/kc/ - Krautchan

I just hope you won't take photos of yourself dressed in nothing but a Muwashi.

o-oh crap I'm gonna die in earthquake, I should have worshiped demons haha

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Calm down.
Volcanoes and tsunamis almost never happen. Here is a picture of my sumo hero. Do you recognize him?

Turned out he took photos in even less.

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There are plenty of such spooky legends, it is specific genre of modern folklore.

Like Timur tomb legend: tomb was opened by Soviet archeologists at 19th of June 1941, and at 22th war started. Sources say that there was a curse of tomb (typical), evil spirit of war was inside it etc. Multiple strange thing occurred at excavation, equipment was broken, water suddenly filled tomb for some time, and more. And when Timur remains were buried there again at November of 1942, Red Army started to win at Stalingrad.

Of course there are no credible sources or proofs, and story looks like another "Pharaoh tomb curse" remake.

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Oh, also forgot

> sumo

Western barbarians are better in sumo, so gods are angry on their failed Japanese children.

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 >>/38830/
Good story.
Curious the case of the Seuso Treasure.
It's a (probably) 14 piece silver treasure hoard originally found by a Hungarian soldier who dug illegally at an excavation of an antique Roman villa. His body found hanging by the neck from a tree, it is suspected he was murdered to rob him also to silence him about the origin of the treasure. The pieces found their way into the possession of the Marquess of Northampton. They were sold to him with falsified documents by Lebanese sellers claiming Lebanese origins. After the regime change the consequent Hungarian governments spent time and money on lawsuits to get the treasure back, fruitlessly (they sued the Marquess, but US court confirmed his rights he is a high ranking freemason btw, I'm not saying this could play any role in the decision of a US court...). Now we are paying for the right of safe-keeping... but at least they are home again. Supposedly.

 >>/38832/
Heh, I crossed my mind to post that.

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So... wanna follow sumo together?

March banzuke is out (since yesterday). Haru basho is starting in 2 weeks - this time in Tokyo instead of Osaka due to corona precautions making it easier to organise at home.
http://www.sumo.or.jp/EnHonbashoBanzuke/index/
 
here's also Chris Gould's video on it (imo the best gaijin to follow for information on sumo in english) if you prefer an introduction with a little bit of commentary to just tables
 
a short recap:
- Kakuryu seems to be in good form, so he can squeeze another good result as yokozuna before retiring?
- Hakuho had corona in January, he looks solid enough to fight but not solid enough to excel. not clear if he won't just bail out the last moment
- Takakeisho had a disastrous last basho. He has to win 10 to keep ozeki rank.
- Terunofuji still sekiwake but he's probably earning ozeki promotion this tournament if nothing goes wrong.
- can Asanoyama start a run for yokozuna? (imo, not likely - but he was runner-up in January and with a champion title this time he might be near)
- if you like watching manlet sumo: look out for: Midorifuji (the katasukashi master: grab his shoulder and push him down), Tobizaru, Kotoeko, Terutsuyoshi; Enho and Ishiura are in 2nd division this time though
- Hoshoryu continues slowly climbing. Can he become a yokozuna like his uncle Asashoryu was? He's a mongol so he certainly has the chadvantage here :DDD
- Tochinoshin is still somewhere in the middle of top division. His knee and shoulder are fucked though and I don't think he'll be back at the top ever.
 
There's a bunch more promising young names a bit further down in 3rd division; otherwise sumo ranks seem a bit depleted these times. A lot of old rikishi past their peak and a lot of middle aged rikishi clearly not good enough to challenge the top. Sad!

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 >>/42766/
Sure. We'll prevent many earthquakes.
My granma liked to watch sumo. Well, she liked all kinds of sports.
I'm not up-to-date in the terminology however. Haru basho is hanbasho? And all the other stuff.
Will there be streams? Mayhaps we could through in some on End's cytube channel.

> Name
> Mangaljalav Anand
> Anand
Is he in Indian Mongolian?

 >>/42767/
Haru is spring, so haru basho is the spring tournament.

There's a twitch channel that does livestreams (mbovosumo) and there's a youtube channel that does daily recaps (nattosumo) - well, he gets copyright strikes a lot lately.

 >>/42769/
> twitch
That can be streamed on cytube.
Daily recaps would be nice since am too fairly busy these days.

 >>/42768/
It's a buddhist name in Mongolia. They have a decent amount of names of Sankrit etymology that way.

Another one: Hokuseiho, birth name Ariunaa Davaainj, is named after Arjuna.

 >>/42766/
> here's also Chris Gould's video on it (imo the best gaijin to follow for information on sumo in english) if you prefer an introduction with a little bit of commentary to just tables
Oh shit did I forget to link video?
Here: https://youtube.com/watch?v=g8-9Kkdqd0Y

 >>/42775/
Okay. Watched it.
What's that East and West?

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 >>/42788/
In practice: Two sides of the sumo hall. You'll notice that the wrestlers enter and leave the ring in two different ways - those are the east entrance and west entrance. (You'll notice that there's actually four corridors - but two are not used by wrestlers.) The ring entering ceremony is also performed each side separately. This however has no meaning for the matchmaking; bouts are not limited to one wrestler east vs. one wrestler west.

The sides east and west are decided before each tournament; wrestlers with the same numerical rank but one east and the other west are considered to having the same power ranking. However at the very top (yokozuna, ozeki, sekiwake and komosubi not so much) where differences are not that small, the wrestler considered stronger is normally placed in the east slot.

Hakuho is practically constantly Yokozuna east.

 >>/42789/
So when nuances matter, East is more prestigious.
Do they associate colors with cardinal directions?
What are those big waifu pillows hanged onto their front?

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 >>/42791/
> Do they associate colors with cardinal directions?
Yep.
You'll notice that above the dohyō (the ring itself on that clay platform) a roof is suspended, with four coloured tassels in place of where there would normally be pillars. They point towards four cardinal directions: green for east, red for south, white for west, and black for north.
Originally, those were actual pillars - they were replaced to prevent unwanted injuries from bumping into them when thrown out of the ring. Or, the official excuse is, because they were blocking clear view of the wrestlers. Because as we all know, big guys aren't afraid of getting hurt a little.

> What are those big waifu pillows hanged onto their front?
Keshō-mawashi. The wrestlers wear them for the ring entering; the ornate part is actually just one side of what's otherwise a normal loincloth (mawashi) like the one they wear during bouts. They're donated by sponsors and the design is often some kind of an advertisement.

Haru basho is starting on next Sunday.

There's now a couple updates on wrestlers' form and expectations:
• Kakuryu, the current yokozuna west, is determined to perform. He's sat out last three tournaments, and pulled out of so many tournaments after poor performance, he has only fought 4 out of last 14 basho until the last day. He sounds more sure about his form than usual (he often waited until the last day before announcing whether he's participating or not) however he mentioned that he has been having a bit of a cold for last three weeks. It is understood that it's just a slight flu and not corona.
• Terunofuji wants to seal the promotion to ozeki. He won 13 bouts in November and 11 in January, judging by historical statistics he will need another 11 this time. He hasn't participated in public practice though, and has been working on improving stamina instead.
• Takakeisho is kadoban ozeki. Kadoban means he's "cornered" – his poor performance last time means he will be demoted unless he wins 10. He has lost about 10-15kg since last tournament. Good for him, he was getting too fat and it's been ruining his stamina. His left ankle is still not completely healed, oops.
• Takayasu, currently on komusubi rank, says he's feeling back in top form and wants also to get back to ozeki rank, where he was all the time since mid-2017 until the end of 2019. He won 9 bouts in January (also as komusubi), and as a rule of thumb needs about 34 over 3 tournaments to get there, on an improving form – implies he can get there by summer if he wins 12 and 13 this time around and in May. Or, on a longer run, if he wins at least 11 every tournament from now on.
• Midorifuji, a lightweight who surprised in January not so much by great performance in lower top division as by that he won five (!) of his bouts by katasukashi – under-shoulder swing down, reports his back is fucked, a herniated disk or something. He's still in but can't expect to show a good performance. A shame; he put on a good show on January.

I will probably follow-up with a post explaining a bit of how bouts take place, with all the important terms you should probably memorise if you want to follow the commentaries.

 >>/42822/
> pulled out of so many tournaments after poor performance
How can he still remain yokozuna? Does he have so many victory?
How come some ranks have three competitors?
How much influence height and weight has? Is it know such things as muscle/fat ratio? Do they get weighed like boxers?
How a tournament is organized? Everyone wrestles everyone? Or is a there a group stage and knockout stage? A victory over a higher ranking sumo worth more points? And against a lower ranking worth less?

 >>/42823/
The top four ranks don't have a limit on how many wrestlers can hold them.
Yokozuna is a permanent title, usually awarded for an ozeki that wins two consecutive tournament titles, or (especially in case of a very dominating yokozuna already being active) one win and two runner-up in three, but criteria are subjective and decided on a case to case basis. Thus, there is no demotion from yokozuna; the most the sumo federation can do in case of such performance is write you a letter suggesting you to retire and apologise for shamefur dispray.
The title of ozeki is performance-based; an ozeki is expected to win at least 10 bouts every tournament; promotion is conferred upon reaching this level (usually 32-33 wins in 3 tournaments are needed to confirm form); and demotion comes after having a losing score (so 7-8 or worse) in two consecutive tournaments. (I mentioned before that Takakeisho needs 10 wins as a kadoban – this is incorrect; just a winning score will do, but 10 wins are the requirement to be immediately promoted back to ozeki. This is to allow for ozeki who had a bad performance due to injury to be able to return faster, so yeah, Takakeisho only needs 8 wins, not 10 this time around.) There are always at least two ozeki – but there have been situations where an ozeki was demoted freeing up his slot with no other wrestler ready for promotion. In those situations, one yokozuna is placed in the ozeki slot instead. At no point has it happened that there have been fewer than 2 ozeki and no yokozuna available to fill the vacancy, and nobody knows what happens in that case.
There's no limit to sekiwake and komusubi ranks and there's always at least two wrestlers in those slots – whoever is good enough to be near the top. If there's more than four wrestlers competing considered to be at this level, there will be extra slots created to accommodate them.
Usually there's 8-12 wrestlers in those top 4 ranks – but for example last March, there have been only 7 (with only one ozeki, so Kakuryu filled the other ozeki slot). I don't remember a case of there being more than 12 wrestlers that high up – perhaps at one point where there were 4 yokozuna active? Not in 2017 which is last time that happened, though.

There are no weight classes; so there's pressure to put on as much weight as possible before it weighs you down too much to kill your stamina. They do get weighed at regular health checks, though, so at least the rough data on their current weight is publicly known.
Height – for best performance you'd need to have long arms and short legs. Lower centre of mass is better for balance while longer grip is better for grapples. Top division wrestlers are generally around 185-190cm and 140-160kg, so it would seem that past 190cm average body build has too long legs. There's also not many under 175cm primarily because short wrestlers struggle with grapples, so short wrestlers are either extremely technically skilled (Enho, or Mainoumi during the 90s), or invest fully into pushing and thrusting (Takakeisho).
Body fat percentage? That is generally not known, but various data from health checkups implies most have about 20% body fat. To bulk up even more muscle and go for lower body fat percentage is probably doable – but apart from Tochinoshin few invest in that. Well Hakuho looks relatively lean too. Might change in the future? I think the current high fat is a bit of a fluke – response to Hawaiians and Samoans who dominated during the 90s. And it's easy to get a headstart into sumo as a kid if you're fat.

 >>/42823/
Tournament takes 15 days and the schedule – torikumi (can mean either a single bout or a daily schedule) – is decided a day ahead, even before the matches happen (so if a wrestler is injured during his bout the previous day, he will still have a scheduled match, and his opponent wins by default). At the start the schedule follows certain established patterns (top wrestlers never start facing each other); later on the schedule is adapted to current performance. Since there's a lot more than 15 wrestlers in a division, they will not all face each other. If a wrestler at the bottom of a division shows very good performance during first 10 days (when he normally wouldn't've faced anyone from the top of the banzuke), he will be scheduled to face other title contenders (to avoid an awkward situation where a wrestler who wasn't expected to win the title wins without having faced top contenders). Also, the yokozuna will face each other during the last day (or the last couple days when there's more than two). If there's more than one wrestler having the same winning score at the top on day 15, they will do extra playoff bout (or bouts if there's more than two).
In general, everything is improvised on spot.
Each win is one point, and – again in an improvised manner – the ranks for the next tournament are decided based on last tournament scores. Since wrestlers usually face other wrestlers ranked around them, there's no weighing of results based on opponents.

 >>/42824/
> Lower centre of mass
Maybe this is why fat is favored over large muscles. Fat deposits build lower, one can't really have bulky stomach and lower back muscles...

 >>/42825/
> if a wrestler is injured during his bout the previous day, he will still have a scheduled match, and his opponent wins by default
I think I see the reason behind that. It's kinda honor bounds the wrestler, preventing him to back out with some pretense if he doesn't want to face a scheduled opponent.

 >>/42834/
> Maybe this is why fat is favored over large muscles. Fat deposits build lower, one can't really have bulky stomach and lower back muscles...
Probably. Note that a lot of wrestlers also build enormous legs. Comes from all the squats and heavy pushing, and helps with keeping ground firmly. Tochinoshin's thighs were supposedly over 90cm at peak.

> I think I see the reason behind that. It's kinda honor bounds the wrestler, preventing him to back out with some pretense if he doesn't want to face a scheduled opponent.
Yep. A lot of rules are set around preventing wrestlers from backing out for no real reason. Note also that sitting out the tournament due to injury is considered equivalent to having a 0-15 losing score when it comes to setting the rankings for the next time. Some westerners will say it's unfair because it forces wrestlers to come into the ring while still not fully healed – but iirc there was a period where they were experimenting with being a bit more lenient and the result was, higher-ranked wrestlers would overblow injuries and sit out when they didn't feel at top form.
It's a bit of a bummer if you land down below 2nd division after an injury (only top two divisions have regular salaries, the rest are only entitled to having living expenses covered + small sum of pocket money), but if you're really that good, you'll be back up in no time. Terunofuji e.g. had a series of health related issues and an injury in early 2018 and quit in May, only to return in March next year, landing as low as Jonidan 48W (5th division), and after roflstomping everyone in his path was already in juryo by January 2020 and would have competed in May if not for corona tournament cancellation. And he's now challenging again for ozeki title, where he was in 2017.

