Love Sumo

 

People think I’m crazy when I tell them my favourite sport to watch is sumo. It’s no secret I am pretty much an occasional visitor to all sports and take little time to follow closely any one sport – especially on television. Now don’t get me wrong, I’ll always choose the Vancouver Canucks over any other hockey team – but that’s a hometown thing – and I’ll always watch the Vanier Cup because I went to a good Canadian football university. However, if I had to choose, I never refuse the opportunity to watch a good sumo bout.   

While my husband had posters of Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky on his wall as a child; my sports heroes were Chiyonofuji and Takanohana. My father used to rush home from work during sumo tournaments to cheer on his favourite warriors. I was always intrigued when Chiyonofuji came on screen. Chiyonofuji was the greatest sumo wrestler of my childhood, and arguably one of the best of all time. His pace and agility gave him a great advantage over other rikishi (wrestlers) who simply gained enough weight to toss around. Chiyonofuji showed amazing strength, speed and skill. His grace in the Dohyo (sumo ring) was only outweighed by his kindness in real life.

In my early 20’s I had the great advantage of meeting the retired Chiyonofuji (now, Kokonoe) in his own Sumo beya (home or club). As one of the only Yokozuna (the highest rank a sumo rikishi can receive) to retire still winning tournaments and impressing the crowds, Chiyonofuji was carefully crafting the next line of sumo stars. One special afternoon, I was able to watch his rikishi in training; eat lunch with some of the promising athletes and their mentor. I even had the great honour of having my hair styled by the beya stylist in a mage style, the slick topknot of professional rikishi. You can’t imagine how many bottles of shampoo it took to wash out the wax.

One of the rising stars I was able to share lunch with was a young, agile and fast competitor by the name of Chiyotaikai. Then making his way through the lowest ranks of sumo stardom; he is now a revered Ozeki (the rank one below Yokozuna). So if you have the opportunity to change your perceptions about sumo and truly enjoy the strength, power and athleticism of the sport – keep your eye out for Chiyotaikai – he is long overdue for a next step up.

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