 2006 campaign.  But then he – along with the rest of Japan’s professional rikishi – returned to the Fukuoka Kokusai Center for the Kyushu Basho.  This place had given the “Mongolian Express” good karma:  he had won here in 2004 to start his historic run to sumo’s first true “Grand Slam” in the six-basho era (1958-present), and had returned twelve months later to put the exclamation point on his historic accomplishment.  Fukuoka’s fortune continued to smile on SHORYU this year, as he ‘ran the table’ on the field for his fourth Tenno-Hai of 2006 and 19th of his historic career.  It was his fifth zensho effort, which moved him past Takanohana (65) in that stellar statistic.

Four of the five ozeki survived losing to SHORYU to post acceptable marks.  #1-East CHIYOTAIKAI started very strongly with six consecutive wins and had his kachi on day 9.  But then he apparently lost focus – and five of his last six matches – to end matters at 9-6.  #1-West KOTOOSHU (Bulgaria) had no consistency in his effort, but did win two of every three to go 10-5.  Hatsu 2006 winner, #2-East TOCHIAZUMA was also 8-1 on day 9, but whatever had bogged TAIKAI down also infected the Tamanoi heyagashira as he lost 4 of his last six for a 10-5.  For someone who had done so badly in Tokyo that he was under demotion threat yet again, #3-West KAIO looked as if he’d been re-energized.  At the end of day 8 the hometown hero was just as zensho as SHORYU; but he then had to fight the other ozeki along with the 68th yokozuna, and the result was a 10-5 record that gives him 671 career Makunouchi wins.  The stock of #2-West HAKUHO (Mongolia) seems to have gone into a freefall steeper than that of Enron.  The Natsu 2006 champion who was being seen as a counterweight to SHORYU was injured during training, did not even answer the bell in Fukuoka, and is now kadoban.

Four of the six in the lower sanyaku managed to scrape out kachi efforts.  Despite having enough wins over the past three tournaments to qualify for re-promotion to ozeki, sekiwake-East MIYABIYAMA was most likely the victim of the logjam at that rank.  At this point, his earlier 14-1 no longer counts in the equation.  The higher-ranked member of Musashigawa Beya’s once-fearsome “College of Sumo Knowledge” keeps his current paycheck on the strength of an 8-7.  Sekiwake-West KOTOMITSUKI seems to be fitting into the mold of former Sadogatake stablemate Kotonishiki:  strong enough to hold a sekiwake slot, but not capable of making a run at ozeki rank.  The former college champion fought well for a 9-6.  The four-komusubi era has ended for the nonce:  two of the four at “the killer rank” will remain there in January.  #1-East KISENOSATO and #2-West ROHO (Russia) both finished at 8-7.  #1-West KOKKAI (Georgia Rep.) fell hard with a 3-12, while #2-East AMINISHIKI finished at 6-9.

Maegashira #11-East HOMASHO slugged out a 12-3 mark to take top hiramaku performance honors.  He also grabbed the Kanto-Sho (Fighting Spirit Prize) for himself and shared the Gino-Sho (Technique Prize) with #2-East KOTOSHOGIKU, who went 10-5.  Other notable maegashira postings:

 
#3-East TOKITENKU (Mongolia) (9-6)
#3-West DEJIMA (10-5)
#6-East KYOKUTENHO (Mongolia) (10-5)
#6-West BARUTO (Estonia) (10-5)
#9-East TAKAMISAKARI (10-5)
#9-West ASASEKIRYU (Mongolia) (10-5)
#14-East TAMAKASUGA (9-6)

Needless to say, neither the Shukun-Sho (Outstanding Performance Prize) nor any kinboshi were awarded.

