What Will Become of the Dynasty?
Brian Lewin
The Hanada Dynasty – past or present?

Rikishi of Old
Joe Kuroda
A look at a rikishi of yesteryear with Tenryu our man for August.

Heya Peek
John Gunning
John attends a chanko session at Chiganoura Beya.

Photo Bonanza
For a glimpse at some of the sights you won't see on TV.    

July Basho Review
Lon Howard & John Gunning
Lon gives us his Nagoya Basho summary and his take on upset of the tournament while John chips in with his ‘gem’ of the basho.

Lower Division Rikishi
Mikko Mattila takes a break and Eric Blair covers the lower divisions in his own ‘unique’ way.

Aki Basho Forecast
Pierre Wohlleben & Mark Buckton
Pierre predicts the Aki Basho banzuke while Mark previews the ones to watch next time out.

Sumo 101
Barbara Ann Klein
Gyoji goings on and several things you never knew about the ones officiating.

Kimarite Focus
Mikko Mattila
Mikko walks us through his 2 chosen kimarite.

Minusha
John McTague
John's unique view of news from outside the dohyo.

Boletín de Sumo en Español
Eduardo de Paz Gútiez
An article on sumo’s very first fan mag – Boletin de Sumo en Espanol

Online Gaming
Jezz Sterling
Hear from the founder of Bench Sumo of one of sumo's most popular games.

Kokugi Connections
Todd Lambert
Todd’s focus on 3 of the most interesting online sumo sites today.

Fan Debate
Henka – good, bad or ugly? See what our debaters think.

Let’s Hear From You
What was it that made you a sumo fan – the Petros Zachos story.

Ngozi on the Road
Ngozi T. Robinson
NTR visits an amasumo event in the north-east U.S. and tells us what it was like.

Sumo Quiz
The Quizmaster
Answer the Qs and win yourself next basho's banzuke.

 

that he hasn’t – I just haven’t seen it).  I am only concerned with what goes on while on the dohyo, and that’s where I want to see the contest.  If Takamisakari wants to do flips into the arena, that’s fine by me.  I like the guy because of his honest sumo.  I have to apologize Moti for making you think that I was at the basho to see the Kokkai-Roho match.  Like you I was stuck watching it on TV.  I usually keep the highlights on tape to bide me over in the off month, so I have checked back to confirm my original opinion and as far as I can see, it still stands.  There was no major applause, only a buzz about how Kokkai was beaten.  The commentators didn’t seem that impressed.  The worst henka at Nagoya so far is Kotooshu against Miyabiyama on Day 7.  It was a shocker.  Even though he missed with the hatakikomi, Miyabiyama was so off balance he really had no chance.  It seems to be more often than not that a rikishi will attempt a henka the day before he meets the yokozuna or when they are trying to avoid makekoshi.  To me this says that for rikishi, a henka is an easy win and something to pull out when numbers count more than the game itself.  On Ama against Jumonji last night:  The Japanese commentators complimented him on his sumo

and were impressed that he didn’t resort to henka.  Good lad!  One final thing:  When I was in the Sumo Club in Uji High School way back when, I hated henka as did my fellow rikishi.  It is bloody hard to attack an opponent who is more or less running away.  To me it is similar to a boxing match where one fighter decided to run around the ring to avoid getting hit.  It ain’t illegal, but it’s one crappy match. 

MD: I am not accepting that a sanyaku rikishi who does henka can be judged as distasteful,  I am accepting that all henka can be judged as distasteful – but not in my eyes, and in the eyes of many others.  I don’t live in a fish bowl – I know there are some out there who think henka is wrong.  As for the current yokozuna, there is no need to explain why he would get angry.  He gets angry every time he loses and takes it out later at degeiko with the guy that beat him.  In the past, yokozuna were henka’d all the time – no problem there.  Mostly though, they caught on – that’s why they were yokozuna.  I didn’t compare Hayateumi’s henka to Takamisakari’s antics – I just mentioned them as two crowd pleasers.  And you have elegantly avoided acknowledging that Hayateumi’s blatant henkas are a real thrill to watch.  Regarding

the Miyabiyama-Kotooshu match, you are missing some facts.  This is the third straight henka in matches between them – each one juicier than the other.  Every basho each of them tries to avenge last basho’s, and though it is quite expected, it works every time.  That is the beauty of it.  And the biggest mistake of all is thinking that a henka is an easy win.  It isn’t.  I have no based statistics, but I’d say 50% work.  And finally, regarding the commentators:  they always tend to moan and groan and use the ‘holier than thou’ approach on everything – forget about henka.  Some of the current commentators are polished ex-henkaers.  Finally, I can see your point of view but I just can’t agree with it.

LH: I’ve really enjoyed it guys, and thanks for teaching me a thing or two (well, three or four).  At this point, I’d like a brief summary from each of you, in the blind.  That means neither of you get to read the other’s summary before submitting your own.  Since we started with Iain, his will go first.

IK: First I would like to thank Moti for his debate.  I really appreciate his knowledge on the subject and I enjoyed his arguments.  I agree with Moti in

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