Sumo, What Do You Think?

[roots reggae]

The May Grand Sumo Tournament is currently underway.

What do you think of sumo?

Now, I don't pretend to be an expert nor a huge fan, however for the past fourteen years I've watched each tournament on NHK. I start watching the last 45 minutes for the entire two weeks, listening in to the English commentary.

The sport is now dominated by Mongolians, with all three current Yokozuna, the highest rank, from that country, as well as one ozeki, the second highest rank.

My favorite wrestler was the mighty Asashōryū Akinori, who was one of the best and one of the most controversial. He was forced to retire after a history of violating the "sumo code." The last offense involved getting involved in an altercation at a bar in downtown Nishiazabu after winning the January 2010 tournament.

Since then, I've found the sport much less interesting.

Another favorite was Japanese ozeki Kaiō Hiroyuki, one of the most loved wrestlers in modern times. He retired in July 2011 after winning a record 1045 matches in the top makuuchi division.

So, what do you think of sumo and who are you favorite and least favorite wrestlers?

Here's my hero, Asashōryū, kicking butt on Bulgarian Baruto back in the day:

 

[scorpioni6ths]

The last wrestlers that I've watched/followed were the brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana, late 90's. Both went on to become yokozuna. Nowadays, I only watch sumo inside the sauna of the local sento.

 

[User#8628]

I don't follow it at all and i don't have a favorite but i went to a match once and i generally enjoyed it.

Fighting matches are pleasant to watch imo.

I remembered the memoirs of a geisha scene where the wrestler did hataki komi that symbolized that someone who is less big can also win. Saw some examples of hataki komi being used, of which an unexpected win, and i think it looks very impressive.

 

[MikeH]

The last wrestlers that I've watched/followed were the brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana, late 90's. Both went on to become yokozuna. Nowadays, I only watch sumo inside the sauna of the local sento.

I also stopped following when Taka and Waka retired. Though Waka had some interesting adventures after that trying to break to American Football and whatnot. And they only show baseball in my local sento.

 

[Soapysoap66]

I like it and would like to watch it live some day.

 

[RIDER 00]

Sorry to say but Asashoryu ruined sumo. I know I sound like a Japanese racist purist, but a heel Yokozuna who had no honor, acted like a dick, got cheap shots in whenever he could, did not respect tradition, and showed off every time he won was a disgrace to the sport.

In WWE terms, he was Stone Cold Steve Austin. A heel who doesn't obey the rules and gets popular by sticking it to the man, which, in this case, was the Japanese establishment. I can understand why he was popular among foreigners and non-conformists, but I'm in the school who detests him for being so disrespectful. It was a joyful day when he finally took things too far by beating up a man at a bar and being forced to retire from the sport.

I loved him when he was a raw rookie with talent and a ton of potential. But, along the way, the Japanese competition disappeared and he was left unchecked to do whatever he wanted.

Damn shame that Hakuho has gone the same way too, doing whatever he can to win. Winning championships without honor is as good as winning a stinking gold turd that's at least worth a good sum of money. But that's all it is - money.

When a Japanese yokozuna finally reappears, Japan will be quick to forget about all the Mongolian yokozuna. They will be remembered as the Mongolian anomaly.

Again, I know I sound like a racist, but that's just the way I feel after too many of them have turned out to be honor-less pricks. Takanohana was the last true Yokozuna who had to face challenges every day and over come them. Asashoryu and Hakuho had it too easy. The other mongolian yokozuna will never amount to much.

Give me Takamisakari any day. He was the people's champion. He may not have been even close to Ozeki class, but he had the heart of a champion. That's what sumo is about.

Remember when Takamisakari beat Asahoryu against all odds? The Japanese public erupted in love and joy for him. Asashoryu never had that. The public was always generally rooting against him. That's the sign of a heel, and heels are never the true champions of any sport.

 

[RIDER 00]

I like it and would like to watch it live some day.

The floor seats costs too much and you need connections. The box seats are too crapped to fit in the 4 people they are supposed to seat. And the 2nd floor seats are cheap but too far away from the action. Pick your poison.

 

[Wwanderer]

Like others above, I only followed Sumo seriously for several years when the Waka/Taka brothers were active along with the likes of Akebono and Musashimaru, and who could forget Konishiki?! Actually my interest in the sport started a few years earlier, and I got to see the legendary and masterful Chiyonofuji ("The Wolf") play a few times shortly before he retired, arguably the greatest rikishi in the modern history of Sumo. But after Waka and Taka retired, I did not maintain much interest. I haven't been to a match in years.

-Ww

 

[Wwanderer]

I think sumo resembles baseball in some ways. Neither looks particularly interesting, exciting or sophisticated at casual inspection by a newbie, but both are filled with extremely complex and intricate considerations and skills, to say nothing of moments of exquisite tension, that produce the fascination the sport holds for its serious fans. In both, "nothing is happening" (aside tension slowly ratcheting up) most of the time, interspersed with brief explosions of intense athletic activity. People who love continuous actions sports like basketball or football/soccer are not usually baseball or sumo fans in any major way.