In Juryo, #2-West JUMONJI won the second division’s yusho and earned himself a return to the banzuke’s top row with a strong 13-2 outing.  Other distinguished efforts among the ten-ryo boys:

#3-East KASUGANISHIKI (9-6)
#4-East TOKITSUUMI (10-5)
#7-West TOCHIOZAN (9-6)
#11-East WAKANOSATO (10-5)
#12-West KYOKUNANKAI (9-6)
#13-East SUMANOFUJI (9-6)

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JUNIOR DIVISION YUSHO WINNERS

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“Legendary” Yokozuna (10+ Yusho)

(updated after Kyushu 2006)

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The 600-Win Club

(updated after Kyushu 2006)

* Non-Japanese

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The ASASHORYU Watch

(begun after Kyushu 2006)

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2006 was a good year for the US Sumo Federation and its members.  There were a number of good tournaments and demonstrations throughout the year, along with an election for trustees and officers.

I would like to thank everyone again for electing me to be president and a trustee of the US Sumo Federation.  My phone and my E-mail will continue to be open for any questions, comments, suggestions, concerns and/or guidance.

With a few small changes in the plans, I hope the 2007 year promotes more memberships, more tournaments and more attendees and competitors in the World Sumo Championships.  We all have the common goal and objective of promoting the sport and US membership in a positive manner.  Let's continue to try to work together to further achieve what is best for our organization as a whole and be mindful and respectful to the IFS.

Respectfully yours,

Troy Collins
Trustee and President
UNITED STATES SUMO FEDERATION

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Sumo on YouTube
by “Tonkatsu” for SUMO SHIMPO

I first became aware of YouTube’s existence the evening of this year’s California Sumo Championships, when Gary Goltz sent me an e-mail with a link to a posting by Bradley Sutton.  Bradley has been filming sumo on his web cam and posting it on YouTube.  You can also find his videos on his own website at www.usasumo.net.

Recently, I decided to check out what other sumo-related postings I might find.  Having waded though the first 1100 of the slightly over 2600 postings I found under the heading “sumo”, I can tell you that it’s a pretty mixed bag.  Although I didn’t actually count them, at least half of the postings are of people in inflatable sumo suits goofing around.  A number of shots were taken at bashos in Japan (we wonder what NHK would think of that).  There were also shots from this year’s US Sumo Open and from pro exhibitions dating back as far as 1985, long before YouTube or even the Internet existed.

We found quite a lot of duplications.  For instance, a commercial that Manny Yarbrough did a few years ago pops up repeatedly.  In the sumo oddity department, we have such things as onna sumo, pretty girls in bikini bottoms (couldn’t tell about the tops) wrestling on the beach on Saipan.  There were also a number of shots of someone doing sumo deadlifts in a gym.  And finally, there were two robots trying to push each other out of a circle (“robosumo”).

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2007 to Mark Important Milestones
by “Tonkatsu” for SUMO SHIMPO

The year 2007 will mark a number of important milestones for amateur sumo in Southern California.

The first has to do with a judo club.  The Goltz Judo Club marks its twentieth anniversary in 2007.  Amateur sumo in Southern California would be much poorer if it wasn't for the friendship of Gary Goltz.  On January 27th we will have the first event of the Goltz Judo Club's twentieth year, Goltz Sumo X.  This event, which started as a kids’ tournament in January of 1998, has had its ups and downs over the years, but has become the annual kickoff to the Southern California sumo year.

2007 will also mark several anniversaries for the Southern California Sumo Kyokai.  It was in June of 1997 that this writer met Dr. Greg Wheeler at the first North American Sumo Championships at Hollywood Park Casino in Inglewood, California.  Struck by the fact that there were no local competitors, Greg and I appointed ourselves a committee of two to start the Southern California Sumo Kyokai.  In September of that year, the SCSK was formally organized as a California non-profit association.  Among the signers of the articles of association were Jim "Yukikaze" Lowerre and his wife Lorinda Kasten-Lowerre (aka the "Sumo Phreak").

One of the most important milestones will come in November, when we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the construction of the "Dohyo of Dreams."  It was Lorinda's idea to paraphrase the movie title and slogan.  We built a dohyo, and they have come indeed!

