cope with a bigger foe.”13 To be innovative and flexible, the martial artist must dig deep into his technical repertoire to unearth appropriate solutions to the problems presented.
A prime example of Mainoumi’s advice can be seen in the November 1991 match he had with Akebono (Chad George Haheo Rowan). At more than five hundred pounds, Akebono was over twice Mainoumi’s weight and, at six feet eight inches, he was much taller. Mainoumi won the match by using a kimarite that had not been used in twenty years in a major tournament, a move judged by most observers to be a triple-attack force out (mitokorozeme) but that was officially judged an inside leg trip (uchigake). They are both leg techniques, which Mainoumi prefers, as they are an effective way for small rikishi to take down massive opponents.
Two sumo wrestlers with a referee. Color woodcut. Nineteenth century.
(Photo courtesy of Fae, Wikimedia Commons.)
Sumo wrestler Mainoumi.
(Photo courtesy of FourTildes, Wikimedia Commons.)
Case Study 2: Akebono—Grand Champion, Yokozuna
Akebono, a Hawaiian, was a very formidable opponent. In 1993 he became the first foreign-born rikishi promoted to yokozuna, the highest rank in sumo. Akebono was a powerful and longtime yokozuna. His reign in that rank lasted almost eight years. He used all of his incredible physical attributes to his advantage. His very strong and long arms were merciless when pushing or thrusting into an opponent, sometimes knocking rikishi out of the ring with just one or two movements. Akebono could practically not be beat if his opponent failed to secure a grip on his mawashi. Also, his balance was excellent compared to many other very large rikishi. Akebono said, “They [a lot of people] don’t realize how much hard work, learning and determination you got to put in. Not even Michael Jordan was great right away.”14
Akebono told National Geographic, “People see these big fat guys tossing each other around the ring, and it’s hard to understand that this is a mental sport. But the mental side, the spiritual side, is a lot more important than the body. If you can’t get yourself in the right frame of mind intellectually, you can’t win.”15
Strength alone is not enough to make a grand champion. In sumo there are three ideals: spirit, skill and body. You cannot be chosen to be a Yokozuna unless you have these qualities. So you must be a great human being as well as a great wrestler.
—Wakamatsu Oyakata, sumo coach and elder16
“Wrestling at Tokyo”: Two wrestlers engaging in a match of sumo in a ring at Tokyo, with referees standing and sitting nearby and a large crowd of Japanese in Western-style clothing watching. Hand-colored albumen photograph by unknown photographer, 1890s.
(Photo courtesy of Kükator, Wikimedia Commons.)
Yokozuna Kakuryu performing the yokozuna dohyo-iri, grand champion ring-entering ceremony, on day eleven of the 2014 May Grand Sumo Tournament in Tokyo, Japan. Date: May 21, 2014.
(Photo courtesy of Simon Q, Flikr.)
Case Study 3: Konishiki—Ozeki “Meat Bomb”
Konishiki is the first foreign-born rikishi to be promoted to ozeki, the second highest rank in sumo. Konishiki (Saleva’a Fuauli Atisano’e) is a Hawaiian like Akebono. Also, Konishiki was the heaviest rikishi ever in sumo history, at six feet one and a half inches and 630 pounds at career maximum weight. Because of his great weight the Japanese affectionately nicknamed him “Meat Bomb.” Konishiki was very close to the promotion to yokozuna, but unfortunately he never made it. The popular Hawaiian rikishi, Akebono and Konishiki, helped make sumo better known around the world.
Because Konishiki lacked technique compared to the other more experienced rikishi, he had to compensate by using his weight and power. Konishiki has said his sumo fighting style was “strictly offensive.”17 He did not try to counter his opponent’s moves defensively. By applying his monstrous size and strength, Konishiki just tried offensively to force his opponent out of the ring. His tactics worked so well they helped him achieve the much esteemed ozeki rank, the rank right before yokozuna. Although these offensive tactics usually only work for the larger rikishi, it is important to see how the larger rikishi wrestles, as this will help to show how the smaller rikishi devise ways to counter them.
Here Konishiki describes his sumo fighting style in depth: “My style is just using hands more. It’s like a boxing style, with just heavy punching. Just learning how to move my hands.”18 “My style is all power. Hitting and just powering people out. Using my hands like a football pass blocker that is my style of wrestling and I guess that is my strongest point. If I can hit a guy in the jaw and get him off balance.… Either you’re going to take a blow or I’m going to take a blow, but I’m not taking any. I’m the one who wants to give the blows. I’m trying to learn how to counter things that I’m not too good at, because when people grab my belt I have trouble. The smaller people because of the technique and because the ways that their style is different. It is like opposite of what I do.”19 It is interesting to note that Konishiki states that pushing sumo and belt-grabbing sumo are rather opposite styles. The pushing sumo style relies on physical attributes such as weight, power, and speed, while the belt-grabbing or clinching style is more of a learned technical skill.
Professional sumo wrestlers perform the ring-entering ceremony (dohyo-iri). May 2005.
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