Btw Asanoyama officially hinted at going for yokozuna. He mentioned in an interview that he's aiming to get promoted to a higher rank – and since he's already ozeki...

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All these talking made me remember a Hungarian comic book - would have been three volumes, only two were published - about ninjas. Quite a few aspects of Japanese culture were conveyed by them there was a scene with sumos as well. Too bad I barely remember, I have somewhere those comic books, couldn't find them yet.
I looked up the author since his doctorate is noted by his name. He is an economist surprisingly, but he was an organizer of six karate world championship, so I assume he has a passion for martial arts, and Japan.

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 >>/42855/
There was a scene depicting a samurai duel, the sumo scene was similar, sketching up some basic rules I think.

And – Kakuryu pulled out. He "injured his leg while training" or something.
Last time he performed as expected was last March. In July he quit after losing the very first bout, and he hasn't participated since.
It is expected he will receive another angry letter from the elders reminding him this is shamefur dispray and hints that he should retire.
Kakuryu is determined to give one final proper performance before that, though.

Corona tests came back negative for all wrestlers, but two coaches are positive. No word yet on whether any wrestlers will be quarantined, or if their contact has been limited enough for it to be considered safe. Word is that Sadogatake stable which has three wrestlers in top division (Kotonowaka, Kotoshoho, and Kotoeko) also had a corona outbreak earlier among lower ranked wrestlers (who have to live in communally, so personal isolation is not really possible for them), but top division wrestlers supposedly trained separately from them.

Today is also both Hakuho's 36th birthday (making him the oldest active yokozuna in over 50 years) and the 10th anniversary of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami.

 >>/42855/
 >>/42856/
Neat.

Now for the promised explanation of some terms, and how bouts proceed:

In addition to the two wrestlers (rikishi – strongmen in Japanese), you will also see:
• the announcer (yobidashi). one of them announces the bout (in a drawn out singing voice – announcers also clap those sticks that are a meme) and display advertisement before a bout (sponsors can put money into award for each single bout of a day; their banners will be displayed before that bout, and the money goes to the winner of that bout). they are otherwise responsible for building the clay dohyo and for maintaining everything that needs to be there during the whole tournament.
• the referee (gyoji – in ceremonial kimono, a hat, a paddle in his hand) – his role is making sure the bout proceeds according to rules; he gives instructions to wrestlers ("hakkeyoi" at the start of the bout and "nokotta" to indicate to continue fighting; if anything was wrong with the start he will call "matta") and he awards sponsors' money to the winner at the end
• if referee fucked anything up, the five judges (shimpan – in black kimono, sitting besides ring; they are all retired wrestlers) will call "mono-ii" – they will discuss what they saw and nowadays also receive instructions from the camera room where a replay is analysed. if it is still too close to call, a rematch is called: torinaoshi.

Before each bout, you will see a ritualised procedure: stomping (both originally a ritual to ward spirits and a stretching exercise), drinking water from a wooden ladle, throwing salt, first faceoff broken up before going off to wipe sweat and show off for the audience a bit more, and then finally go for the real faceoff to start the bout. Before the bout can start, both wrestlers need to touch both hands on the dohyo, behind the white lines (doesn't matter how far back, but very few retreat very far back) – in case this doesn't happen synchronously, a false start is called. Also if wrestlers take too much time, they will be reminded by gyoji to hurry up.
After the bout, the loser takes a bow while the winner receives the reward.

I think that's most of what you should be aware of. As for forbidden techniques – kicks (excepting tackles, strictly to the legs) and punches (with a closed fist) are not allowed; twisting fingers, poking eyes, choking, anything involving groin, biting, pulling hair – I think that's about it. Everything else is allowed (this includes [i]pushing[/i] the neck or any kind of open hand thrusts, or slaps)
I recommend you to watch a shokkiri performance: https://youtube.com/watch?v=H9YlYke6060 This is a comedy performance done on promotional events where wrestlers demonstrate how a bout should [i]not[/i] proceed, full of gags.

 >>/42822/
> Sunday
When exactly? You wrote there's a live stream on twitch. I think I'll be available from around 17 CET. If not hopefully we could check that youtube recap.
It is also needs to be shilled, maybe others are interested.

 >>/42871/
Sunday morning. Japan is 8 hours ahead of Europe so by the time it's late afternoon and the important bouts start it's still morning in Europe.
Translated to CET, typically juryo starts at around 6:30 and makuuchi at 8:00, the whole thing ending by a bow twirling ceremony by some time around 10:30.
As I mentioned before I expect mbovosumo to stream it on twitch (he restreams official english commentary), and nattosumo usually uploads his daily recaps on youtube late afternoon the same day.

 >>/42869/
That's a fun video. They move surprisingly light and quick.
> finally go for the real faceoff
When the gyoji drops the puck.

 >>/42872/
If everything goes well I go for a hike on Sunday. Maybe if I pack my pack on Saturday I can squeeze a bit of time at Sunday morning for sumo.
Is there an opening ceremony?
And from now on the tournament will go on every day for 15 days (to March 29)?

 >>/42877/
Yes – there's an opening ceremony, the day before (on Saturday) – so tomorrow. The dohyo which was made out of clay and sand over last couple days is consecrated – by an offering of salt, food (rice and a couple other items) and sake. It's essentially a continuation of the shinto harvest rituals at which sumo was originally performed to appease the spirits. The ceremony is performed by the chief gyoji. Chris Gould has a video on it: https://youtube.com/watch?v=E41rGzIq_so
After a little googling it turns out it will be livestreamed on youtube. Starting in 2 hours.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=s-ZJ5El60cY
The tournament will then continue running for 15 full days – ending on Sunday, March 28. (there's only 14 days date difference, but if you count that both opening and closing day have their own bouts, it comes down to 15!)

And yes – they look like clumsy fatties, but the way they move in the ring, really shows a lot of that bulk is actually muscle.

If you have time in the morning, that's great. I would recommend you to just set up the stream and watch during breakfast or something.

All right here's also the fixtures.
http://sumo.or.jp/EnHonbashoMain/torikumi/1/1/

You may notice that because there's an odd number of wrestlers still competing in makuuchi (since Kakuryu pulled out) the first bout is between a top-of-juryo guest (Tokushoryu, who won the top division last January actually as a complete underdog) and the bottom-of-makuuchi Daiamami. This happens occasionally; later on during the tournament, such bouts may also be arranged as a promotion-relegation struggle.

> It is expected he will receive another angry letter from the elders reminding him this is shamefur dispray and hints that he should retire.
He did not, or so it seems. Hakkaku-oyakata (ex-yokozuna Hokutoumi) who's responsible for those letters merely gave a statement it should be entirely down to Kakuryu when he should retire. Guess he's being given a bit of leniency so that he makes it until the Olympics opening ceremony.

 >>/42880/
I think I'll have time from 7 to 9. Gonna find channels and such today.

Can't embed shitty twitch into cytube. I get error whatever I try.

Whatever I try it fails.

>  Twitch has banned http://cytu.be from embedding Twitch content due to allegedly violating their ToS. As such, Twitch is no longer supported on the main site (but you can still host your own)
Fugg. No twitch stream on our cytube channel

 >>/42896/
Oh well. No chat then (I don't feel like making a twitch account just for this)

Does your browser support picture-in-picture? In my firefox I can pop out videos so they play on top even if I switch tabs or even windows. So it's possible to open one tab with twitch, pop-out their stream, and place it over a chat in cytu-be. It's suboptimal but it'll do in a rush.

 >>/42897/
Sure, can do similar.
You here now?

What's the gyoji saying?
> tattararattatattararattatattararattatattararattatattararatta

Wtf, that mbovosumo stream repeats.

 >>/42899/
yeah I stayed up late yesterday again and overslept, sorry

 >>/42902/
> tattararattatattararattatattararattatattararattatattararatta
it's supposed to be
> "nokotta" to indicate to continue fighting
but yea they just slur it like that lol

 >>/42906/
Tomorrow then. From 7 to whatever.
Will be recaps on that yt channel you mentioned?

 >>/42913/
Yeah I watched the recaps. Liking how Terunofuji and Asanoyama look. Hakuho rushing everything and still getting away with it. Wakatakakage vs. Takanosho was exciting too. But Ichinojo just overpowering Tochinoshin completely... yeah didn't expect that. And Midorifuji playing the trick game on Hoshoryu, he must have been pissed after that.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UFACeqNNS0k

Well I'm here.

Do the winners hand over the water to the next rikishi? And since only one side can win, the person only change when a contestant from the same side wins?
How do the non-Jap wrestlers get their Jap names?
This color commentary sounds appealing. I like the low-key and generally calm tone. Lots of:
> Hmmmmm
and
> Hai
Fun.
I see as soon as both osumosan touches the ground the bout starts. Some are reluctant putting their hands down, some are very quick to do it first. Does it mean some advantage? Or it's just individual preference who can do better from which position?

 >>/42920/
I'm now here too, I see I'm just in time for the makuuchi to start

 >>/42921/
> Do the winners hand over the water to the next rikishi? And since only one side can win, the person only change when a contestant from the same side wins?
it's either last winner or the one in waiting for next match. it can't be someone who's already lost
How do the non-Jap wrestlers get their Jap names?
as you go up to higher divisions, jap wrestlers take ring names instead of their real ones too. there's usually patterns in names; some stables have all wrestlers take the same prefix or suffix, and often they're references to earlier wrestlers or to something pertaining to where they came from.
They're fancy sounding names in general.
Hakuho for example = white phoenix.
Aoiyama = blue mountain.

OK now for Kaisei – Akua bout.

 >>/42922/
Ehh, I just closed the stream. It hogs my machine and I've some customary writing to do for March 15 (national holiday and all that), and later I've some stuff to do.
I'm hanging around tho.

You had another question:
> I see as soon as both osumosan touches the ground the bout starts. Some are reluctant putting their hands down, some are very quick to do it first. Does it mean some advantage? Or it's just individual preference who can do better from which position?
Yeah there's a long story here. Historically this was just customary and you'd often see them just charging each other straight without doing any effort to touch the ground. You still see that in old videos. It was there more as a guideline, how to make it synchronous.
During the 90s, I think? they started being a bit more strict about it. Turns out that if you actually have to start from fully squatted position, the balance is different. So some prefer to just swing with hands down without taking a squat.
For example Hakuho will NEVER be the one to touch first. He wants his opponent to submit here. Which seems to help with his quick and powerful initial charge.

 >>/42923/
OK I'll alert you for the last couple bouts, if you wanna rejoin.

lel I love how terutsuyoshi throws all the salt he can grab

last 4 bouts will commence soon, if anyone still wants to join
Shodai - Onosho
Takakeisho - Daieisho
Takayasu - Asanoyama
Hakuho - Takarafuji

I'm in mbovosumo twitch channel

oh wow this was a good bout. Takayasu seems to really be in good form like he boasted before the tournament

Takarafuji tried and managed to get position advantage but Hakuho pulled out a nice throw for the win. Well fought.

I think I should have time tomorrow too.

 >>/42928/
Tomorrow is good.

 >>/42925/
 >>/42927/
 >>/42928/
For now they arr rook the same to me. I'll need to read the competitor list a couple of times.

71536326_7638757... jpg
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ENk3IgBVUA... jpg
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 >>/42934/
Takakeisho = hamster looking fella
Takayasu = hairy dude
(you can start with those two)

I'll also bring attention to this guy, lower down in the makushita (3rd) division: Shishi, this is his 5th tournament and he's had a 6-1 in every tournament so far
https://youtube.com/watch?v=t9XWPs63coE (at 6:53)
He's Ukrainian, looks a bit clumsy still but he's tall and strong and might as well be in top division by next year

 >>/42940/
He looks like Josh

Okay. I'm here basically will check the stream, if you wanna chat there's our cytube channel, or endchan's irc.

Little dude is intense, defeating fatties rapidly.

 >>/42945/
So uh. I had to take dad's car to the mechanic this morning and he didn't tell me he won't have time to do it himself yesterday. Bummer.
Also had a job interview today and they seemed to be interested in taking me. Which means I will finally have a real job that pays properly and not just some paid internship for students.

 >>/42946/
I watched the replays. Enho? I saw him do a sidestep (= henka; it's generally considered a shamefur move but he gets a pass since he's smol) and slapdown in penultimate bout in juryo. He's good. Was crowd's favourite when he made top division in 2019. He's in the same stable as Hakuho, he's been his protégé since he joined.

Also ouch Akua in the next bout seems to have rekt his right knee trying to balance on the edge. They really should get some ringside medic for such cases rather than always have to awkwardly wait whenever a wrestler can't stand up until someone comes from the backstage to help them out.

And wtf Hakuho is out? Something about his knee he had a surgery half a year ago. He looked strong, is he not confident enough?

 >>/42948/
I'll be around in the mornings, sometimes for longer, sometimes less, sometimes earlier, sometimes later, watching the stream a bit.
Yeah, Enho. I saw when he made the opponent go flat on his belly like a frog. Well kinda. He looks very intense and quick.

Let's see what this day brings. Won't even fire up cytube, but I'm on endchan's IRC.

What is considered a nice, honest good bout? A good victory?
Liek exploiting the other sumo's momentum and sidestep is generally frowned upon. What's the opposite?

Another win for Enho. Twisted the guy onto the ground like in judo or aikido or whatever.

Those summaries on nattosumo's channel have captions?! In Latin?! With comparisons?! Noice.

OK I wasn't around today but tomorrow morning I have time. See you in the IRC, probably.

 >>/42960/
Nice dodges at the edge and spectacular throws. Anything that shows a successful trick on the opponent, but improvised during the bout and not prepared ahead. Also going in for the belt is considered better form than just pushing (looking at you, Takakeisho)

 >>/42964/
Yeah, and he has timestamps to each bout in the comments below.
When watching live I usually keep the official torikumi (http://sumo.or.jp/EnHonbashoMain/torikumi/) open in another tab to keep track easier.

Also, nice to see Akua's knee is okay, I think? I didn't expect to see him in, after how he overextended it yesterday.

henlo, good morning
let's watch some sumo

 >>/42970/
I'm here now.