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2006 World Sumo Championships
Report by Troy Collins for SUMO SHIMPO

The 2006 World Sumo Championships saw Michelle Pike, Trent Sabo, Rene Marte, Kelly Gneiting and Troy Collins compete while Devon Kobashigawa and Dan Kalbfleisch attended the event to help support the US team.  Collins took seventh place coming two wins shy of a medal while Gneiting took fifth place; just one win shy of a medal for third place.  All of the US competitors had a lot of good competition in their respective weight divisions and gained invaluable knowledge and experience from watching a full day’s worth of matches.

One of the highlights of the 2006 World Sumo Championship was the hospitality of the International Sumo Federation (IFS), Mr. Tanaka, Mrs. Tanaka and Nihon University.  Trent Sabo, Devon Kobashigawa and Troy Collins all expressed interest in going to Japan early to train and study Sumo at Nihon University.  After a few calls and E-mails, Trent was able to stay in Nihon University's sumo dormitory for three (3) months, Devon for two (2) months and Troy for two (2) weeks.  Mr. Tanaka and the IFS arranged for the three (3) to live in the dorm, eat with the students on the Sumo Team and train seven (7) days a week in their dojo.  Trent, Devon and Troy were even treated to dinner and drinks several times during their stay by Mrs. Tanaka and Tsushima Hideto, the coach of the Nihon University Sumo Team.  Mrs. Tanaka received bundles of flowers for her birthday which was just a few days prior to the Championships while Mr. Tanaka and Mr. Hideto received bottles of scotch for their hospitality.

Despite having a small team this year, the 2006 World Sumo Championships was a very good and memorable event for the US Team.

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RESULTS OF THE 2006 IDAHOAN SUMO CLASSIC
(Snow King Resort, Jackson, WY)

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Current Holders of USSF Dan Rank

* eligible for promotion in May 2007

Current USSF Life Members

1. Harry Dudrow  2. Yoshisada Yonezuka  3. Jim Lowerre  4. Andrew Freund  5. Troy Collins  6. Hiroshi Matsuzaki  7. Manny Yarbrough (honorary)  8. Trent Sabo  9. Packy Bannevans  10. Doug Cochran  11. Tom Zabel  12. Dan Kalbfleisch  13. Kelly Bannevans  14. Richard Hopp

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Three Brother Pairs in Kyushu Basho
by “Tonkatsu” for SUMO SHIMPO

Kyushu Basho 2006 marked a first in the history of Grand Sumo.  For the first time there were not one, not two, but three pairs of brothers in the Makunouchi Division.

Of course, we have had brothers before, most recently Russian brothers ROHO and HAKUROZAN.  Of course, in the nineteen nineties it was brother yokozuna Takanohana (65) and Wakanohana (66).  This time, ROHO and HAKUROZAN were joined by AMINISHIKI and his elder brother ASOFUJI, and by KITAZAKURA and his younger brother TOYOZAKURA.

We were curious as to how many brother pairs there have been in the top division.  As always, for the answer to such a question, we turned to our trusty research editor Matsuzaki-san (“Honetekawa”).  Here are the results of his search (elder brother listed first) with highest rank, date of Makunouchi entry and date of retirement.

  So, how did the the three pair of brothers fare?  Not so well.  Of the six, only ROHO went kachi-koshi and only 8-7 at that.  HAKUROZAN lost his first eight matches and then won seven in a row.  Since he was maegashira 14 W, we think it unlikely that he will stay in the top division. AMINISHIKI and ASOFUJI both went 6-9.  TOYOZAKURA went 5-10, with KITAZAKURA bringing up the rear at 4-11.

We suspect that at least one and perhaps two of the brothers will be going back down the “erabeta” to juryo, so the three pair of brothers will most likely be a one-basho thing..

* There might have been a brother trio, as Sakahoko and Terao had an elder brother named Kakureizan who never made it above juryo.

