It's going to be a great basho folks! After practically a year off, for various reasons, the literal GOAT of sumo, Hakuho, is returning to the ring post knee surgery back in March of this year. I...
It's going to be a great basho folks!
After practically a year off, for various reasons, the literal GOAT of sumo, Hakuho, is returning to the ring post knee surgery back in March of this year. I cannot stress enough how utterly dominant Hakuho has been in his career, he holds nearly every sumo record worth holding. It is widely believed that this will be Hakuho's last tournament, Hakuho himself hasn't said it because that wouldn't be allowed. I am completely expecting him to go out with a bang.
Next up we have sumo comeback story of the century in Terunofuji! A man that was one step from Yokozuna, then fell all the way to the second to last rung of the sport. Since then he's fought his way all the way back to where he is now, at Ozeki once again, only this time he's one tournament from achieving Yokozuna status.
And then we have Takakeisho, an immensely strong Ozeki and capable rikishi that far too many people have doubted at every step of his career. All perfectly happy to point out his faults and failures. All willing to ignore the fact that it takes immense skill and strength to become an Ozeki. All willing to whisper on the sidelines, in articles, tweets, forums, and blog that he's "too fat" "too short" or "doesn't have the body of a Yokozuna". I'm sure they'll still say the same things under their breath if he performs as he should this tournament and is elevated to the top rank as well.
So there you have it. The greatest ever sumo wrestler in what is likely his last tournament, a comeback story for the ages on the cusp of being immortalized, and the ever-doubted underdog ready to prove all the naysayers wrong. And in the wonderful world of sumo, if just the right set of circumstances occur, all three can achieve their goal in a single basho. The games begin on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday July 4th and by July 18th we'll know how the chips fall.
I have never watched any Sumo in my life, but the excitement and passion that ooze from your words is infectious. I am looking forward to the upcoming matches, any tips on how/where/with whom to...
I have never watched any Sumo in my life, but the excitement and passion that ooze from your words is infectious.
I am looking forward to the upcoming matches, any tips on how/where/with whom to watch some Sumo?
Options: Official: The apps - Apple or Android - These will typically have the matches up pretty quickly, within a few hours of the day's matches being done. However, while the app is free the...
Exemplary
I am looking forward to the upcoming matches, any tips on how/where/with whom to watch some Sumo?
Options:
Official: The apps - Apple or Android - These will typically have the matches up pretty quickly, within a few hours of the day's matches being done. However, while the app is free the number of times you can watch each match is limited (I think you can only watch once and since the matches are so quick if you sneeze you may miss your chance to watch) and it'll just be the actual match with little to no commentary. Worst of all they spoil the winner of the damn match in the title of the video! Who does that!?
Unofficial:
Twitch - Karla Sumoist will stream the entire Japanese language broadcast each day. For a first timer I do not suggest this, tournaments run for 15 days straight and these broadcasts are 8-9hrs each day. Make no mistake, there is beauty in the process and preparations, but not something I suggest for a newbie. The channel chat will help you along if you have questions though, good community, but still a bear to watch. If you become a hardcore superfan though, this will be one of the few places where you can watch the divisions lower than Juryo.
Youtube - Jason's Sumo Channel - Jason is knowledgeable and enthusiastic, he will upload some of the matches, but not all, with English commentary from the recording and himself. Each video will be about 5 minutes long as it shows the preparations for each bout. What he talks about tends to be on the mid-high level of sumo understanding, but with a little bit of homework (discussed later) you'll pick it up. I don't watch Jason all that often because I like to see every match and I don't like his camera-pointed-at-a-TV-while-I-talk format.
Youtube - Kintamayama - I typically watch this channel each day as he puts all the top division bouts in a single 15-20 minute video, with basic stats (and occasional comments) at the start and end of each match, video is almost always uses the English commentators.
Youtube - MrJwags - Also a post bout highlight channel, does not feature any footage of the tournament. I like his commentary and enthusiasm. He may not upload anything this tournament as he's a traveling musician and finally is back to work.
Youtube - Chris Sumo - Chris is the only one on this list that actually lives in Japan. He won't have every bout or every day, but he posts highlights or overviews of each day with some behind-the-scenes and/or local knowledge about what's going on. My watch pattern usually consists of watching the bouts on Kintamayama's channel and then whatever video Chris and Jwags have uploaded for the day.