 >>/42966/
I watched two vids from the yesterday's face offs on nattosumo's channel. To be honest this sport is starting to grow on me.
I noticed the winning "moves" have names. I imagine there are some main types any can be categorized in.
Were a couple of deadlocks, and some really nice wins - clean and technicals too -, well from my viewpoint was exciting, reacted with a couple of "wow"s.

 >>/42972/
Not much interesting action today so far...
Enho won another one, but that one was just gifted by Tokushoryu. Meh.

Also just watched Chiyoshoma beat Akiseyama mostly by tripping him. Not a technique you see much...

 >>/42975/
Was a good deadlock just right now.

 >>/42973/
> I noticed the winning "moves" have names. I imagine there are some main types any can be categorized in.
There's about 80 of them recognised, including a couple non-techniques which are technically losing moves (when opponent makes a mistake and it's on him completely).
Search for "kimarite" if you're interested in finding a list of them. There were also short youtube clips demonstrating each winning move.

Midorifuji vs Tobizaru (the bout after the next one) will be interesting, they're both on the lighter side; can expect some judo techniques used

Big fall.

 >>/42978/
Yeah I was right; a long bout with several attempts before deadlock was broken.

Now the little guy.

Wasn't nice. That tower of fat was just basically fell by himself.

 >>/42981/
 >>/42982/
Wait, you're watching from the start rather than live?

 >>/42983/
I'm watching the twitch stream, as it comes.

test

Okay, reloaded it and clicked here and there and now it's in English.

 >>/42986/
Yeah I think for some reason your stream started playing from the start instead of livesynced – I was about an hour and a half ahead of you.
Last four bouts now. Time for Terunofuji to just overpower another one (Onosho) again?

 >>/42987/
On the weekend we could stream the recaps on cytube and talk there.

> Oh-no-show.
Murrican pronunciation is killing me.

 >>/42989/
> Show-die

gottem

Takakeisho often gets in trouble when he loses momentum.

 >>/42991/
You mean Tuh-kuh-kay-show.
Now I'm completely confused. Yesterday I saw the white panty guy bleeding from his left brow yesterday on nattosumo.

Wow Asanoyama escaped that grip nicely, changing his hands from inside to outside.
If he can keep this form, he's getting a yokozuna promotion this year, I think...

 >>/42988/
> On the weekend we could stream the recaps on cytube and talk there.
Yeah, let's do that.

> chasing yogidoo at the moment
What?

Finally found time to watch the today's bouts.
Damn, Terunofuji is stronk.

 >>/42998/
What?

yogi_07_basket_col jpg
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 >>/43006/
How about watching the nattosumo's summaries today at 18 on cytube?
> What?
I dunno the anchor said it, that someone chasing yogidoo.

 >>/43016/
Cool, see ya at 18 (I'm assuming 18 CET no daylight savings)

 >>/43020/
You're assuming it right.

Here.
5 minutes and will be really here.

So, today...

I think Enho's bodyslam was the highlight of today.
Also, Ura is out after hurting his left leg his bout with Enho yesterday, but it's a minor injury and he hopes to be back for the final days.

In top division, both Takayasu and Terunofuji still looking dominant.

 >>/43060/
> I think Enho's bodyslam was the highlight of today.
Exactly. It was very nice win. And since Chiyomaru lost he leads the list.
Takakeisho's win was also nice.

Enho was slapped onto the ground as if he was a kid. Shame.

 >>/43071/
And Takayasu giving us another great performance. With Terunofuji's mistake today, he's in prime position to get dat yusho now

 >>/43074/
What's a yusho?

 >>/43074/
Just watched that bout. That was something. Takakeisho just got tired by the end. Or he seemed so.

The tiny lad did good. I was worried there for a moment, but turned out to be a spectacular win.
It also kinda sucks, that if you successfully throw out someone, and clearly you initiated the move, you can still lose if you fall a bit quicker.


Just watched Aoyama pushing out his opponent by his head, kek. Broke out from the hug and pushed hard.

Nothing decided yet in Juryo. Will see how the rest will go. A couple of bouts were exciting, liek Mitoryu vs. Takakento, long with a couple of twists.


Aoiyama pushing his way forward with the force of thousand boars.
The match of Kotoshoho was a surprise. He handled the opponent well, and won quick. What happened to him in the beginning?
Ryuden has an interesting way of "knocking" on the ground to start the bout.
Poor Onosho, I'm startin to feel sorry for him.
Takayasu won easily. Three bouts left, I doubt he will lose two.
Also the three non-Asian, the Burglar, the Br, and Gogi rooks the same. Well, their face.

 >>/43077/
Oh I forgot to explain that term: yusho = tournament championship.

I've been away lately and just catching up.
Besides the bouts.... heard that Kakuryu is actually retiring. That he was supposed to start training yesterday to hopefully get in shape for May at least and it didn't go good. And decided to just announce he's retiring in the heat of the moment.
He got the jap citizenship in December which means he's at least eligible to stay as an elder, but since he hasn't managed to obtain elder stock yet (you need to buy your membership in form of taking hold of one of the available names, so it's a limited number) he now has 5 years before his yokozuna awarded membership expires.
Speculation: Azumazeki-beya was announced to be sadly closing in April since no replacement for their last stablemaster who suddenly died a year ago was found. Is Kakuryu ready to take that over, last moment?

Interesting how the "fans" clap the deadlocks. Sounds more like a polite encouragement to go on, instead of an actual applause.
> ok both of you fighting good enough not to get beaten fast, but you have to go on and end the match

Okay. I noticed Aoiyama repeating same moves. He "dances" with his opponent to the edge of the ring, then reaches up with one hand to his chin and pushes his head back hard, while with the other hand he pushes on his chest. I'm pretty sure that chinpush which does it more.

So, we've come to the last two days...

Terunofuji faces Asanoyama tomorrow and will need to face Takakeisho on Sunday to have all three Ozeki matchups.
Shodai vs Asanoyama will be the last Ozeki vs. Ozeki matchup on Sunday.

Takayasu has already faced all the Ozeki so, on paper, he has easier matchups than the rest (Tobizaru tomorrow)... but with both him and Terunofuji going into the last two days with 10-3, a playoff for yusho is still easily possible.
But I have no idea who they're going to match him against on Sunday. Takanosho maybe? We could still be in for another surprise. Wakatakakage showed that Takayasu also sometimes makes mistakes...

 >>/43113/
Yeah he's not that versatile – it's usually either this or slapdowns. Hey if it works why fix it.
We watching together in the afternoon?

 >>/43116/
 >>/43116/
Do you have the stream or the website where the tournament is being done in?

 >>/43116/
> We watching together in the afternoon?
Yeah, at 18 CET, as usual.

 >>/43117/
We watch it on End's cytube channel, I just throw the vids from nattosumo's youtube channel in.

 >>/43117/
This  >>/43126/
cytu.be/r/endcorner

However if you want to watch in real time (tomorrow is final day, time is in the morning euro timezone – but DST tomorrow if your country still observes that will push it one hour later than I said earlier in this thread, so finishing by 11AM), it's on mbovosumo channel on twitch.

In less than 20 mins, frens.

Fugg, almost forgot about the haru basho. And now since it's later it will be earlier.
Anyway I'm gonna stick with 18 UTC, worse case scenario, gonna wait an hour.

It's finished.
When will be the next tournament?

TERUNOFUJI YUSHO 12-3
gg (He was also awarded an extra prize for outstanding performance.)
He is now back to Ozeki.

Congrats also to Aoiyama and Meisei for fighting spirit prizes, and Wakatakakage for technique prize.

And to Takayasu, despite choking in the final days... his son was born just before the tournament. And 10-5 is good enough to start an ozeki run.

 >>/43145/
Natsu basho is starting May 9. Same schedule – Sunday to Sunday. Official rankings are to be released about 2 weeks before that.

It's a quite brutal tempo, 6 tournaments of 15 days each every year. Means they spend roughly 1/4 of their time competing.
Normally they'd be doing regional tours and training in between during off-season, but regional tours are suspended due to corona, so...

After that, they have Nagoya basho in the summer — this time scheduled not to overlap with the Olympics. Hakuho was expected to participate in the opening ceremony back in 2020 – if he doesn't get told to retire (well, given implications that they expect him to do so due to shamefur dispray) he should still be there. After that, he's likely retiring just like Kakuryu in any case.

 >>/43129/
 >>/43126/
Didn't really know fam. Ya gotta announce these things to everyone tbh

 >>/43148/
Sorry m8. It's all mentioned higher up in this thread but they don't stand out at all and guess I can't expect people to go digging to find them, thread has grown long...

 >>/43161/
I think it's his nice way of saying I should have made site wide announcements, like with the Movie Nights.

 >>/43146/
Yeah, it was better than expection. There were quite a few moments when I cheered irl. I think main selling point is that these are fairly quick, frequently intense matches. At first it's hard to follow a bit, since bunch of new foreign faces, names, and expressions, but then one will notice the order and gets familiar with everything.

 >>/43161/
 >>/43162/
Maybe next time announce it in the general Film thread that's posted around all boards so people know of it. Or post a sticky header in the splash page of Endchan More peeps === more mems and ebin bantz :-DD

Dropping a couple vids of old bouts.

Asashoryu vs Kotonowaka, 2004 Nagoya basho, Day 8.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=LM6uQaIaYdw
A bit controversial due to the move Asashoryu pulled, leading to a rematch. A slight problem is that the move there was so out-of-the-books that it would be impossible to categorise it as any of the accepted kimarite.

Musoyama vs Chiyotaikai, 1998 Nagoya basho, Day 9.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=nrinbn50Cmo
A slapfest. Slapping is allowed in sumo while punching isn't – sometimes rikishi "abuse" this rule in the ring.

Takamisakari vs Aran, 2009 Aki basho, Day 9.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=UmPcjVt3LzQ
Takamisakari is a bit of a bernd. He's an elder now and sometimes he gets confused when supposed to explain the judges decision after mono-ii. He was much more confident on the dohyo, though. This bout was another very energetic one – in the end, an illegal move was the reason why the bout was called the way it was by the judges. (Which one?)

 >>/43190/
> 1st
Sensational. Pulling himself up, while the other down.
But he beat him the second time as well. Did good.
> 2nd
Big enough slaps to the chin also can cause concussions, short blackouts. And generally could be confusing as hell, getting a flurry of slaps, and preventing you what you wanna do.
> 3rd
The one comment below says which move was illegal. That bun is so conveniently handful, just ask for some grabbing.

Next tournament is starting in less than 2 weeks now, and banzuke chart has been released on the weekend.
http://sumo.or.jp/EnHonbashoBanzuke/index/

To recap: Kakuryu has retired, Terunofuji and Takayasu advanced a rung to ozeki and sekiwake respectively (so there's now four ozeki, with Shodai in danger of being kicked if he doesn't produce a winning score this time); Ishiura, Chiyomaru and Akua advanced to 1st division (all have been there before), Enho just barely missing a spot. Yutakayama and Kotoshoho meanwhile were demoted to 2nd division.

At least the first three days of the tournament will be in an empty arena due to another corona outbreak in Tokyo.

In other news, there was a report on the state of sumo in the current era. I haven't read the report since I can't read Japanese, and the tl;dr on English language media I can get is mostly "gaijin bad, shamefur dispray, hakuho doesn't deserve being granted special elder stock (note: historically yokozuna who won 20 or more tournaments, starting with Taiho, were awarded a spot in sumo eldership without having to buy a regular one that's passed down through generations)". DESPITE BEING ONLY 9% OF PROFESSIONAL SUMO WRESTLERS, GAIJIN HAVE BEEN INVOLVED IN 70% OF THE REPORTED CASES OF VIOLENCE IN THE BACKSTAGE
(It's funny because Taiho was himself half-Ukrainian.)
https://youtube.com/watch?v=IhN7OnW8XHs
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/04/21/sumo/hakuho-elder-name-report/

 >>/43422/
I'm looking forward to it.

Sad news: Hibikiryu died in hospital 2 days ago where he was recovering from planting face into the clay full force a month ago, day 13 of last basho.
Report said he was showing slow but promising recovery of sensation in lower body but died of pulmonary embolism (common hospital complication from long time immobility).

 >>/43453/
> day 13
It was on the 26th. I watched that. I can't recall. Gonna check nattosumo's summary.

Huh. He has only the Juryo and Makushita vids up.

 >>/43454/
 >>/43455/
He was on the sandanme so I don't know if anyone has videos up.
Any case it looked very bad, he compressed neck obviously and just laid flat on the ground.

I think he takes them own as a precaution bc of copyright strikes.

 >>/43456/
Found one.
https://tube.cadence.moe/watch?v=dGW7CbMM9Os

Chris did a video on how much money do they pay in sumo.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=JbgN_jTrK_Q

Note: this is just what comes through the organisation. Top guys will also have personal sponsorship deals.

Sumo is starting tomorrows

Who isn't showing up:
- Hakuho (lol)
- Aoiyama (something about back pain, might join halfway through)
- Midorifuji (herniated disc after having broblems last time already, looking bad for his career tbh)
- Ryuden (broke lockdown lol, told to sit out due to shamefur dispray)

- me, most of the time probably; I'm hella busy. will try to catch up by the end

Hakkeyoi!
https://youtube.com/watch?v=WgOrTbCSV4Y

 >>/43538/
Gonna follow. Not sure about my tomorrow, will see, but after that will watch at least the summaries.

So empty the place even in Juryo. Very first bout was breddy gud. Fugg, Pinkypanty had to hold hard into his opponent knee not to fall, but with that he just pushed the other guy out.
Noooooooooo, Enho was beaten quick. Bad start, but it's just the first day.
I like sumo.or.jp it just werks in IceCat.

Took time to watch just a couple bouts today...

Enho vs. Ura: Good bout, shitty outcome – not doing favouritism here but overextended elbow on day 2 isn't good for Enho.
Takayasu vs Chiyonokuni: Takayasu looking like he's too cautious, inb4 he chokes at the end again
Tobizaru vs Takanosho: nice
Asanoyama vs Meisei: Meisei won that one with footwork, this is why just pushing forwards doesn't always win 
Hokutofuji vs Terunofuji: ha, Teru had to work for this one a bit more than I expected. Don't get what exactly he did to make Hokutofuji try that full turn that lost him the bout tho?
Shodai vs Wakatakakage: nice
Mitakeumi vs Takakeisho: huh Takakeisho lost the pushing match; maybe he should't've lost so much weight lol

I see NHK is also working extra on cinematic angles. Empty arena has some advantages...