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Sumo in the Tetons Draws SRO Crowd, Raises Funds for Children’s Sanctuary
Report by “Yukikaze” for SUMO SHIMPO

It was “taint season” in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.  Or so it was explained by the owner of the hat and leather shop where I was ordering a custom-length buffalo leather belt.  He said it was because “t’ain’t no snow, t’ain’t no people, and t’ain’t no money!”  Walking through the town I saw his point:  the weather was too cold for summer activities, but the snow had not yet fallen in sufficient quantity to open the numerous ski resorts in the region.  As a result many businesses were closed, and those restaurants that were open were offering minimal menu choices.  Against this backdrop, the Snow King Resort had offered its facilities (and reduced room rates) to current US heavyweight champion Kelly Gneiting and the Snake River Sumo Association for the 2006 Idahoan Sumo Classic, a charity event to benefit the Pearl House Children’s Home in Idaho Falls, Idaho.

This writer had never been to Jackson Hole, and had never seen the Teton Range except in pictures.  Then, the lovely and gracious “Sumo Phreek” had recently completed a professional association jaunt to San Antonio, Texas.  And finally:  thanks to my job change (and the increased compensation that accompanied it) I could afford to go.  But right from the tachi-ai I had no desire to compete – instead I offered my services in any support capacity where my experience might be an asset.  This got a very enthusiastic response from Kelly:  he strongly encouraged me to come up.  And despite some paperwork problems I did exactly that.  I had a friend who drives for a limousine service take me to LAX, flew from there to Salt Lake City, switched over to a regional route, and was at the Jackson Hole airport an hour after that.  There was a minor snafu regarding the resort shuttle which was to pick me up, but it finally arrived.  The menu at the resort’s restaurant was somewhat restricted, but the food was quite good and the service was exceptional (it should have been – in many instances during my stay I was the only person eating there).  That night I found myself playing rendezvous arranger for many of the SoCal contingent who were going to drive up (good thing I had national calling on my mobile phone).  Finally everyone was at Meade Station at 10:30PM, and they started their long trek from there soon afterwards.

Friday was spent exploring the town on foot and via the Town Shuttle, both of which were fascinating experiences.  The SoCal crew arrived at the resort that evening along with Carl Pappalardo, who had flown in from New York.  We all piled into the minivan and drove to the Teton Steakhouse, which had offered food sponsorships for the participants.  Since the number of coupons exceeded the number of people, we had the remaining couponed steak dinners packed ‘to go’.  When we returned to the resort Kelly was there along with his long-time friend Casey Burns.  We moved en masse to the large ballroom where the event would take place and unloaded the dohyo mats (they would need to sit in a warm place overnight).  Later that evening the single males would learn a hard fact about Jackson Hole:  the male-to-female ratio here makes it very tough for guys to ‘get lucky’.

By Saturday afternoon, the mats were warm enough to unroll and assemble.  Setup proceeded during the day:  by evening there were chairs along three sides of the dohyo and a scorers’ table at the fourth.  When the doors finally opened, representatives from Pearl House handled the gate donations.  The resort had a concession stand doing brisk business, while Idahoan Foods handed out samples and watched the action transpire.  Casey had set up his computer (complete with its massive music collection) on the scorers’ table.  As I had suspected would happen from the start, Kelly handed me the referee’s commission along with the responsibility of making an occasional informative talk to the audience when a break was needed.

Those who follow amateur sumo seriously know that the most exciting action comes out of the lightweight division.  Current USA lightweight champ Trent Sabo and his Oceanside teammate Jason Gilbert had come up from SoCal.  Waiting for them were three of Idaho’s toughest small men:  Patrick Burns, Tyler Olsen and Levi Kendrick.  The bouts were fast, frenetic and very, very furious as the crowd quickly got taken up in the excitement.  When the dust had cleared Trent had the first place honors, Tyler came in second, and Patrick held the third slot.