Discord - Natto Sumo - For whatever reason Natto is in the NHK's (broadcaster rights holder for sumo) sights and so he's gone "underground" with his videos. He has a youtube channel, but it'll typically only show the lower division as anything Juryo and higher (you'll be watching the top level Makuuchi bouts) gets removed. On his discord you'll find video links in the basho-video-links section for each day with stat heavy overlays before each match and some of his commentary through the video, this will be a Japanese language broadcast though. I really wish he'd swap back to English broadcast like he had prior to getting strikes on youtube, but he hasn't for whatever reason. An explanation of the stat overlay is at the end of each video, but it still may not be all that clear so if you decide to watch this one let me know and I can explain them better.
Youtube - Sumo Highlights - This seems to be a brand new channel with all the bouts with English commentators direct from NHK's stream, so not sure how log it'll last. Based on the length this is probably NHK's end of day highlights recap that they broadcast.
Homework:
NHK has a primer video series called Sumopedia (also available on Youtube just not in any organized playlist for some reason) that does a good job of getting a new person to understand the basics and background of sumo. If you're on the NHK site, scroll to the "NEW" section at the top, click MORE to reveal all the videos from newest to oldest, go to the bottom and start at #1. For a faster introduction I'd watch in this order Traditions, Rikishi, Stadium, Bouts. Alternatively, if you want to read, NHK has a nice FAQ of sumo as well.
-or-
The basics are pretty simple so I'll go over the process. Two men enter one man leaves the ring, they do a little bit of prep, then face off against one another. When ready they'll put both fists down in the dirt and charge at each other. The first one to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of their feet or steps out of the ring loses. There are hundreds of ways to win, no need to memorize what they mean at this point. There are things you are not allowed to do as would be obvious in any fighting sport, the only one you're likely to see is the hair pulling; pushing a wrestler's head down is allowed, but you have to do so without getting your fingers in their hair. Once someone is down/out the judge in the ring will point in the direction of the winner, the two wrestlers will return to their positions, bow, and the loser will leave while the winner will accept the win (and possibly extra prize money) from the judge. If the judges on the outside of the ring disagree with who they think won they will all stand and enter the ring to discuss it while being given information from the instant replay booth. They may uphold the judge's decision, they may overturn it, or if it was really close they may say an immediate rematch is necessary. Rinse and repeat for 42 top division wrestlers each day (assuming no one is out due to injury). Each match typically lasts a few seconds, it's big explosive battles, not long wars of attrition. Most wrestlers have a certain style they use to fight, some rely on a belt grip to perform throws, some are pusher/thrusters that use size and strength to push others out/down, some are mixes between the two, some are wildcards, and there are subtypes of every type of fighting.
Quick and dirty:
Two men enter and face off, first to be pushed down or out is the loser, judge in the ring will point in the direction of the winner, judges around the ring are there to overturn the judge in the ring if they see something different, instant replay is used to assist ringside judges, at the end winner may get extra prize money (white envelopes), every wrestler fights once per day for 15 days straight, wrestlers want to win a minimum of 8 bouts so they are not demoted. Tournament winner is the wrestler with the best win/loss record at the end of 15 days and gets one hell of a payday for it.
Wow, That is a lot to take in... I am going to take the time to check all your suggestions, and come back with a better reply. Quick notes: Thank you. I love the Sumoist stream, that way I can...
Wow, That is a lot to take in... I am going to take the time to check all your suggestions, and come back with a better reply.
Quick notes:
Thank you.
I love the Sumoist stream, that way I can just continue to do other tasks or even work while sometimes watching an explosive match.
Your explanation is the best, I think I'm good to go! The rest will become clear by watching all of the matches!!!
Hahaha, Nice follow up. I actually checked out some matches today. I respect the sport, but it can't seem to hold my attention for very long. I find myself drifting off and looking for more things...
Hahaha, Nice follow up. I actually checked out some matches today. I respect the sport, but it can't seem to hold my attention for very long. I find myself drifting off and looking for more things to divide my attention to.
That said, the contrast between the peacefull, restfull preperations and the exploding fights is really cool.