 >>/43559/
Oh this is today's matchup. I only watched Sunday's yet.
> Mitakeumi vs Takakeisho: huh Takakeisho lost the pushing match; maybe he should't've lost so much weight lol
Yesterday Takakeisho won quick tho.

> Empty arena
What's the explanation? Corona?

 >>/43559/
> Enho vs. Ura:
Enho's early spring might have shown a bit of nervousness?
He has to be careful with his arms, those are his only defense, preventing his opponents to hold him down. And also his main offense.

Enho got beaten again. Didn't seem his arm hurting.
Asanoyama vs Wakatakakage was an exciting bout. Could have ended right after the start, but then they danced around a lot. And nice finish.
Then the Terunofuji match was short and sweet.
Shodai vs. Daiesisho was funny. Double jump.

Bushozan and Kotoshoho won quick their 4th victory, however Ura lost. It was a long struggle, very good fight, this is the first time I saw a deadlock without "locking".
Enho was beaten again - his arm is bandaged, he should have rested out a couple of bouts, me thinks, maybe it's a honor thing, it would look shamefur.
How Wakatakakage beaten Takayasu!
Maybe Takakeisho is a one trick pony but it works for him. Many rishiki seems like that tho.
Terunofuji continued the streak. He's doing good, I'm glad. How much for him to become yokozuna?

Era had very nice win.
Enho won in his Makuuchi fight. But I think he really needs some rest to heal. Now he had a bit if limp too.
Terunofuji continues the winning streak. Although it would have been nice to see Wakatakakage win.

 >>/43595/
> Era
I meant Ura ofc.

 >>/43570/
 >>/43588/
 >>/43595/
SlovBerg needs to be here to give his onions on this

Aki_basho_dohyō-iri_... jpg
(3.61 MB, 6016x4016)

 >>/43603/
Yes but he rarely will. So it's just me.
Context, for yesterday's bout:
I was watching the match ups of the two top sumo divisions.
First the 2nd division (Juryo) and after it the 1st (Makuuchi).
Sumos winning their bouts getting points and on the long run are moved further up in the divisions.
Ura and Enho in the 2nd div, on the top of it, those guys sometimes are matched with wrestlers from the 1st div, it's a way of deciding if they belong there.
Enho had a match like that yesterday and won. However previously in current tournament he lost the fights against his opponents in the 2nd div, and he also hurt his arm. He is a tiny guy, like 165 cm tall and 90 kgs, and sumos over 180 cm and 150 kgs are regular, and larger dudes at 190 cm and 195 kg aren't that rare. So he is really tiny in comparison, in fact he is the smallest. So he faces extra challenge, which makes him sympathetic for many.
Ura is another top sumo (or rikishi, sumotori, or osumosan) in the 2nd div. He wears pink mawashi, this is why I might call him Pinkpanty Pink Panther ged it?.
Terunofuji is a top wrestler in the 1st division, his face reminds me of a type of face I can see here on the Hungary, probably a Turanic heritage. It's a simple open face with a glint of humor in the eyes, which sometimes gives away the calculating thoughts behind the brow, and the occasional violence that can erupt. I think he is my favourite.
Wakatakakage I like for his name. And he isn't a bad fighter either. Doing good now.

Enho was beaten again. Am disappoint.

Gonna stream the Juryo and Makuuchi bouts in an hour. Cca.

 >>/43603/
I'm not very here sorry

 >>/43570/
> Shodai vs. Daiesisho was funny. Double jump.
Yea I saw that. Should have been a rematch imo :^)

 >>/43588/
> Terunofuji continued the streak. He's doing good, I'm glad. How much for him to become yokozuna?
normally you need two yokozuna worthy scores in a row as an ozeki, but there's small chance he can get promoted straight with a 15-0.
Another interesting thing is that if Hakuho can get full 15 days in July, and since he's likely to retire afterwards, Hakuho's very last bout could be against Terunofuji. Would be the best way to hand over the torch imo

 >>/43610/
Enho is fucked, elbow and then ankle...

 >>/43615/
I can show up tomorrow, will have time

btw here's clips of terunofuji doing some weight training
https://youtube.com/watch?v=xaTjkX_vHbY

 >>/43616/
Paying a bit more mind to the Ozekis. Asanoyama seems disciplined, but Terunofuji might be the most talented - or at least the cart runs for him the best now. I don't have much opinion on Shodai yet. Takakeisho is stable, but doesn't have much "imagination".
> Would be the best way to hand over the torch imo
I concur.
> Enho is fucked, elbow and then ankle...
Yeah, and this basho they throw him about like a kid. I suspect he still participates because he might score a victory somewhere while sitting out would mean automatic loss, and probably he can't afford that. On the other hand he risks more serious injury.
> I can show up tomorrow, will have time
Good. Did we start it at 6pm last time? I think it would be ok about that.

 >>/43617/
Reminds me I still have to much the vid about how much they make:  >>/43528/

 >>/43619/
6pm is good

 >>/43627/
Cool.

Takayasu vs Terunofuji was veeeery close today.
Hoshoryu dealt with Shodai similar to how he did Asanoyama yesterday. Can he last?

And I see Aoiyama is back – with back covered in tape...

 >>/43649/
> Takayasu vs Terunofuji was veeeery close today.
Just wanted to write that.
And Enho won finally.
> with back covered in tape.
Tape can fix everything.

Bushozan doing good. His stature is very similar to Takakeisho's.
Üra is marching on.
Enho third win! Hope he can rack up enough so he won't be effected too much.
I noticed Terotsuyoshi bringing down opponents by grabbing the front of the panty and pulling down.
Also Kaisei usually remaining there to check on the defeated and offer help. I wonder how they view this. Did someone telling him to stop they not children. What we might think as part of fair play and sportsmanship might be seen as an insult in other cultures.
Tobizaru failing hard this basho.
Takayasu deserved win.

teru png
(161.16 KB, 466x435)

Bushozan lost but was an exciting bout with sudden twists.
Sadonoumi's supa-jump was awesome.
Enho won again int Makuuchi! Very well exploited the moving weight of Chiyomaru.
Terutsuyoshi again used that technique.
Too bad about Terunofuji's hairgrabbing. Lots of growling on behalf of the commentators.

 >>/43693/
And Takayasu tried to play the pushing game with Takakeisho... you don't do that lol

Also, I hear Asanoyama is suspended for shamefur dispray (repeatedly visiting a hostess bar during basho despite quarantine orders, then lying about it when confronted the first time before additional proofs were submitted) – he's fucked.

teru gif
(3.64 MB, 854x480)

 >>/43694/
> Takayasu
He really could have grab him. As it started it looked like it will go that way, but than flurry of slaps and he was out.
> Asanoyama
Maybe he isn't that disciplined as it seems in the dohyo.

teru-scowl gif
(1.45 MB, 649x480)

 >>/43698/
Ok, here's updated, version #2, final, cut, corrected, cleared, finished, version #3, retouched, last reaction gif.

Today:
- Ura doing a one leg jump to win while Chiyonoumi walks out
- Enho getting betrayed by his knee again! Now in a different way.
- Tochinoshin now starting with henka on Hoshoryu... well, helped him get out of a knee grab. Bad fall for Hoshoryu, hope his back and/or head are okay.
- Tobizaru shows us why his name is Flying Monkey.
- Shodai keeps dodging, then finally connecting with a throw. Nice.
- Ichinojo as always – starts strong, then can't continue. I think he's too heavy and afraid of taking a nasty fall.
- Takayasu gets a free win.
- Terunofuji looking a bit more restrained today, but no less dominant.

Also: I've been seeing rumours that Ryuden's shamefur dispray for which he's sitting out is getting a side hoe (he's married) pregnant and trying to get her to get an abortion.
https://www.dailyshincho.jp/article/2021/05191659/

 >>/43726/
Shohozan vs. Daishoho was a weird bout. Jumping at each other like the opening move, over and over. Then Daishoho got enough. I did not like this match but was interesting to see.
The Shodai vs. Takanosho match was spectacular for sure.
> Terunofuji looking a bit more restrained today
Considerable more, yeah. I think he himself wasn't glad with his performance of yesterday, he could have won it without resorting to that hair pulling.
I would note the Takakeisho bout as well. First as his head was pushed down but he just rebound, I think the situation shows my previous point that he doesn't lean forward too much, he maintains a good balance. Then Ichinojo just run out of space, I think he didn't notice he backed up that much.

Mono-ii-desu.
Deadlock after deadlock, that was it for the Tiny Man.
Terutsuyoshi and the kamikaze finish, falling on the heda.
Hahh, Endo's victory was really nice, jumping that frog outside of the dohyo.

 >>/43732/
> Hahh, Endo's victory was really nice, jumping that frog outside of the dohyo.
Yeah, that dive lol.
Also that pretty much cemented Terunofuji yusho. Only way he loses it now is losing to both Endo tomorrow and Takakeisho on day 15, while they win their other matchups (Takakeisho vs Shodai, or Endo with ? Takayasu perhaps?) – leading to a playoff. But I don't see that happening.

Also, Shodai had an easy matchup to get his winning score to be safe from demotion from ozeki... he won't be facing Terunofuji at all. Maybe a bit unusual decision by schedule makers.

Abi also secured his 7-0 today in makushita.

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 >>/43715/
Someone has fairly solid proofs of the foul play there.
Still won't shut up the western fans in the youtube comments, tho.
https://twitter.com/yukarii__nu/status/1394939250961829892

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 >>/43735/
The footage on nattosumo's channel seemed conclusive. But fans will be fans.

Gonna stream soon.
And then on Sunday at 18:00 the closing day of the basho.

Shohozan vs Oho, long good struggle.
Kotoshoho vs Daishoho long but not good.
Fugg. Terunofuji vs Endo was tuff. Grat to Endo, he did good.
Last day will be exciting. One defeat and one victory are between Terunofuji and Takakeisho.

 >>/43741/
think I can make it tomorrow yeah

 >>/43743/
> Fugg. Terunofuji vs Endo was tuff. Grat to Endo, he did good.
It's really gonna be like I said here?  >>/43733/
> Only way he loses it now is losing to both Endo tomorrow and Takakeisho on day 15, while they win their other matchups (Takakeisho vs Shodai, or Endo with ? Takayasu perhaps?)
(Endo has Shodai tomorrow)
Both Endo and Takakeisho still have chance to equalise with Terunofuji – which would lead into a 3-way-playoff, which goes like this: they pull straws for first duel, then winner faces the third one, and if winner loses that, it continues cyclically until someone wins both consecutive bouts.

 >>/43748/
> It's really gonna be like I said here?
What were the chances.
Good show anyway.

Then at 6.

Very good. An exciting finish for this basho.
Takakeisho is just a bit boring to deserve a win. I think Terunofuji deserved this. Now he just need to learn to control himself better so no hair grabs occurs in the future.
Too bad for Enho. Hopefully his arm and ankle will heal up and will beat the crap out of everyone on next tournament.

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The next tournament is to be held in Nagoya (as traditional for July), starting on Sunday 2 weeks (minus 2 days) from now.
Banzuke chart has been released; Wakatakakage and Meisei are for the first time in komusubi slots, and Ichiyamamoto was given a surprise promotion to the bottom of makuuchi. Ura also finally returns to makuuchi after injury in 2017. (In an interview he said that he eats McD's cheeseburgers for dirty bulking. Sponsorship deal?) Enho was dropped to J5, perhaps lenient after injuries ruined his May performance. Abi made it back to juryo after demolishing everyone in makushita where he got thanks to suspension for shamefur dispray last year. Kotokuzan (half-Filipino on his mother's side) also got his first promotion to juryo. Ishizaki, who won division 4 where he debuted (thanks to university sumo performance), is now in division 3 – someone to keep an eye on (he is swole af).
https://sumo.or.jp/EnHonbashoBanzuke/index/

There are some special procedures due to corona; instead of travelling to Nagoya together by train 2 weeks before the tournament as usual, they will be travelling stable by stable, after vaccination in Tokyo. (They're scheduled to receive a 2nd shot after the tournament is over, when they return to Tokyo.)

Takayasu needs 13 wins for promotion to ozeki (taking Asanoyama's spot); this is not likely to happen given that both Takakeisho and Terunofuji are now aiming for yokozuna and winning the title. But, this is also his last tournament with ex-yokozuna Kisenosato coaching in his stable; he is opening a new stable of his own where he wants to test some new ideas how to train – for example, he wants a more spacious stable (which is why he's moving out of Tokyo, to the suburbs), with two dohyo to train.
As well, Hakuho says he will compete, but that he will retire if he can't perform strongly. (And if he pulls out before the end, Takakeisho and Terunofuji won't get a bout scheduled against him...)

As for Asanoyama; he was given a 6 tournament suspension for not respecting quarantine; apparently he was going out with a journalist friend (who was also fired when the details came out), and the old stablemaster (who still owned and lived on the premises despite already passing the chief coach position to a younger guy) was also kicked out for repeatedly going outside and taking his trainees out as well. Very systematic breach of guidelines here, possibly this helped Asanoyama get off lightly and not just be called to retire (though he did, as customary, submit his retirement papers, which remained unopened). Ryuden was suspended for 3 tournaments.

 >>/44142/
> old stablemaster was also kicked out for repeatedly going outside and taking his trainees out as well. Very systematic breach of guidelines here
Wonder what was their motivation.
> And if he pulls out before the end, Takakeisho and Terunofuji won't get a bout scheduled against him
Well, I'm almost hyped, but I fear we're gonna get disappointed.

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They used extra long needles (38mm) to vax the big guys.

 >>/44202/
They have to jab through that thick layer of fat somehow.

Sunday sumo?

Fugg NattoSumo says he has problem with the source of the Makushita bouts.
https://tube.cadence.moe/watch?v=-fGIWLJMm_k

Anyway, today this month's basho starts.
If anyone wanna watch I'm gonna put the summaries on on our cytube channel, at 18:00 CET. Well, CES, because it's summer time.