Only two middleweights were present.  It was a bit disappointing that Rye McAffee had chosen not to show, but the very strong and capable Matt Anderson represented the Gem State quite well.  He prevailed over SoCal’s Kurt Rightmyer in a best-two-of-three series.

Kelly was looking at serious heavyweight competition from Californians Dan Kalbfleisch and Steve Jimenez.  The first bout saw Kelly clip Dan in the face unintentionally and split his lip; but Dan refused to let it stop him as he took the match.  The double round-robin resulted in a playoff which ended with Kelly in the top position, Dan second and Steve third.

Michelle Pike had made the long trip in the hopes there would be someone for her to battle.  And she was not disappointed, as Natalie Burns and Sherice Farmer came forward to test themselves against her.  The final order of finish was Natalie, Michelle and Sherice.

One of the sticking points of the evening was that neither Casey nor Carl could compete in the tournament due to their previous participation in the World Sumo League.  They grappled each other in a match that was allowed to taper off to a draw, then took turns against kids who had raised their hands in response to an offer to take on one of these big men.  Of course the kids won every match, and did so in decisive fashion.

Most of the competitors in the men’s action stepped forward for the single-elimination Open competition.  The final match had Dan and Matt fight tough with no nonsense.  In the end, California’s strongest water deliveryman prevailed for the title.  Tyler finished up in third.

Jeff Riddle of Golden State Sumo was not able to make the trip to Jackson Hole, so he provided cash prizes to be given to the winner in each division.  And every medalist received a supply of potato products courtesy of Idahoan Foods.  This writer noted that virtually every chair was occupied, that there were a lot of folks around the periphery taking in all the action, and that no one left before everything was done.  A standing-room-only crowd:  incredibly gratifying both for the participants and the cause.

Afterwards came the really fun part:  disassembling the dohyo and repacking it into its trailer – a process which included carrying it down an exterior flight of stairs.  When that was done I crawled back to my room and into bed.  With all that had happened, on Sunday I was so sore all over I could barely move – and I hadn’t even wrestled anyone!  Good thing I had planned my return trip for Monday.

The SoCal folks who had driven up started back on Sunday.  Kelly came by on Monday morning, to talk to the resort people about some remaining issues.  But when he found out I was still there, he took me to Bubba’s Bar-B-Q for breakfast.  And this was no small meal, but a huge Western-sized repast that even I had to work at to get myself wrapped around it.  Afterwards Kelly asked if I wanted to go anywhere special, and I said I still wanted some good photos of the Teton Range.  So he drove me onto the National Elk Refuge north of town.  It was a beautifully clear morning, and I was able to get what I considered “postcard-quality” shots of the famous mountain range and the very picturesque surrounding area.  We didn’t see any elk, but there was a large herd of buffalo about 200 yards off the road.  The warning signs were quite explicit:  stay on the road, do not try to approach any of the animals, if you get too close they can and will hurt or kill you even if you are a champion amateur sumo wrestler (okay, they didn’t say that last part!).  So I stayed close by Kelly’s minivan and let my zoom lens do the close-in work.

This event raised over $2,000.00 for Pearl House.  However, I was subsequently informed that another food distributor had contributed funds, making the total more than $2,800.00.  The Snow King Resort is considering having us back next year.  And another fund-raising event may be in the offing for April or May of 2007.

Kelly Gneiting contributed to this report.

(Editor’s Note:  Pearl House Children's Home of Idaho Falls can be reached at 208-535-2273; or at http://pearlhouse.org.)

<<  HEAVY ACTION IN SNOW COUNTRY US Junior champion Steve Jimenez returns to his side of the dohyo after downing US heavyweight champ Kelly Gneiting at the 2006 Idahoan Sumo Classic at the Snow King Resort in Jackson, WY.  (Photo:  not known)

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California Sumo Calendar for 2007

CLASSES/TRAINING SESSIONS

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

COMPETITIONS

(T) = Tentative

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