-Ww

 

[DJV]

Sumo has always impressed me, and yes I watched Takanohana/Wakanohana/Musashimaru live. (with one of the brothers as a judge)
I regret not seeing live Akebono, he seems like the most unbeatable/scary guy I've ever seen.
Musashimaru was scary but I suspect he's a teddy bear in real life. Maybe he is gay, or so I've suspected over the years.
I like hungarians rikishis : I relate to them when as a gaijin I try to find my way into japanese customs and spirit The fact that they are so hairy is really hilarious

 

[roots reggae]

Sorry to say but Asashoryu ruined sumo. I know I sound like a Japanese racist purist, but a heel Yokozuna who had no honor, acted like a dick, got cheap shots in whenever he could, did not respect tradition, and showed off every time he won was a disgrace to the sport.

Yeah, my wife feels the same as you.

Admittedly, I am not a super fan. I only judged a wrestler on what I saw in the brief seconds/minutes of the match. On that basis, Asashōryū reigned supreme, with a few exceptions, as you mentioned.

You called it when you described people who liked Asashōryū as non-conformists. Much of the time I am exactly that. But, hey, non-conformists play a valuable role in society when one considers the big picture.

We probably both share sentiments about Kaiō, who was everything Asashōryū was not.

 

[RIDER 00]

Yeah, my wife feels the same as you.

Admittedly, I am not a super fan. I only judged a wrestler on what I saw in the brief seconds/minutes of the match. On that basis, Asashōryū reigned supreme, with a few exceptions, as you mentioned.

You called it when you described people who liked Asashōryū as non-conformists. Much of the time I am exactly that. But, hey, non-conformists play a valuable role in society when one considers the big picture.

We probably both share sentiments about Kaiō, who was everything Asashōryū was not.

Well, even in the matches, you could see him getting cheap shots (shoves) into his opponent after he had already won to show off and act like a "big man." Hakuho's getting a lot of flak for doing the same thing now.

It was funny when Asashoryu did that to Hakuho once and they almost fought in the dohyo. Hakuho had the look of "get your dirty hands off me" and Asashoryu was cowering like "Shit. He's gonna punch me."

It's fine that Asashoryu had fans. He was super talented. But, to me, especially with sumo, that's not the only thing that makes a great sumo wrestler.
You need humility and gracefulness. Takanohana always helped his opponent stand up after they had been knocked down. Asashoryu and Hakuho just went further and shoved them into the crowd without care for the safety of others.

Not really a big Kaio fan. He had a long steady career and was tough to beat, but he shouldn't have given up his arm breaking move.
That at least made his sumo a little more exciting than the standard yorikiri push out.

 

[roots reggae]

Well, even in the matches, you could see him getting cheap shots (shoves) into his opponent after he had already won to show off and act like a "big man." Hakuho's getting a lot of flak for doing the same thing now.

It was funny when Asashoryu did that to Hakuho once and they almost fought in the dohyo. Hakuho had the look of "get your dirty hands off me" and Asashoryu was cowering like "Shit. He's gonna punch me."

It's fine that Asashoryu had fans. He was super talented. But, to me, especially with sumo, that's not the only thing that makes a great sumo wrestler.
You need humility and gracefulness. Takanohana always helped his opponent stand up after they had been knocked down. Asashoryu and Hakuho just went further and shoved them into the crowd without care for the safety of others.

Not really a big Kaio fan. He had a long steady career and was tough to beat, but he shouldn't have given up his arm breaking move.
That at least made his sumo a little more exciting than the standard yorikiri push out.

Once again, I bow to your superior knowledge. In my perspective, it's the nature of the beast in shoving out the opponent afterwards. The heat of the moment gets out of control and it's not easy to turn that off in a split second. The athlete trains to "give his all" during a match.

The only sport I know intimately is volleyball. Until my knees gave out, I played in more tournaments that I can count, from my twenties until over fifty. I learned that no matter the skill of you opponent, no matter the score, you gave it your all on the court. The sportsmanship came afterwards, when the point was scored. When an opponent made an outstanding play, out of respect and admiration for the sport, I complimented the opposing player-"good block," "nice serve," "great dig." I was not alone in that respect, most of the players did the same out of our love for the game.

My wife tells me sumo is religion, Shinto, and that Asashōryū's actions constituted sacrilege. I completely understand how a sumo purist can have such strong feelings about Asashōryū out of your love for the game.

 

[RIDER 00]

Once again, I bow to your superior knowledge. In my perspective, it's the nature of the beast in shoving out the opponent afterwards. The heat of the moment gets out of control and it's not easy to turn that off in a split second. The athlete trains to "give his all" during a match.

My wife tells me sumo is religion, Shinto, and that Asashōryū's actions constituted sacrilege. I completely understand how a sumo purist can have such strong feelings about Asashōryū out of your love for the game.