Enho won. Seems to be healthy, and amybe gained a couple of kilos. I don't remember exactly his weight.
Nice win from Ura! Had to prove himself on the first occasion and he did.
Dat start of Chiyoshoma's bout. And then deadlock.
How Wakatakakage could lose that. Jesus.
Similarly to Ura, Hakuho had to win. Missed out many tournaments, and now he have to show who is the yokozuna.

Hey, I've been missing due to outdoors activities (hiking in Austria), sorry for no replies earlier.
I've noticed that Takayasu dropped out, something about straining his back in training – he really keeps getting bad luck. Oh well he might rejoin midway through like Aoiyama last time, so his rankings don't suffer too much.

 >>/44288/
> Enho
And he's in red again! He wore a red mawashi when he first joined the top division, May 2019, and he had a good starting couple basho. Perhaps he switched back for better luck?
> Wakatakakage
Looks like Hokutofuji won that one purely on mind games? Two false starts, then he somehow managed to walk him into a trap when he looked like losing already.
> Hakuho
His right knee didn't look very solid during the dohyo-iri already. He couldn't overpower Meisei and Meisei then tried to win by overloading that right knee. Hakuho pulled himself out of that on his superior dexterity. But for how much longer can he keep going like that?

 >>/44294/
How's the kangaroos treating you?
> Takayasu
Yeah, I was waiting his bout, but so many things I forgot about it.
> But for how much longer can he keep going like that?
Will see.

Gonna stream it today, in fact, I'm gonna try watching the recaps via that during the whole tournament. 18 CES.

Oh shit. Did Enho got a KO onto his chin when he fell?
Wakamotoharu shoved a big one.
Chiyoshoma had intense bout again.
Shodai and Tsuki* should have a longer match considering how many times the had to restart.
Wtf happened to Takakeisho? If his arm hurt he can't pushypushy.
Hakuho staring with sticking his forearm into Endo's neck instead of headbutting together. Nice.

 >>/44296/


 >>/44302/
> Enho
I think that was from one of the uppercuts, didn't look like he contacted ground with his jaw after – also he technically had to forfeit due to concussion (hence all the extra attention). Heard he is okay otherwise.
> Takakeisho
Looks bad. Not sure what exactly – reports say neck, but perhaps nerve compression? His right arm has gone completely limp.
> Hakuho
Yeah he doesn't like going face-first... so he uses elbow or slaps. He's very quick so he can do it with precision.
Notice also, he almost done the same hair pull mistake as Terunofuji last basho. But he lifts hand and pushes instead.

Onosho vs Myogiryu with acrobatics on that final throw. Nice.
Hoshoryu looking really good, his technique on throws is better and better each basho.

 >>/44296/
forgot to answer the kangaroos question :^)
had a close encounter with a snek, made sure not to step on it

Also, Takayasu is returning, and he will be facing Ichinojo tomorrow (today?)

 >>/44305/
> concussion
That comes with the KO.
> nerve compression
For a bit I thought it's his lower back.

 >>/44306/
Maded a snek video meself the other day. Maybe I should post it.

 >>/44307/
He did not get an easy one as a first fight.

Some breddy gud bouts today.
What we did not talk about:
Daishoho gave up fast.
I'm glad for Midorifuji. Big jump.
Bushozan vs Hatakikomi match was full of twists. Well, two, but still.
From what I read about techniques, the Takagenji vs Kotoshoho bout must be well regarded. Holding each other's mawashi and struggle.
Blody nose for Enho again. He needs to step up with his game.

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Abi won again, he is clean for now.
Noooo, Enho. He was unsure at the start. Too bad.
Wtf. Oshitaoshi sucked balls in this one. He was schooled.
Ishiura won an intense bout. Started with pushipushi, but he grabbed his opponent's panty quick.
Ura seems to be short. Did not notice before, maybe because he is taller than Enho.
Haha, Kaisei vs Tochinoshin. Was a big fall, the arena shook.
Shimanoumi won good.
Wtf, the piano.
Wakatakage managed a slap right onto the point of the chin of his opponent. I think that was the firs step to victory.
Teru pushed one too much at the end. He tends to do that. I don't like it, but maybe it can be used as some personality trait or something.
Takanosho almost got Hakuho. I like Hakuho smiling that much.

Tried to figure out where the mystery lady sits. Couple of women in tradition clothing could have been her, because I don't see anyone resembling in casual plain clothes.
First I thought the one on pic 1, but she moves too much, and doesn't clap. Maybe the second in light kimono. I noticed a third potential suspect, but she claps too vehemently. Well, more days coming, so a successful ID is possible.

 >>/44326/
What was Akua doing though? He just fell back and banged his head quite a bit falling off the dohyo.
Ichinojo is looking a bit more determined this basho...
Hakuho is enjoying it!

> Tried to figure out where the mystery lady sits. Couple of women in tradition clothing could have been her, because I don't see anyone resembling in casual plain clothes.
> First I thought the one on pic 1, but she moves too much, and doesn't clap. Maybe the second in light kimono. I noticed a third potential suspect, but she claps too vehemently. Well, more days coming, so a successful ID is possible.
Good question – she's probably stayed in Tokyo. Remember we're in Nagoya this tournament

 >>/44329/
> Akua
He zurücked, then tripped and fell.
> Hakuho is enjoying it!
Seems so.

Abi keeps going on.
Mitoryu should have seen that one coming vs Enho!
Tochinoshin tries the same as Enho. Looks pathetic when he does it tbh.
Okinoumi fugged up vs Kiribayama.
A lot of running around in Wakatakakage vs. Daieisho.
Endo quit? Didn't notice him getting injured vs Takayasu yesterday.
Takayasu not so good today vs Meisei. Started strong but Meisei got better position and Takayasu had no answer.
Terunofuji dominant as always.
Shodai outsmarted again. Tobizaru took a while to take him out of bounds but he was in control at all times. I don't think Shodai can keep ozeki rank like that, and don't think he will be helped by lenient matchmaking this time either.
Ichinojo looked nervous, two false starts! He's too heavy for Hakuho to just overpower but he didn't show much resistance when pushed back either. Looked a bit overwhelming but on replay it is noticeable how masterfully he got rid of Ichinojo's grip before pushing back. Coordinated move of hips + right arm pushing back. After that Ichinojo had no grip and got lost.

 >>/44333/
Oh fugg spoilers!
Well gonna read after I watched it.

 >>/44329/
Maybe she isn't a wife of a rikishi after all. Or still can be they don't have to travel with their lords and commanders.

 >>/44333/
> Abi
With great efficiency.
Bushozan - right onto the butt.
Azumaryu vs. Kotoshoho was a great panty-yanking match.
> Enho
He got the rythm just perfect. It's nicer when he grapples his opponents and throws them over his shoulder. Ideally. I think he chose to do this to mix up his game.
Fugg, Yutakayama match was intense.
Haha, Tsurugisho was frogge now.
Ura is among the big boys now. He gets real challanges finally.
> Tochinoshin
Expectations are different from a giant.
> Okinoumi
He had one job, not to put his feet down. He has to practice floating.
Onosho just run forward with Chiyotairyu. Kinda funny.
Wakatakakage bouts tend do be like that. He misjudged the size of the ring.
Yeah, Ichinojo looked nervous he also looks like a granny. Hakuho took him different at the start, no forearm into the neck move this time.

Fugg, poor Enho. Azumaryu could just reach and grab his leg, like a child. But he was polite when he asked the elder(?) if everythingi s okay after he finished that roll.
Too bad for Hakuyozan. Wonder if it's gonna have long term effect.
Üra uses very little salt. He had good momentum and pushed forward hard. I wonder if someone quicker could have exploited this.
Tokushoryu frogge now.
To be honest Terutsuyoshi won mostly because of his rebound from his opponent.
Kaisei yorikirimashta
Tobizaru managed to salvage that with the famous crane technique.
Wakatakakage is enthusiastic but missing a good balance, a good "grounding", he is like a flea.
I liked Takayasu's bout. Now he has a good footing. He is on the dohyo and not above it in contrast.
Oh, I feel sorry for Ichinojo. He would have deserved a longer match.
Hakuho always looks at his opponents like a strict dad onto his disorderly kids or something. All of his bouts are won differently. Fun.

Abi absolutely overpowered Daishomaru.
Relatively short armed guys, especially with the shape of Takakeisho and Bushozan, don't even have much choice, but to master pushipushi technique.
Enho gets banged up breddy well.
Kyokutaisei kept coming back but he had no power to turn the bout over, forced to defend continuously.
Üra just pushed forward again. It was enough.
Ishiura grabbed the asscrack.
Small guys, like Enho, Midorifuji, Terutsuyoshi tend to start very carefully. Just small charge, rather a tiny jump forward. I really wanna watch a bout them pitted against each other.
Srsly. Ichinojo looks like someone's granma.
Hakuho vs Tobizaru started well. Laffed a bit. Twice. Three times. Like five times. Tobizaru looked like he's trying to touch fire. Then went in and lost like a boy. My sympathies. I kinda like him better and will cheer for him in the future.

Abi should have taken Kaisho head on. Kaisho was ready not to fall for some sidestep trick, and then Abi lost good footing after failed to move his opponent. Food for thought for Abi. It was an interesting bout.
Some bouts were missing. Oh well.
Enho clearly lost his mojo.
Big slap from Ishiura. Couldn't see where it sit, but both on jaw and on ear can be disorienting.
Okinoumi did well, spinning over him by the panty.
Wakatakakage slipped! And then Ichinojo just needed to put his weight on.
Considering his position Daiesho does very badly this basho.
Tobizaru held himself well, until Teru pushed his head down.
Kotoeko did not seem to be impressed at the face off. Is it double luck if a yokozuna falls upon you?

Yago vs Midorifuji, long long bout. At one point Midori thought Yago will be out, he just have to slap him. Lel.
Two Mono-II during Abi's match!
Ichiyamamoto doing good, 7-2. Although it was a struggle.
Random piano again. Wtf. I don't get it.
Tobizaru does not get easy opponents. I think it's trend that if a bout between noticeably different size rikishis hangs in a deadlock the tinier guy is gonna lose.
Teru is getting gentler. Now he doesn't give that last push, maybe he got a talk to.

So uh. Catching up now.

I'm fairly sure Ichinojo surrendered his bout to Terunofuji. They knew each other from before they came to Japan, etc etc
Hakuho vs Tobizaru, oh wow. Tobizaru had an idea to get Hakuho to overextend so he can pull and get around, Hakuho didn't fall for it. Not surprising, he trains with Enho, he must have tried similars before.
Enho.... F. Also bad luck for Hakuyozan. And Abi's streak was finally broken!

 >>/44337/
I think I saw her in the crowd, to the right side of camera view, on weekend bouts.

Now for today's...

 >>/44384/
> Ichinojo surrendered his bout
Does that happen sometimes? What I noticed he grabbed with his left toward the panty but failed and then his arm just hanged there he did not try else. And he did not much more than put his weight onto Teru.
Btw as I'm watching Hakuho's matches, Teru is good and strong, but nowhere as technical as the yokozuna. No doubt he is a top ozeki, but is he good enough to step above?

Kaisho also doing well.
Was Kaisei grabbing Kagayaki's tit for a while?
Terutsuyoshi's surprise move was failed (was a long shot anyway?), but left no room for recover.
Looked at Ichinojo's results, he was beaten by Hakuho, Teru, and Takayasu. Well, yeah.
Earlier made comparison between Takayasu and Wakatakakage. Now the latter held way better, and Takayasu had a bad step at one point.
Wtf. Teru had very easy job again. What the fuck. He was let win again? Almost feels like an insult. If he did not know about it, then to him as well, but for us too. Shame. I dunno what's going on. I really wanna know what the commentators was talking about.

 >>/44386/
There used to be plenty of matchfixing (the March 2011 tournament  >>/32381/ was cancelled because the investigation just started and couldn't be finished before the tournament), and iirc some ex-rikishi who fell out with the org claimed as many as half of the matches in the 90s were rigged – but there hasn't been any indications that this is still ongoing. Well except angry Japanese fans accusing Mongols of doing it when they don't like what they see.

 >>/44394/
> Was Kaisei grabbing Kagayaki's tit for a while?
it's allowed...
> Wtf. Teru
Looked like a matta? Gyoji should've called it, Chiyotairyu stands up before Terunofuji touches, and, perplexed, tries to stop, but Terunofuji just goes all-in.

Good bout between Hoshoryu and Tobizaru too.
Kotonowaka is at 8-2 from M11.
Ichiyamamoto is 7-3, I'd say judges unexpectedly promoting him from juryo was a good call.

Also I remembered what that Tobizaru vs. Hakuho bout reminded me of. Senegalese wrestling. It's fairly similar to sumo, differences being: no tachiai, sand instead of clay (and larger area), hands and knees allowed to touch ground, and punches legal. Well, with all the slaps and shoves we've seen this tournament (Takagenji vs Enho, and Takakento yesterday), there's not that much difference in this aspect, they just have to keep hand open in sumo. Lack of tachiai means they have to feel each other from distance before going in. And it looks kinda like what Tobizaru was doing.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0B8Xpk0cAs8

 >>/44403/
> matchfixing
I see. I wonder if yakuza ever tried to profit from it. I'm not sure how much betting is a thing there.
> Looked like a matta?
Could be very well. Rewatched it, and  Chiyotairyu looked like straightening up as if waiting the call, because he started out a moment before, Teru being late for a half breath. So he might have thought he did a false start. Maybe since tricking the other to make a bad move is allowed, could be the judges thought it's ok.
Also Chiyotairyu isn't doing very well on this tournament, most likely a rematch wouldn have changed anything.
> Hoshoryu and Tobizaru
It was a great move how Hoshoryu gained back his balance, Tobizaru missed slapping and pushing him in the last move, and with shoving Tobizaru out, he could save himself.
> Senegalese wrestling
It does look similar.

Kaisho vs Mitoryu - someone had to win.
Tohakuryu pulling Midori's hair wasn't nice. Was uglier than Teru's foul.
Abi did good however, slapping his face, then change to a push onto the chest.
Yutakamaya run out of luck this time. 
Ishiura's winning streak status = broken. Terutsuyoshi doing well against similarly sized opponents I think.
Ura's arms were held down well. Coming out of that how he did was awesome.
Hoshoryu out-hobbled Shodai. When they clinched their legs, he already had the upper hand by having literally the upper hand in panty grabbing, forcing Shodai into an uncomfortable position. Me thinks.