No worries! It certainly isn't for everyone and the decision to watch the full stream was a bit surprising to me for a first timer. Just about everything done has some sort of ritual behind it and...
No worries! It certainly isn't for everyone and the decision to watch the full stream was a bit surprising to me for a first timer. Just about everything done has some sort of ritual behind it and it's one of those things that you kinda have to want to experience. In person the rituals are usually the time people order food or talk among themselves just like being between plays (or the seemingly endless time outs for commercials) when at an NFL game.
If I'm honest, the middle 5 days of any tournament are the most boring. The first 5 days tend to show who's fired up and looking to dominate the tournament, the middle 5 are just required matchups based on rank, and the final 5 are the performance based matchups to see which lower ranked wrestlers are going to be up against higher ranks because they're performing above expectations and the tournament winner deciding matchups.
Update/hype article from John Gunning on what looks like the inevitable outcome of this tournament: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/07/14/sumo/sumo-hakuho-terunofuji/ While it may be true...
While it may be true that the rest of the tournament "none of the opponents either man will likely face before their final day showdown should strike too much fear into their hearts" I'm not so convinced. Neither Hakuho or Terunofugi have faced more than one of the sanyaku (top of the top division) rikishi yet, so their toughest opponents are yet to be met even if they don't tend to have the greatest record against these two titans. The biggest competition for both wrestlers is Takakeisho and well...
Takakeisho dropped out early due to a scary neck injury that left him all but limp in the match against Ichinojo, credit to Ichi for being aware of the situation and taking care of his opponent so that Takakeisho wasn't just shoved out and in freefall while unable to control himself.
I like Ichinojo a lot, but he won't win. He's a solid rikishi that has nearly always been in the paid ranks (he only had two tournaments before he was in the top two divisions!), he's good enough...
I like Ichinojo a lot, but he won't win. He's a solid rikishi that has nearly always been in the paid ranks (he only had two tournaments before he was in the top two divisions!), he's good enough to be in the middle of the top division, but has only picked up a 2nd place spot once and he's already out of the running to win this tournament.
Ichi is, in my opinion, a classic sumo wrestler. He is big, strong, skilled in his brand of sumo, has stamina, and is not flashy. He seems to make it a point to not hurt other wrestlers (by big violent pushout at the edge) or make himself prone to injury by fighting hard at the edge when he's in a losing position. If you want to beat him you generally have to outmaneuver him or be fast enough to get him into what he thinks is an unrecoverable position, as there are very few other rikishi that can move him or beat him in a pure strength battle He's a bit slow at the tachiai and is known to be soft spoken and very kind outside the ring, which has caused his fan club to lovingly give him the Snorlax pet name.
The tournament is over. A winner has lifted the emperor's cup and taken home an absolute boatload of cash and prizes. As expected the final bout was one for the ages: Staredown between two...
The tournament is over.
A winner has lifted the emperor's cup and taken home an absolute boatload of cash and prizes.
As expected the final bout was one for the ages:
Staredown between two immensely powerful rikishi!
Eventually the one who knows it's his duty to get in position first does so.
The tension rises...
The gyoji (judge) that usually would be commanding the wrestlers to put their hands down to be ready knows not to say a word.
Absolute titans clash!
Brutality ensues.
A barrage of techniques rapid fire from both men.
The takedown occurs.
An explosion of exultant emotion erupts, a rarity in a sport that pushes for stoicism among all in the ring.
If you watch no other sumo ever again, at least watch this timestamped video to the final bout between Hakuho (the GOAT) and Terunofuji (comeback story): https://youtu.be/2O5DSHDBjTg?t=1029
As always, feel free to AMA about sumo or this tournament.
That bout was epic! And I love your description of it too. It really helped build up my anticipation. :P p.s. Hakuho sounds strangely familiar, even though I know nothing about Sumo. Is he the...
That bout was epic! And I love your description of it too. It really helped build up my anticipation. :P
p.s. Hakuho sounds strangely familiar, even though I know nothing about Sumo. Is he the dude that you once mentioned as having health problems and having to withdraw from a bunch of tournaments, or am I thinking of someone else?