Athletes may train to give their all, but they also learn what to do and not to do. Do you see any Japanese wrestlers give cheap shots or do a henka during big matches? Almost never.
The reason is because they have been trained not to do that in sumo and respect the traditions of the sport. Also, if they did do that in practice or in a bout, their peers and the media would bash them so hard they would force themselves to never do it again. Especially if it was in private, you can expect the senior wrestlers to beat up the punk rookie trying to act big.

One unfortunate point about some foreign wrestlers (not all, mind you) is that they will never understand the deeper meaning or nature of sumo. Asashoryu and Hakuho rose to the top too fast to learn to be humble. Hakuho was the good guy for a while, but now he's more concerned about winning than honor and he's doing dirty sumo to keep on winning.

If Akebono or Musashimaru were around in their prime still, you can bet they'd never let those two play dirty with them. If they did, they'd get a "mistimed" harite right to the kisser right after the match had ended.

 

[vondoom]

i went to one tournament once 15 years ago and the set up was more interesting to me than the actual match...even better was people throwing pillows...

most interesting about it to me is that the wrestlers have to be japanised in order to become wrestlers and then, ironically, the top wrestlers are usually not japanese, since akebono, i think...

 

[RIDER 00]

i went to one tournament once 15 years ago and the set up was more interesting to me than the actual match...even better was people throwing pillows...

most interesting about it to me is that the wrestlers have to be japanised in order to become wrestlers and then, ironically, the top wrestlers are usually not japanese, since akebono, i think...

Takanohana and Wakanohana came after Akebono

 

[vondoom]

ah alright... sorry for my lack of knowledge... just wanted to say that there are seemingly more foreign champions than japanese ones, recently... no big fan of sports, since i dont understand the concept of competition, but anyway... well, getting into baseball recently, for whatever reason...

do the sumo referees still carry knives?

 

[RIDER 00]

ah alright... sorry for my lack of knowledge... just wanted to say that there are seemingly more foreign champions than japanese ones, recently... no big fan of sports, since i dont understand the concept of competition, but anyway... well, getting into baseball recently, for whatever reason...

do the sumo referees still carry knives?

Of course not. Would be cool if they did, though.

There reason there have been ONLY Mongolian yokozuna for over a decade is because sumo is not a popular domestic sport among Japanese kids any more.
Less prospects means less grand champions.

Hope you aren't a Tigers or Dragons fan. Some of the rudest fans in the country.
Just being an anti-Giants fan or getting on a hot team's bandwagon was a thing for a time and it's really pathetic to the lengths
fans will go to show their hate for the Giants.

 

[vondoom]

ah understood... thought they might still got them for whatever reason...
i also get that the popularity of becoming a sumo wrestler is declining... they have to be fat, after all...

i used to like giants image, because it resembles the one of the football clubs i like...but in the end, i got no favourite... split beteween yokohama and carps, somehow...

 

[RIDER 00]

ah understood... thought they might still got them for whatever reason...
i also get that the popularity of becoming a sumo wrestler is declining... they have to be fat, after all...

i used to like giants image, because it resembles the one of the football clubs i like...but in the end, i got no favourite... split beteween yokohama and carps, somehow...

The Baystars and Carp are both honest clubs. Carp fans are a little rude, but, the teams play honest and good baseball.

 

[Wwanderer]

Takanohana and Wakanohana came after Akebono

They became yokozuna after Akebono did, but some of the most exciting basho and matches of the whole period when I followed the sport were between old "Red Dawn" and the Waka/Taka brothers on their way up the ladder. Absolutely riveting tension in the final matches of some of those basho.

-Ww

 

[John Chavers]

Kaio was an excellent sumotori.

＼(^o^)／！

 

[vondoom]

The Baystars and Carp are both honest clubs. Carp fans are a little rude, but, the teams play honest and good baseball.

yeah, one of the reasons i like them... i might have to watch sports more often, but i always feel strange when people like sports, but prefer the sofa overthe arena＾＾

 

[User#8628]

The floor seats costs too much and you need connections. The box seats are too crapped to fit in the 4 people they are supposed to seat. And the 2nd floor seats are cheap but too far away from the action. Pick your poison.

I had the pleasure of being taken to a match by a Japanese client. Floor seats quite close to the center (not so close that its dangerous though). As a noob who doesn't know much about sumo this was a bit wasted on me maybe, but i did really enjoy it.

 

[MikeH]

I had the pleasure of being taken to a match by a Japanese client.

Back in the day when I was just a grad student I was dating a girl who was working in a high class Ginza club. She got box seat tickets from a customer which cost that time around 200.000 yens. I had been seeing sumo before only at the cheapest 1.000 yen seats so we had a blast.

We went there as soon as they opened and stayed the whole day eating and drinking at out heart's content. I was preparing to use my month's budget for that but when it was time to pay up we were told everything was covered already.

Next day my GF went back to work and met the client. She thanked but told him she and her "friend" wanted to pay what we ate and drank. The customer just laughed and said that as long as your "friend" is just a young university student no need to pay anything. But if the "friend" was an old guy like himself he would rethink. Then he laughed some more and told the total food and drink bill came to be more than the ticket price.

Oh those were the bubble days with inflated prices on everything!