 >>/32381/
Thats some /x/ tier conspiracy shit right there slovborg

Yutakayama grabbed Mitoryu panty well during deadlock but meant little. He stood balanced.
Chiyonoo advanced from Juryo recently? Has something to do in Makuuchi. Returned well after his rebound after faceoff.
Hehe, salt. Did well with the tackling game.
Takayasu really wanted to reach Kiribayama's panty to get a good grip from the inside. I think forcing that move was his mistake. He concentrated too much on that, and failed to change when he should have.
Hakuho finished it more elegantly then Terunofuji.

Hidenoumi avoided that throw at the edge from Hoshoryu very well. They're starting to counter his throws.
Takayasu vs. Kiribayama, that was long and technical. But alas Takayasu choked yet again.
Terunofuji vs. Meisei staredown! And you can see reactions from Hakuho. Wonder what he has ready for Terunofuji, he rehearses a lot in preparation.

So, Hakuho and Terunofuji are heading into the last 3 days both on 12-0.
They will almost certainly be pitted against Takayasu and Shodai next 2 days, and then against each other.

 >>/44426/
> But alas Takayasu choked yet again.
Kiribayama found the moment when he could push forward. Was Takayasu worn down enough to expose his side like that?

I'm glad for Enho.
And Hoshoryu has much potential.
Teru almost got beaten. 
Hakuho did a short job on Takayasu.
I think on Sunday Hakuho will defeat Terunofuji, he could surprise Teru with ease.

I guess today's bouts deserve a short comment.
Especially Hakuho slapping Shodai around. Was a bit embarrassing and by the end it seemed he toyed with him, which should be below his stature (was there a message hidden in that for Terunofuji who watched the bout?). The first slap right after the tachi-ai - well actually the charge was kinda left out from the initial charge - I did not notice first, was quite quick, and the events perplexed me a bit.
Too bad for Enho. I hope he'll get his act together till next basho.

Hey – I just realised, today's also Tour de France finals (l'arrivée sur les Champs-Elysées) and at the usual time I'd be watching live (finish is at sunset) – can we make it an hour earlier, at 17h?

also please no spoilers if anyone already watched or checked results :3

 >>/44451/
17? Sure.
> also please no spoilers if anyone already watched or checked results :3
Yeah, every day I put a notice onto the IRC channel (bridged to discord and telegram), and everyone just floods the chat with spoilers. Outrageous.

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Hakuho's technical superiority appeared breddy well. I would have liked Terunofuji to win, but as I suspected he did not (in theory he will be yokozuna on 21st due to his winning streak, and his great return after he got relegated).
There were a couple notable bouts. Abi expected win turned into a very quick loss.
One of our fav Ura after suffering a couple of slaps from Chiyoshoma, gained the initiative and forced his opponent out.
Tobizaru threw his opponent out.
Like Wakatakakage, who did it more spectacularly from a position that looked like a sure defeat.

Japanese media report that Terunofuji's promotion to yokozuna has been decided and now we're just waiting for the formalities.
Congrats to the 73rd yokozuna!
https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202107180000496.html

 >>/44472/
They picked that image well for that article, kek. Humbling.

 >>/44472/
I threw that into Google translate. Results were hilarious.

After slapping Enho on day 2... Takagenji is now under police investigation for smoking weed.
https://www.nippon.com/en/news/yjj2021072000698/sumo-wrestler-found-using-cannabis.html

 >>/44475/
They always are. Here's the one about Takagenji:
https://www.nikkansports.com/battle/sumo/news/202107200000489.html

 >>/44489/
That's what you get slapping Enho. The curse gets to you.
> CBD oil
Sounds plausible. And not, because they could know that could result in positive drug test. So my money is on the pot smoking.
> Yasujin is not using cannabis" on the 17th day of the 14th day
Some nuggets for sure.

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He has the rope now.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=AUTeaD9Ascw

His oyakata – ex-yokozuna Asahifuji – also received a red rope for his 60th birthday, when it's customary for yokozuna to make their last dohyo-iri.
60 years is the full length of the Chinese zodiac cycle (5 elements and 12 animals), so on the 60th birthday in Japan you celebrate kanreki, which is in a way understood as rebirth – being born into next cycle of life. Customarily red colour is worn on this day, so the rope is also red instead of white.

 >>/44585/
Hey they make that thick rope at that place. Breddy cool.
I think this is the appointment ceremony, or how it is called:
https://tube.cadence.moe/watch?v=DVS-Kb8_Vsw
https://youtube.com/watch?v=DVS-Kb8_Vsw

 >>/44592/
Not sure how it's called.

Note: when accepting the title, the newly appointed yokozuna makes a personalised vow (that he has prepared with oyakata).
> 不動心を心がけ、横綱の品格、力量の向上に努めます。
I trieded translating (google translate is wonky so I had to break down the grammar a bit)
> Keeping my heart steadfast, I will strive to improve my strength and dignity as a yokozuna.
Note: Hakuho was previously scolded for shamefur dispray and lack of yokozuna dignity on last two days, for overdoing the slaps vs Terunofuji but especially for stepping that far back with Shodai and avoiding full contact.

 >>/44593/
> but especially for stepping that far back with Shodai 
It did really seem like he was toying with him.

Hakuho VS Terunofuji - All Bouts Compilation
Big Battles. Quite a few deadlock.
Hakuho can start lightning fast.
2016 July, what happened there?
https://tube.cadence.moe/watch?v=HevM1b2VvN4
https://youtube.com/watch?v=HevM1b2VvN4

I think next basho must coming soon.

 >>/44838/
SlovBerg and you need to act as referees for the next match tbh

 >>/44880/
No. I'm just at the beginning of noticing things, what techniques they use and such.
Also they have like over 9000 finishing moves, I can barely can tell 2. Or even not at all.

Btw Aki basho is staring on September 12 (next Sunday).
Now with two yokozunas again.
Takayasu fell back to Komusubi, too bad.
Enho is still in Juryo middle ranks. He needs to work harder.

Man I'm EXTREMELY busy right now, hope I can get my shit together.

Hakkeyoi!

Startin the stream in 20.
https://cytu.be/r/endcorner

Whole Miyagino stable is out due to covid, no Hakuho and Enho.
Ichiyamamoto is marching up and further up at every tournament, maybe it will be worth to follow his performance this basho.
I'm glad for Tobizaru, he did good against that giant.
Ura frequently starts out very carefully. Too bad his initiative to break the deadlock turned against him.
That Chiyoshoma bout! That was fun. And he keeps the habit of slapping.
Hokutofuji was full of energy.
Hoshoryu beat Shodai nicely and with good elan.
Teru vs Ichinojo. Their last bout was questionable. Teru won again with relative ease. I'd expect more from Ichinojo, but ofc it can't be easy against Terunofuji.

Kotoshoho had a good grab on the panty.
Mitoryu vs. Daiamami - great struggle!
Ura started out weird again. I think Terutsuyoshi's routine defeated him.
Ichinojo is a dude hard to defeat. And it was a slow defeat. But was a defeat.
I liek Hokutofuji's theatrics. Good win too.
Takakeisho second defeat. This basho ain't started good for him. Haven't he recovered fully yet?
Hoshoryu kept himself well for a bit.

Takakeisho-vs-Hoshoryu jpeg
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I noticed something at certain rishikis, notably Ura, Tobizaru, and to some lesser extent in Wakatakakage's style, or the manner how they fight. All are a bit different ofc. Neither are bad but they seem frequently uncertain, they don't seem to practice a particular style of sumo wrestling - neither the pushi-pushi, or the various panty-grabbing styles (I mean comparatively to other rishikis) - they seem more reactive to the opponent, they don't grab the initiative and force their style on the other. They try to pull various stunts and can change styles quick, but they aren't that good, so it's more of a luck. At the initial charge, the tachi-ai they frequently take it cautiously. They are kinda small.

Japan Times has basho reports:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/basho-reports/

Churanoumi vs Nishikigi started out exciting, but then it led to a stalemate. Nishikigi eventually won that one.
Abi got another win.
Akua continues with the flashy throws.
Hidenoumi "wins by ushiromotare" (backward lean out), wew
Ura BODY SLAM!!!! Well, kinda.
Hokutofuji couldn't show up because Terunofuji rekt him too hard yesterday.
Hoshoryu is sick and thus gifted Takayasu a much-needed win.
Meisei overcommitted and gave Ichinojo a chance to slap him down.
Mitakeumi continues with another win. But last time he was 8-7 so he will likely still be short of an ozeki run.
Kotonowaka is no match for Takakeisho's pushy-pushy.
Shodai overpowered Wakatakakage massively at tachi-ai, he lost footing completely.
Great effort from Kiribayama vs Terunofuji. He got in better position but it still wasn't enough.

 >>/44996/
> They try to pull various stunts and can change styles quick, but they aren't that good, so it's more of a luck.
Ring awareness is a skill in itself.
But yes they have defensive style, purists don't like that generally. But I'd say ring awareness is a skill itself...

Hon hon hon! I'm in France now, apparently.

Chiyonokuni's is on a winning streak. Let's see how long it will last.
Kotoeko lost by just a quick little step.
Ura! Nice throw! Very nice. Well, more like a lift, but, yeah.
Too bad for Hokutofuji.
Takayasu deserves a good by the book win.
Wakatakakage's defeat was ugly. Not sure what happened, if he made a mistake.
Kiribayama held himself well. Did Teru pushed him just a bit too far on purpose? I couldn't recognize anger in Teru, but he has a bit temper.

 >>/45012/
Heh, just watched.
Finally I gave up and just covered the stuff for tomorrow.
> Abi got another win.
He needed it.
> but it still wasn't enough.
Run out of steam, and couldn't counter the hug.

Azomaryu's first win, quite quick. Great push on the back of the neck of Takakento.
Wakatohomaru's pushing techique looks something that should be hard on the wrist.
Endo vs. Chiyonokumi! Spectacular!
Ura got bent half. Backwards.
Tobizaru vs. Takarafuji. Got a couple of surprise moments. No shame for Tobizaru.
Kiribayama showed some break dance skills.
Takayesss!
Takakeisho seems eager to fix his score. Btw his match was before Shodai's. Why the change? They can slide down in the list based on the performance during basho?

 >>/44983/
ach missed the stream bernd. Sorries

 >>/45048/
And now I'm Serbian

r8

 >>/45048/
I stream every day, same time 18 Central Euro (Summer) Time.

 >>/45049/
You met Danebernd there?

Nishikifuji got his 7th win. Quite a few with same performance on the leaderboard.
Abi vs Akua, funny ending.
Took a bit of time for Chiyomaru, but he had the upper hand during the whole bout.
Ura was tricked to fall? Is it a move to push someone's heda up, he will push down, then suddenly let him go?
Takarafuji vs. Kotonowaka: the battle of balance.
Hoshoryu Wakatakakage, that was awesome.
Yeah, Ichinojo lacks agilita, and also hard for him to stop his own weight when gets pushed. He is up in the rankings because he is very big, and many rishikis can't do much against that I think.
Kiribayama did good. 
Teru's first loss. Couldn't have a hold on Daieisho, who did good with his pushes.

Nikishifuji won again. Hakuyozan is a bigger guy, but performs bad this basho.
Shohozan got blodied. A bloody victory.
Chiyonokuni vs Hideonumi was a good struggle.
Frogge leap was very popular on this day.
Ura got hold well in Teru's panty, that's for sure. Not giving up.

ura-finger jpg
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Ura holds his fingers weird. Liek a crab.
Winning move: grabbing the other by the neck/chin, pushing his head up, bending the opponent backward, and threading forward with the feet.
I think Teru shoved Takayas with more force than necessary. I think he's getting frustrated a bit. Long bouts with much struggle, it ain't going smooth.

 >>/38819/
> Volcanoes and tsunamis almost never happen. 

really now?

Here is a picture of my sumo hero. Do you recognize him?

Sadly no

> t. unknower of Japan

aeb9df568acea20c629e2... png
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 >>/45095/
And now I'm Turkish again FML

 >>/45056/
> I stream every day, same time 18 Central Euro (Summer) Time.

You should announce such things bernd *esp on Hungarian IBs. Cuz most people don't know about it

> You met Danebernd there?

No clue where he moved to. Wasn't he going to be here again one day?

Terunofuji won the yusho (championship), with a well 13-2 balance. His last match was against Shodai, who could do little, Teru was like Fuji, standing well on the ground, wide and high.
I think Hoshoryu was influenced by his illness much, maybe he'll do better on next basho. And hopefully we'll see Enho then again.
Congrats to Abi ofc.

HAKUHO RETIRED

 >>/45109/
Maybe they found Terunofuji's performance satisfactory for now?
His previous basho was flawless. It is a good end, no matter he had to sit out this one (this wasn't his fault anyway).
I did not follow his career - since I only watch sumo on your influence -, and only seen his performance during the Nagoya tournament, so I can't tell much. But this isn't a necrology anyway. I assume he gets a position among the elders, and do... what's he gonna do now?
They in need of another yokozuna. Who's gonna be? I don't see Shodai or Takakeisho the best person for the job. Although the latter is ozeki for a while now.

 >>/45110/
It was expected that Hakuho would get a position among the elders for life solely on his yokozuna record (like previously Taiho, Kitanoumi and Takanohana – otherwise yokozuna get temporary 5 year and ozeki 3 year position without elder stock) – but the yokozuna committee recently suggested the practice should be discontinued, which was a bit controversial since it came just in time for Hakuho's expected retirement. In practice this doesn't mean much (Hakuho already called dibs on Magaki elder stock), except that he will not be able to open a Hakuho stable.
Now, the current Miyagino-oyakata, where Hakuho trained, is 64 himself so he's expected to retire soon, perhaps already next year (cap is 65, but can be extended to 70 if approved by a board). So the most likely scenario is that Hakuho obtains the Magaki elder stock first, then inherits Miyagino stock whenever the current stablemaster retires, and (it was already rumoured before) passes Magaki stock to Terunofuji. (Kakuryu I think is expecting to get another one. He is currently on the 5 year temporary membership.)
Otherwise, Hakuho has been very active in promotion of sumo, he ran a yearly children's tournament for example, but the organisation (as you have probably noticed) doesn't like him that much – he's a bit too ambitious... It's possible some will try to set him up a scandal to dishonourably retire him as an elder like what happened to Takatoriki, who was kicked for shamefur dispray of gambling and then borrowing money when he got broke.