Maybe? Both Hakuho and Terunofuji have pulled out due to health problems. Hakuho missed most or all of the past year because of injury, contracting COVID, and knee surgery (in that order)....
p.s. Hakuho sounds strangely familiar, even though I know nothing about Sumo. Is he the dude that you once mentioned as having health problems and having to withdraw from a bunch of tournaments, or am I thinking of someone else?
Maybe? Both Hakuho and Terunofuji have pulled out due to health problems. Hakuho missed most or all of the past year because of injury, contracting COVID, and knee surgery (in that order). Terunofuji hit Ozeki then dropped all the way back to jonidan (second to bottom division) due to diabetes, cellulitis, knee surgery, and a broken collar bone then fought his way back to Ozeki...
...and just announced this morning he has been officially recommended by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council to be ascended to the Yokozuna rank! Wednesday the decision will be confirmed by the Japan Sumo Association and the comeback story will be complete.
It's going to be a great basho folks!
After practically a year off, for various reasons, the literal GOAT of sumo, Hakuho, is returning to the ring post knee surgery back in March of this year. I cannot stress enough how utterly dominant Hakuho has been in his career, he holds nearly every sumo record worth holding. It is widely believed that this will be Hakuho's last tournament, Hakuho himself hasn't said it because that wouldn't be allowed. I am completely expecting him to go out with a bang.
Next up we have sumo comeback story of the century in Terunofuji! A man that was one step from Yokozuna, then fell all the way to the second to last rung of the sport. Since then he's fought his way all the way back to where he is now, at Ozeki once again, only this time he's one tournament from achieving Yokozuna status.
And then we have Takakeisho, an immensely strong Ozeki and capable rikishi that far too many people have doubted at every step of his career. All perfectly happy to point out his faults and failures. All willing to ignore the fact that it takes immense skill and strength to become an Ozeki. All willing to whisper on the sidelines, in articles, tweets, forums, and blog that he's "too fat" "too short" or "doesn't have the body of a Yokozuna". I'm sure they'll still say the same things under their breath if he performs as he should this tournament and is elevated to the top rank as well.
So there you have it. The greatest ever sumo wrestler in what is likely his last tournament, a comeback story for the ages on the cusp of being immortalized, and the ever-doubted underdog ready to prove all the naysayers wrong. And in the wonderful world of sumo, if just the right set of circumstances occur, all three can achieve their goal in a single basho. The games begin on Sunday, Sunday, Sunday July 4th and by July 18th we'll know how the chips fall.
It's gonna be one hell of a ride.
I have never watched any Sumo in my life, but the excitement and passion that ooze from your words is infectious.
I am looking forward to the upcoming matches, any tips on how/where/with whom to watch some Sumo?
Options:
Official: The apps - Apple or Android - These will typically have the matches up pretty quickly, within a few hours of the day's matches being done. However, while the app is free the number of times you can watch each match is limited (I think you can only watch once and since the matches are so quick if you sneeze you may miss your chance to watch) and it'll just be the actual match with little to no commentary. Worst of all they spoil the winner of the damn match in the title of the video! Who does that!?
Unofficial:
Twitch - Karla Sumoist will stream the entire Japanese language broadcast each day. For a first timer I do not suggest this, tournaments run for 15 days straight and these broadcasts are 8-9hrs each day. Make no mistake, there is beauty in the process and preparations, but not something I suggest for a newbie. The channel chat will help you along if you have questions though, good community, but still a bear to watch. If you become a hardcore superfan though, this will be one of the few places where you can watch the divisions lower than Juryo.
Youtube - Jason's Sumo Channel - Jason is knowledgeable and enthusiastic, he will upload some of the matches, but not all, with English commentary from the recording and himself. Each video will be about 5 minutes long as it shows the preparations for each bout. What he talks about tends to be on the mid-high level of sumo understanding, but with a little bit of homework (discussed later) you'll pick it up. I don't watch Jason all that often because I like to see every match and I don't like his camera-pointed-at-a-TV-while-I-talk format.
Youtube - Kintamayama - I typically watch this channel each day as he puts all the top division bouts in a single 15-20 minute video, with basic stats (and occasional comments) at the start and end of each match, video is almost always uses the English commentators.
