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.
There were smiles and jokes in the ring both before and after the match. Because the surface of the dohyo was plastic, many wrestlers dampened their feet before hunkering down to get an extra bit of traction. There seemed to me to be some physical and mental uneasiness at the tachiai, but I also saw some vicious harite/tsuppari as well as some intense stare downs ‘pre-hakkeyoi.’
In Japan, the training of a wrestler comes from the all-encompassing heya life. In the U.S., training comes from completely voluntary sumo clubs where I can only imagine technique and skill are squeezed in-between the thousand and one other demands of daily living. Here the only thing to motivate you is your personal passion for and commitment to this wonderful sport. There is no pay, there are no privileges earned from winning and progressing up the ranks, and, of course, no punishments for losing, beyond those imposed by your own conscience.
There is actually little of anything – little recognition from the outside world and no oyakata whose displeasure -and ‘sumo-love’ you would give anything to avoid.
Even the loved ones don’t care sometimes; I sat next to a woman whose boyfriend was competing and she clearly knew nothing of the sport and didn’t want to be there. Different worlds indeed.
Unlike honbasho, all of these wrestlers had about 8 matches each over the course of several hours. In the medal rounds there were only 30 seconds between the losing wrestler’s defeat and his next bout, which required an endurance level I can only imagine is rather hard to master.
These men and women labored in pursuit of the heart / technique / physique that is sumo, fueled only by their personal drive. Although they were definitely different, I admired them no less than the Kaios, Futenos and Dejimas of the Japanese Ozumo world. For that short period, they owned the dohyo.
Walking away I asked myself: “Was it Japanese style sumo?” “No way” came back the answer. So, “Was it sumo and were these wrestlers truly warriors?” “You betcha.” (And as someone who never had much luck at competitive sports, I must say it was wonderful how almost all competitors got a medal. Let’s have more of that!)
Women – 65kg
1st – Helen Delpopolo (NJ)
2nd – Michelle Pike (CA)
Women – over 85kg
1st – Katherine Hurley (NJ)
2nd – Larae Crite (CA)
Men – 85kg
1st – Trent Sabo (CA)
2nd – Wade Strober (NJ)
3rd – John Gonzalez (NJ)
Men – 115kg
1st – Troy Collins (CA)
2nd – Patrick Greer (NJ)
3rd – Kena Heffernan (HI)
Men – Over 115kg
1st – Kelly Gneiting (ID)
2nd – Carl Papparlardo (NY)
3rd – Justin Crite (CA)
Masters – over 40yrs
1st – Leonard Thomas (NJ)
2nd – Thomas Zabel (TX)
3rd – Glen Crosby (CA)
Masters – over 50yrs
1st – Glen Crosby (CA)
2nd – Harry Dudrow (CA)
Open Division (all weights/ages)
1st – Rene Marte (NJ)
2nd – Kena Heffernan (HI)
3rd – Patrick Greer (TN)
CA – California, HI – Hawaii, ID – Idaho, NJ – New Jersey, TN – Tennessee, TX – Texas