I think we first need to see who can make it to ozeki first...
I'd love to see Endo finally getting his shit together, he came from university sumo as a double champion and was hyped by the media, but his performances looked like he's not even trying most of the time. But we've seen him do well in May and September, though sitting out most of July due to injury.
Hoshoryu has a pedigree (his uncle being Asashoryu, before that his family was also involved in bökh in Mongolia), he's doing quite well, and is still young, has room for improvement. I certainly see him getting to ozeki in 2 years, perhaps earlier.
Wakatakakage, also likely future ozeki imo.
Then there's Hokuseiho. If he can get strong and doesn't injure himself, he's almost sure to become ozeki. But it's always a risk with very tall guys. He fucks up his back and he'll end up like Ichinojo.

As for the current and ex ozeki:
Asanoyama isn't yokozuna material, imo, but I can see him getting back to ozeki.
Takakeisho, it depends, his pushy pushy game is too strong, but his arms are too short and anyone who can get close to him will win on the belt. Likely the one thing that will prevent him from yokozuna.
Shodai, well. He's strong, but he gets tricked too easily.
Also, Takayasu, he was an ozeki 2 years ago, but I think his time is up.

From those I think Hoshoryu has best shots at next yokozuna. Come on Japan get your shit together, it's Mongol after Mongol.

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 >>/45111/
> yokozuna committee recently suggested the practice should be discontinued
Weird coincidence.

I read this:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/09/27/sumo/hakuho-sumo-retire/
> pro sumo at 15
With his quick rise I can imagine he was liek Superman. That can bolster ego somewhat for sure.
The article also says he is already the owner of "elder name stock". Btw what "stock" means exactly in this context?

Here's some words from Teru:
https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/09/27/sumo/terunofuji-yokozuna-win/

 >>/45114/
Consider the Sumo Association as a corporation, which has 105 shares. (Each of them comes with a custom name.) Those shares however can only be acquired by ex-osumosan whose careers were noticeable enough (san'yaku rank, or 20+ tournaments in makuuchi, or 30+ tournaments in juyro or makuuchi.) Once you pass those conditions, you can trade, borrow, etc. those.
It is translated as "stock" simply because the word, 株, is also used for the capitalist meaning. But the word can also mean a tree stump. Perhaps "stake" would be the most fitting translation, conferring both the literal wooden meaning and the concept of holding stake. (Though "stock" also seems to have had the original meaning of a tree stump.)

 >>/45115/
How that acquiring happens? They pay for it? Or they have to ask and convince the other shareholders to get one?

 >>/45116/
Until about 10 years ago (during the gambling scandal and matchfixing scandal) yes, the practice was to pay for it. And in theory they could even be bought by an outsider who'd then lend it to their favourite wrestlers.
Now, I honestly have no idea how it happens (and probably nobody has, except the insiders) – in theory, they're granted by the association, but the association only approves the deals they make behind closed doors. Hakuho having "acquired" Magaki stock only involves apparently everyone having agreed that he has the right to it after he called dibs a couple months ago. I imagine they're also still traded for money, given that everyone who has bought their share before 2011 paid for it, and they'd be expected to get nothing in return – it's just not officially noted.

Do ethnic Japanese still compete in top sumo? Aren't they all Mongols?
Do the mongol sumotoris come from Mongolia or are they an ethnic subgroup of japanese citizens?
If from Mongolia: do they speak correct japanese? Do they return to Mongolia or stay in Japan? If they stay, do they take ethnic Japanese wives?

 >>/45125/
> Do ethnic Japanese still compete in top sumo? 
No. Those were secretly replaced entirely by Hungarians already.
> Aren't they all Mongols?
One stable can only have one foreign rikishi. All the others are Japanese. Maybe Slov wrote this itt, maybe when we were talking on cytube, but this rule was made to prevent foreigners collaborating in the background. Still some swindle is suspected.
There are some other nationalities sporadically. In Makuuchi there's a Br, a Gogi, and a Burglar these days. One Ukro dude in Makushita. Actually at least one of them is half-Jap.
> Do the mongol sumotoris come from Mongolia or are they an ethnic subgroup of japanese citizens? 
The rikishis I saw this year they all were born in Mongolia, me thinks.
> If from Mongolia: do they speak correct japanese?
Hard to tell, they ain't talking much. I assume learning it well is among the higher expectations. I think I heard parts of interviews with Mongol wrestler like twice. Both were concise, and kinda slow to formulate thoughts. Since Japanese is easy to pronounce for every non-Anglo they probably don't have much of an accent, to my ear they have none.
> Do they return to Mongolia or stay in Japan?
Depends. With bringing the results they can stay, and I think one of their goals is to stay.
> do they take ethnic Japanese wives?
Depends. Some sure, others maybe not. You could check wikipee for this, many rikishis have a page, and tell us about your findings. Whom prefer what, and the ratio, and such.

 >>/45128/
Oh yeah, and with the regulation they force the foreigners to talk Japanese and not just create their own little cliques, and this helps them to assimilate.

 >>/45125/
> Do ethnic Japanese still compete in top sumo? Aren't they all Mongols?
I mean, they do, but they have acquired a tendency to sneak out and visit hostess bars, after which they get suspended for a number of tournaments for shamefur dispray. Only Mongols are upstanding sumotori with required hinkaku.
> Do the mongol sumotoris come from Mongolia or are they an ethnic subgroup of japanese citizens?
Most of them come from Mongolia; however some already grew up in Japan. Example: Hokuseiho (his parents moved to Hokkaido when he was a kid and he went to school in Japan)
> If from Mongolia: do they speak correct japanese? Do they return to Mongolia or stay in Japan? If they stay, do they take ethnic Japanese wives?
Foreigners are required to go to 1 year special school course 
to learn what is expected of them about Japanese culture.
Those who want to become sumo coaches/elders stay in Japan (and need to acquire Japanese citizenship), others have returned (e.g. Asashoryu – expelled for shamefur dispray, or Harumafuji – expelled for shamefur dispray)
Hakuho's wife is Japanese
Kakuryu's wife is Mongolian, she moved to Japan and will presumably stay there since Kakuryu intends to stay as an elder
Terunofuji's wife is also Mongolian but she was already in Japan before due to studies

 >>/45128/
 >>/45129/
 >>/45130/
Thanks! So it seems that they have moved on from actually competing and towards "administering". A bit like horse-racing around here, where almost all jockeys are midgets from south-east asia or some other such special location

 >>/45242/
Most contenders are Japs, but every stable has a foreigner, most of them are Mongols (culture of brawling), and frequently they are breddy good (I assume otherwise they wouldn't be even considered), so Makuuchi has many foreigners, and odds are they will reach high ranks.

So... Sumo Kyushu basho starting tomorrow?

 >>/45548/
Wouldn't miss it. 18 CET suits you?

 >>/45549/
Sure.

They need to produce another yokozuna, but for now noone is close to that. Let's see how Hoshoryu performs, maybe he can muscle himself into the higher rankings. Also he grew belly.

https://sumowrestling.fandom.com/wiki/Hokuseiho_Osamu
This says Hokuseiho he contracted COVID in August, so I doubt he has it now. He might hurt his leg. Would be a shame.

https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/11/12/sumo/terunofuji-new-era/
Hard to find other rikishi who could snatch the tournament from Teru. The article holds Takakeisho the most probable, but Abi and Hoshoryu can be expected to do great things.

 >>/45574/
Yea, he's the reason they quarantined his stable in September.
Quite needlessly, it seems.

 >>/45575/
inb4 takayasu surprise yusho, after so many last moment chokes :^)

Right off the bat Kokokuzan, fierce fight, after the first setback controlled it through, Asanowaka couldn't recover.
Enho!!!! it seems who fucks up the start against him will lose; he had some chances but he wasn't quick enough probably because the momentum took him too far as well.
Tokoshoryu performs bad.
Kaisho vs. Wakamotoharu nice start, good fight.
Abi's 4th. But for all the guys who aren't Teru, it's gonna gettin harder.
What a long bout for Terutsuyosh.
The 4th win was denied from Aoiyama. I'm kinda glad. Although I think his style of ruthlessness 
Ura tiger salto.
Takayas missed a great opportunity right at the beginning, then loooong deadlock. And the mawashi got unfolded for Shimanoumi. Luckily they have several layers otherwise everyone would have been embarrassed.
Probably this basho won't be Hoshoryu's best. But it's still early, maybe he's gonna win the rest. Will he?
What's up with Kiribayama? 0-4
I think when Ichinojo reaches a point, he doesn't try to fight it out, but gives up. Maybe he's careful not to fell, could be too dangerous for him.
Onosho pushed hard, but got tired eventually, picked a good tactic, since Teru is a hugger.

 >>/45590/
Oh hey.. I fell asleep today when I got home from work xD welp, time to watch it myself

 >>/45591/
Quite a few good bouts. Have fun.

 >>/45592/
Ha, Tobizaru knew exactly how to exploit Ura's low stance :^)
I see Akua is pulling off judo throws again.
If you look at the judges in background during Takayasu bout, they're signing each other that 3 minutes have passed already and that gyoji may call it a deadlock which means they'd get a water break (mizu-iri) & return for rematch.

Exciting basho, many great performance left and right (east and west we could say).
I'm glad Terunofuji won flawlessly, he has a big shoe to fill in after Hakuho left. Witch such wins, noone will take him lightly. He's practicing the strict dad stare, I noticed, but has to work on his defense against pushy pushy technique. That caused a bit too much excitement, both against Abi and Takakeisho.
I'm curious about the new rankings, how the banzuke was shuffled.

202201 gif
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New Year Basho starts on the 9th.
Should be interesting. 
Terunofuji is still alone as yokozuna. Takakeisho has good winning ratio, only his injury prevented him racking up more points. He is very lopsided as used techniques go, but he is top notch in what does, and he keeps on pulling good performances maybe the elders decide to move him up next to Teru. Considering Teru is better at the hugging style, that would add a balance so to speak.
And there is Abi with similarly strong pushy-pushy game as Takakeisho, he is now ranked 6th Maegeshira I think, keeping up the winning streak he could get a named rank after this basho. Then who knows.
The top positions of the banzuke could be reshuffled, I'm very curious how Ura and Hoshoryu will perform. And there's a couple more strong rikishis I can't recall from the top of my head.
We'll see.

 >>/46029/
that banner looks raly gud. You make that Hungarybernd? What graphic tool?

 >>/46044/
I used the Dev Tools of the browser to get the image via the Inspector from the code because the devs of this site: https://www.sumo.or.jp/En/ were crafty enough to disable the right click context menu. Then in GIMP I cut off the unnecessary and unappealing part of the image.
So yes, that banner really good, but I can't take credit for this.

 >>/46029/

Takayasu is out due to his master corona infection. I think someone forgot to call off the quarantine orders now that everyone is vaccinated anyway xDDD
Hidenoumi is out due to shamefur dispray (getting caught gambling), as is Shiden (who previously went by his birth name Shiba. It was supposed to be his first basho in juryo.)

As for the guys to look out for? Mitakeumi and Takanosho were both 11-4 last time, if they continue like this now and in March, they're ozeki candidates. (Mitakeumi might already qualify if he goes 14-1 or something like that, but I guess that's unlikely)
Ura is at a career high ranking (!), M2E.
Oho is joining makuuchi at the very bottom, filling in the spot vacated by Asanoyama finally losing the ranking and stop clogging the chart. He's the first 2000-born rikishi in top division, if I'm not mistaken.
And we'll see if Abi can continue his run, or is he going to plateau back to where he left, in komusubi.

FIkMX-YaUAEJKuA jpg
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Also, here's Terunofuji posing in front of his champion photos for last two basho.

 >>/46076/
> getting caught
Rearry shamefur.
> gambling
Oh well, he is just a man.
> Ura is at a career high ranking (!), M2E.
There is no reason not to continue well. Except if he lazy with his training, but I doubt.
Well, I'm looking forward to this basho for sure.

 >>/46077/
We'll see if anyone can beat him. I'm quite curious. Who are the likely candidates for this feat?

 >>/46089/
I don't know. Takakeisho has a bad matchup against him and unless he is in the lead on last day will get demolished by Terunofuji in final match and possible playoff. And the rest simply aren't consistent enough to confidently score at least 13-2.

ura-falls jpeg
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This wasn't a nice fall. Not sure if the packs and stuff have to do anything with his heda injury. Papers don't say much about it, japantimes and mainichi says the same (who copies who?) and it's nothing.

FAT!!!༼ つ ◕_◕ ༽つ

 >>/46097/
True.

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Even the guys at the top can be beaten. Ichinojo is not amused.

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The unexpected happened. But then Meisei won in September as well, so maybe I should have been more thoughtful.
Now with Abi and Mitakeumi, Terunofuji stands at 10-2, and the yusho can go either of them.
And there is still Kotonowaka behind them with 9-3. And 3 days left, three points can be acquired, but I doubt he will get all three and the others will lose twice.

mitakeumi-vs-abi jpg
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Very good day, exciting bouts. The match of the day was Mitakeumi vs Abi, where the former defeated the other. A pushy pushy match.
The dozing Takanosho at the back doesn't suspect yet how easily he will get beaten by Teru.
Hoshoryu is catching up, and Kotonowaka is still racking up the numbers quietly.

Mitakeumi REALLY deserves ozeki title after this. He's been extremely consistent but constantly just below ozeki since forever. Won the title twice. According to the rulebook on keeping the ozeki title based on performance, since 2017 he'd only lose the title in January 2020 (6-9 in November, 7-8 in January) but instantly win it back in March on his 10-5 performance.
Winning tomorrow vs Takarafuji might already be enough for promotion too, even if he loses to Terunofuji on Sunday.