Youtube - MrJwags - Also a post bout highlight channel, does not feature any footage of the tournament. I like his commentary and enthusiasm. He may not upload anything this tournament as he's a traveling musician and finally is back to work.
Youtube - Chris Sumo - Chris is the only one on this list that actually lives in Japan. He won't have every bout or every day, but he posts highlights or overviews of each day with some behind-the-scenes and/or local knowledge about what's going on. My watch pattern usually consists of watching the bouts on Kintamayama's channel and then whatever video Chris and Jwags have uploaded for the day.
Discord - Natto Sumo - For whatever reason Natto is in the NHK's (broadcaster rights holder for sumo) sights and so he's gone "underground" with his videos. He has a youtube channel, but it'll typically only show the lower division as anything Juryo and higher (you'll be watching the top level Makuuchi bouts) gets removed. On his discord you'll find video links in the basho-video-links section for each day with stat heavy overlays before each match and some of his commentary through the video, this will be a Japanese language broadcast though. I really wish he'd swap back to English broadcast like he had prior to getting strikes on youtube, but he hasn't for whatever reason. An explanation of the stat overlay is at the end of each video, but it still may not be all that clear so if you decide to watch this one let me know and I can explain them better.
Youtube - Sumo Highlights - This seems to be a brand new channel with all the bouts with English commentators direct from NHK's stream, so not sure how log it'll last. Based on the length this is probably NHK's end of day highlights recap that they broadcast.
Homework:
NHK has a primer video series called Sumopedia (also available on Youtube just not in any organized playlist for some reason) that does a good job of getting a new person to understand the basics and background of sumo. If you're on the NHK site, scroll to the "NEW" section at the top, click MORE to reveal all the videos from newest to oldest, go to the bottom and start at #1. For a faster introduction I'd watch in this order Traditions, Rikishi, Stadium, Bouts. Alternatively, if you want to read, NHK has a nice FAQ of sumo as well.
-or-
The basics are pretty simple so I'll go over the process. Two men enter
one man leavesthe ring, they do a little bit of prep, then face off against one another. When ready they'll put both fists down in the dirt and charge at each other. The first one to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of their feet or steps out of the ring loses. There are hundreds of ways to win, no need to memorize what they mean at this point. There are things you are not allowed to do as would be obvious in any fighting sport, the only one you're likely to see is the hair pulling; pushing a wrestler's head down is allowed, but you have to do so without getting your fingers in their hair. Once someone is down/out the judge in the ring will point in the direction of the winner, the two wrestlers will return to their positions, bow, and the loser will leave while the winner will accept the win (and possibly extra prize money) from the judge. If the judges on the outside of the ring disagree with who they think won they will all stand and enter the ring to discuss it while being given information from the instant replay booth. They may uphold the judge's decision, they may overturn it, or if it was really close they may say an immediate rematch is necessary. Rinse and repeat for 42 top division wrestlers each day (assuming no one is out due to injury). Each match typically lasts a few seconds, it's big explosive battles, not long wars of attrition. Most wrestlers have a certain style they use to fight, some rely on a belt grip to perform throws, some are pusher/thrusters that use size and strength to push others out/down, some are mixes between the two, some are wildcards, and there are subtypes of every type of fighting.Quick and dirty:
Two men enter and face off, first to be pushed down or out is the loser, judge in the ring will point in the direction of the winner, judges around the ring are there to overturn the judge in the ring if they see something different, instant replay is used to assist ringside judges, at the end winner may get extra prize money (white envelopes), every wrestler fights once per day for 15 days straight, wrestlers want to win a minimum of 8 bouts so they are not demoted. Tournament winner is the wrestler with the best win/loss record at the end of 15 days and gets one hell of a payday for it.
I also have comments explaining various aspects of sumo in each post I've made, so feel free to check those and ask more questions if you'd like. Here is my 2020 Sumo in Review comment.
Wow, That is a lot to take in... I am going to take the time to check all your suggestions, and come back with a better reply.
Quick notes:
10 days in (day 11 should have streamed/been up by now, but I haven't watched it yet), what do you think?
Hahaha, Nice follow up. I actually checked out some matches today. I respect the sport, but it can't seem to hold my attention for very long. I find myself drifting off and looking for more things to divide my attention to.
That said, the contrast between the peacefull, restfull preperations and the exploding fights is really cool.
No worries! It certainly isn't for everyone and the decision to watch the full stream was a bit surprising to me for a first timer. Just about everything done has some sort of ritual behind it and it's one of those things that you kinda have to want to experience. In person the rituals are usually the time people order food or talk among themselves just like being between plays (or the seemingly endless time outs for commercials) when at an NFL game.
If I'm honest, the middle 5 days of any tournament are the most boring. The first 5 days tend to show who's fired up and looking to dominate the tournament, the middle 5 are just required matchups based on rank, and the final 5 are the performance based matchups to see which lower ranked wrestlers are going to be up against higher ranks because they're performing above expectations and the tournament winner deciding matchups.
Update/hype article from John Gunning on what looks like the inevitable outcome of this tournament: https://www.japantimes.co.jp/sports/2021/07/14/sumo/sumo-hakuho-terunofuji/
While it may be true that the rest of the tournament "none of the opponents either man will likely face before their final day showdown should strike too much fear into their hearts" I'm not so convinced. Neither Hakuho or Terunofugi have faced more than one of the sanyaku (top of the top division) rikishi yet, so their toughest opponents are yet to be met even if they don't tend to have the greatest record against these two titans. The biggest competition for both wrestlers is Takakeisho and well...
Takakeisho dropped out early due to a scary neck injury that left him all but limp in the match against Ichinojo, credit to Ichi for being aware of the situation and taking care of his opponent so that Takakeisho wasn't just shoved out and in freefall while unable to control himself.
That was a cool move! Now I hope he wins. I'm gonna try watching some more, give it another shot. The slow motion replay was AMAZING. xD
I like Ichinojo a lot, but he won't win. He's a solid rikishi that has nearly always been in the paid ranks (he only had two tournaments before he was in the top two divisions!), he's good enough to be in the middle of the top division, but has only picked up a 2nd place spot once and he's already out of the running to win this tournament.
Ichi is, in my opinion, a classic sumo wrestler. He is big, strong, skilled in his brand of sumo, has stamina, and is not flashy. He seems to make it a point to not hurt other wrestlers (by big violent pushout at the edge) or make himself prone to injury by fighting hard at the edge when he's in a losing position. If you want to beat him you generally have to outmaneuver him or be fast enough to get him into what he thinks is an unrecoverable position, as there are very few other rikishi that can move him or beat him in a pure strength battle He's a bit slow at the tachiai and is known to be soft spoken and very kind outside the ring, which has caused his fan club to lovingly give him the Snorlax pet name.
The tournament is over.
A winner has lifted the emperor's cup and taken home an absolute boatload of cash and prizes.
As expected the final bout was one for the ages:
Staredown between two immensely powerful rikishi!
Eventually the one who knows it's his duty to get in position first does so.
The tension rises...
The gyoji (judge) that usually would be commanding the wrestlers to put their hands down to be ready knows not to say a word.
Absolute titans clash!
Brutality ensues.
A barrage of techniques rapid fire from both men.
The takedown occurs.
An explosion of exultant emotion erupts, a rarity in a sport that pushes for stoicism among all in the ring.
If you watch no other sumo ever again, at least watch this timestamped video to the final bout between Hakuho (the GOAT) and Terunofuji (comeback story): https://youtu.be/2O5DSHDBjTg?t=1029
As always, feel free to AMA about sumo or this tournament.
That bout was epic! And I love your description of it too. It really helped build up my anticipation. :P
p.s. Hakuho sounds strangely familiar, even though I know nothing about Sumo. Is he the dude that you once mentioned as having health problems and having to withdraw from a bunch of tournaments, or am I thinking of someone else?
Maybe? Both Hakuho and Terunofuji have pulled out due to health problems. Hakuho missed most or all of the past year because of injury, contracting COVID, and knee surgery (in that order). Terunofuji hit Ozeki then dropped all the way back to jonidan (second to bottom division) due to diabetes, cellulitis, knee surgery, and a broken collar bone then fought his way back to Ozeki...
...and just announced this morning he has been officially recommended by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council to be ascended to the Yokozuna rank! Wednesday the decision will be confirmed by the Japan Sumo Association and the comeback story will be complete.