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Atamifuji vs Kotoyusho They decided Atamifuji won, although he stepped out. Maybe they had their reasons.
Tochimaru vs Chiyoarashi Very intense pushy-pushy bout.
Shit. Azumaryu beat Enho. No 4/4 for him.
Nishikifuji doing good again. Denied Kotokuzan 10th victory.
Kotoshoho nice win, 11-3.
Yago too 11-3. Tomorrow will decide who gets the yusho.
Bushozan captured Midorifuji with clenching his arms. Why Bushozan doesn't pushy-pushy? Midori win by pulling him with his arm. Very nice.

Ishiura will close a good tournament. He managed to get out of Kotoeko's clench. He was in a tight spot there, but he won.
Too bad for Oho. He still can close with winning balance if tomorrow he performs well.
Terutsuyosh' is done. Heh, the audience "wow"ed when he jumped back up to the dohyo.
Hahh! Tobizaru managed to turn back. Although he lost in the end.
Ura stepped out. Before got thrown. Got out twice. I wonder if he noticed his leg slid out. I guess he had to feel the ring.
Mitakeumi vs Takarafuji. Ehhhh. This wasn't a good bout. As if Takarafuji gave it to him - he has a winning balance anyway. He could definitely stop before stepping out. Kinda suspicious. People were very quiet. But 12-2.
Kotonowaka one more win 11-3. Exceptional compared to himself.
Hoshoryu vs Shodai. Torinaoshi-desu. Which was first? Head or knee. Second time Hoshoryu did not allow himself to be hugged. Good change. In pace too.
And Abi won!!! Wow. He could force his style on Teru until he lost his balance. His legs weren't stable. 11-3! 
So now Mitakeumi is in the lead, and Teru, Abi, and Kotonowaka is behind with 11-3. Tomorrow Teru will face Mitakeumi. And Abi Kotonowaka. And there might be playoff to decide if the scores are equal. I think Teru can beat Mitakeumi, their style is closer, and if he can hug him and grab his panty, that's good chance to win. And Abi definitely will defeat Kotonowaka. I have no doubt.

Abi said:
> "I was focused on striking hard at the start, I wanted to avenge that (November) loss by executing my kind of sumo."
Yeah, in November Teru forced his style on Abi. Now tables turned.
Mainichi wrote that Mitakeumi twisted his left knee during his bout today.

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The champion is Mitakeumi. He has some chance now to become ozeki. But if not now, keeping similar performance on the next basho should grant him that I presume (leik a 10+ win ratio).
It seems yokozuna Terunofuji hurt his leg on an earlier day preventing him to perform as he should have.
Abi sure jumped a couple of ranks again, maybe in the reach of becoming ozeki. If he keeps up with this form, last two tournaments in Makuuchi he finished with 12-3 record.
Oho gets relegated however. Not sure about the others. Kaisei got injured. Maybe they'll be lenient because of that? I know too little to tell such things. Tsurigisho did not perform good, 6-9. The others in the back lines saved themselves I think.

whats the life expectancy on those?

 >>/46225/
Varies.
https://www.chijanofuji.com/yokozuna.html
Maruyama 37 (he died of some disease, probably dysentery)
Inazuma 82
Tamanoumi 27 - appendectomy
But rolling through the list, I think most falls into the 50-70 range.

 >>/46226/
> most falls into the 50-70 range.

Would that be representative of Mongolia? Or obesity?

 >>/46235/
The majority of the rikishis seem to be deliberately fat (many looks just "overweight", just a few are those who look american style), who don't start out as fat kids and became obese adults, but gain weight consciously for the carrier just enough amount to make the job of other rikishis harder or to put momentum into their moves. They seem to be active to their 35-40 birthdays; those who remain around sumo as elders not many look fat (from among whom I've seen) so they drop their layers after retiring. These are sportsman most of whom live active lives, who trains, who are quick to move. I doubt that many has sloppy fat hearts. This would need more investigation, looking at the yokozuna list above, and calculate all, then look at other rikishis how do they fare, then compare it to Japanese life expectancy (and Mongolian and maybe to other nations).

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 >>/46237/
> but gain weight consciously for the carrier just enough amount to make the job of other rikishis harder or to put momentum into their moves

> These are sportsman most of whom live active lives, who trains, who are quick to move.

I wanted to see how they "fatten" themselves so I looked at some videos: turns out they have this special stew that they eat many times a day while basically just killing time with games or comics or just lazing about the rest of the time LOL

 >>/46246/
I think slov wrote above somewhere that they eat stew and drink beer. Takakeisho stuffs himself with hamburgers.
Slov also posted how Terunofuji lifts:
https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=xaTjkX_vHbY
They only have this job, so their days are going with training and resting.
Here's a longer vid what they do when not on tournament:
https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=Tgyyy6Ctfes
Here apparently Teru practices how to do henkas:
https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=7U-kDOdJjGQ
Note the guy in the front right with that weight at about 0:40.

 >>/46248/
I watched those
Ok some of them do seem to have a certain "balance" of muscle and fat but I still think many look just obese lol
Interesting that ritualistic "reverence" to the teacher in that training video with the guy squatting and the instructor pushing his head after each bout

 >>/46417/
They really aren't the average fatsos.
I think in the lower divisions they are too young to be obese, and upstairs you need to be strong. For example their legs/thighs and asses are giant muscles. Quiet a few of them are quick too.
Check out Abi and Hokutofuji both are quick. Or there are blokes liek Hoshoryu or Wakatakage, they are "lean" (they both about ~130 kgs...). Or the tiny ones: Enho and Midorifuji. Best look at them on videos. Search "[name] bout" on yt for example.
Compare them to Takakeisho and Bushozan. Then to Ichonojo and Kaisei. Then Chiyomaru and Chiyotairyu.

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Found a height vs weight chart, 2022 January, Makuuchi division.
Source:
https://fredpink.com/

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Here's the one form last November, that features Hakuho, plus a yusho champion chart from the last 30 years in comparison.

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 >>/46418/
I agree with you about them not being like regular off-the-street fatsos, especially when talking about the top-tier competitors that you mention. But what I say is that to me many still look like the unhealthy kind of fat. For example when I just search random images about sumo I find stuff like the pic I posted above.
I tried overlaying a plot of the "body-mass index" (BMI = weight/height^2) on the 30-years chart. According to random strangers on the internet:
BMI _ Classification
< 16  Severely Underweight

[16, 18.5) __ Underweight
[18.5, 25)  Normal
[25, 30)  Overweight
[30, 40)  Obese
> = 40 ___ Severely Obese

In the pic there are 2 curves: red is BMI=30, purple is BMI=40. Thus the purple-shaded region is "severe obesity", red-shaded is "obesity". The only area below BMI=30 is the upper-left corner shaded in light blue.
Now, I understand that this is just one rough measure, that it doesn't distinguish muscle from fat, and that sumo is a very niche discipline and thus this metric is possibly not the most apt for it, but it should help clarify my PoV
Perhaps one should try to compare this to another sport with "heavy" competitors to get a more balanced view. Maybe rugby

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 >>/46441/
They are obviously fat, and if we keep to the classification you posted we can call them severely obese. However they have way more muscle mass, for they not just need to be heavy but they have to move heavy. And they also have to be quick when necessary, although not all can pull sidesteps and spins well.
The most notable difference when we look at them, that how the "average" severely obese person's arms and legs puffy, but the rikishi's arms are thin, and their legs are very muscly. Their fat deposits are their bellies and tits. And even that ain't that big as those who are called severely obese.
If we would compare the 30 years of champions chart  with the current Makuuchi wrestles charts the distribution seems similar, most fell in 175-190 cm and 130-180 kg box.
Btw if you check the # of championships you can see Hakuho leads by miles. He was very quick too. Here's a  pic with a normal person. Would you call Hakuho severely obese?

Here's Abi's bouts from the last basho (8 mins):
https://youtube.com/watch?v=m6KtWBM1crY
https://invidious.snopyta.org/watch?v=m6KtWBM1crY

 >>/46443/
Although, he could be just 140 kg on that pic, in that case he would be simply obese (which he isn't).

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Now this guy on the other hand...
Maybe one way of measuring it how they walk. Takakeisho walks like a pregnant woman.

Here's a list of bodybuilders for comparison. Height + weight, taken from here: https://jackedgorilla.com/biggest-bodybuilders/ (I dunno how trustworthy it is, only gives vague sources, but we need only an idea), converted to cm and kg (rounded down)
Dennis Wolf: 180 cm, 117 kg
Dennis James: 172 cm, 117 kg
Jay Cutler: 177 cm, 117 kg
Dorian Yates: 177 cm, 117 kg (wtf, all the same)
Roelly Winklaar: 172 cm, 120 kg
Jean-Pierre Fux: 180 cm, 124 kg
Nasser El Sonbaty: 180 cm, 126 kg
Zack Kahn: 182 cm, 127 kg
Markus Rühl: 177 cm, 129 kg
Paul Dillet: 185 cm, 129 kg
Lou Ferrigno: 193 cm, 129 kg
Günter Schlierkamp: 185 cm, 134 kg
Ronnie Coleman: 180 cm, 136 kg
Big Ramy: 177 cm, 143 kg
Greg Kovacs: 193 cm, 149 kg

Now I'm thinking how much this tells us. Only the last four falls into the average box of the Makuuchi division by weight. It sure they have the bulk of their muscles on their upper body: back, chest, shoulders, neck, arms... while rikishis build most of their muscles on their legs, ass, lower back and stomach - as they have to move weight in different fashion. I noted above that for most their arms look relatively thin. Only a few tries and succeed to lift his opponent up and bring them out (Terunofuji can do that with some opponents).

 >>/46443/
> Would you call Hakuho severely obese?

You are still focusing on these top ranked wrestlers, and specially this Hakuho dude who is apparently the GOAT or something (and as you say the pic might not be representative of his most piggy appearance). I already agreed with you when talking about these top tier men who, as I said, have a balance of muscle and fat. I'm still not convinced though about the general case. Many and probably most sumos still look to me obese.
But to answer your question directly, judging from that pic I would certainly call him fat and perhaps obese too if I had a profile view, but not "severely obese"

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Haru basho starts next weekend.
Mitakeumi got the ozeki stripes, good for him, Abi also jumped to the rank of sekiwake, and Hoshoryu to komusubi.
Shodai needs to put something on the table otherwise he's gonna be demoted.
Abi performs great, 11-4, 13-2, 12-3, 12-3 are his previous results (although the first two was in Juryo), he is in the reach of becoming Ozeki.

 >>/46847/
Gonna stream as usual, 18:30 CET.

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It was a breddy gud opening day.
Both tiny rikishis, Enho and Midorifuji, won a swell bout, the returning Ryuden also gained the upper hand.
Wakatakage performed a lightning quick sidestep right after the tachi-ai, was very nice.
Abi lost unexpectedly from Onosho. Ofc Onosho ain't bad, but still.
Mitakeumi's fight with Ichonojo wasn't that good. Ichinojo's bouts frequently falls flat, uninteresting since he is so huge not much can be done against him, but he is slow and prone to injuries so he have to be careful. So when he starts losing he frequently just gives up. Now he was just simply pushed out from the ring.
Onosho and Takakeisho are both kadoban ozekis struggling against relegation. First failed, but the other was very effective against Ura.
What else to mention?
I'm glad for Takayas', nice win.
Also Hoshoryu got the hardest opponent right after the bat, Terunofuji defeated him the 6th times, from their 6th match up.

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 >>/46847/
 >>/46900/
Would bernds play a gud sumo wrestling game if one is made? I know there's american wrestling games around, but never seen Japanese one or from another culture of werestling

 >>/46904/
Most irl bouts are just too short, so it doesn't make sense to adapt sumo to a videogame. Maybe a rikishi, sumo stable management game could be made well. Issuing training regimen, decide if someone needs more weight, manage injuries, pick young rikishi talents, get sponsors, advertisement contracts for top players, building facilities, etc.

Ryuden won confidently.
Fugg. Enho got pushed by Hakuyozan in the false tachi-ai... Shamefur dispray.
Yago vs Tokushoryu, that was relatively exciting.
But it paled compared to Midori's win.
Azumaryu vs Tsurugisho was a good struggle. The latter's panty lost first.
Kotoeko vs Terutsuyoshi match was fun, both guys are small in Makuuchi, mostly they have to fight different opponents.
Haha, Aioyama rarely gives mercy but when he does he gives it to Tobizaru... The layers of ironings.
Takayas' started at it with great elan, and won with a good throw.
Daieisho beat Teru! I'm not happy about it but it is interesting turn of events.

wat teh fugg, I got kicked out of cytu.be

ok now cytu.be is back
but it moved back in time

 >>/46945/
It still doesn't work for me. And Says url doesnt exist.

It fixed itself. Was a weird error.

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In Juryo it's Ryuden and the little guys. Enho got beaten for the first time. I hope Asanowaka gets his act together.
Mitakeumi and Takayas' are still unbeaten. It was by just a hair for Mitakeumi, but for now Takayas seems to be in great form. Shodai is a wreck, although I'm glad for Ura beating him.

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Enho, noooo, he got beaten.
Ryuden won confidently. 
Midori did a quick job.
Kitanowaka still riding head to head with Ryuden, at 7-0.
I'm glad for Kotoshoho, nice yorikiri. Hopefully he can pull a positive balance.
Tobizaru's nice henka but couldn't use it, then quickly moved out from a push/hug. Did very good, was very agile.
Kotonowaka continues to win. I wonder if he can continue the roll in the future and if he manages to climb among the top players. 
Takayas! Great pushypushy!!!
Takarafuji seems failing this tournament.
Ichinojo great saves. But Kiribayama did not give up, great effort.
Hoshoryu's tachi-ai looked like he goes for a sidestep, but not really.
Ura vs Abi - they could have call a false start. But Ura often doesn't go in. Abi often does this going forward mad, then suddenly gives way and moves back while pushes his opponent down.
Wakatakakage also won a nice bout.
Mitakeumi just let Onosho fall.
Shodai gave in what he had. He has to try more, because this was a good bout too.
Good matches all around. Can't complain for today's performance

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This shit was masterful on behalf of Wakatakakage.
Before he'd fell out he pulled himself back with Takayas' arm just enough to grab his mawashi and pull himself back more while rolling Takayas out. Awesome.
I'm sorry for Takayas. He led the tournament since the beginning.
Wakatakakage was strong and quick. In the interview he said he managed to keep center of gravity down during whole tournament, an aspect he wished to improve previously. Well deserved championship.