Quick scroll to:

• Sumo tickets available at Lawson
• Waka's debut as yokozuna livens up Nagoya tournament
• Newest yokozuna in good spirits
• Yokozuna trio top Nagoya rankings
• Sumo rankings for Nagoya Basho '98
• Konishiki bids farewell to fans
• Konishiki loses topknot in retirement ceremony
• How 'the big guy' survived the school of hard knocks
• Koni wrestles with a new lifestyle
• Wakanohana promoted to yokozuna
• Often painful training is the key to success in sumo
• Two Mysterious Deaths Shake the Sumo World

 

Sumo tickets available at Lawson

Asahi Evening News - July 2nd '98

 

 

Tickets for grand sumo tournaments in Tokyo will soon be available at convenience stores throughout Japan, a Japan Sumo Association (JSA) public relations official said Wednesday.

 

Tickets for the Autumn Grand Sumo Tournament at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan, which gets under way Sept. 13, will go on sale beginning Aug. 8 at 7,000 Lawson convenience stores nationwide, sumo elder Hanaregoma said.

 

The only tickets available at Lawson will be those for the 6,200 yen and 3,600 yen seats, he said.

 

Initially the sale of tickets will be limited to the three tournaments in Tokyo - New Year, summer and autumn - but the JSA is considering selling tickets through Lawson for the three remaining tournaments - in Osaka, Nagoya, and Fukaoka - in the future.

 

Waka's debut as yokozuna livens up Nagoya tournament

Asahi Evening News - July 2nd '98

 

 

The Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament begins Sunday at the Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium, and all eyes will be on the new yokozuna Wakanohana. Though said to be one of the hardest tournaments to get people excited about, this year's tourney in Nagoya has already sold out most of the advance tickets because of the new star's birth. The question is, will Wakanohana live up to all the expectations

 

One of the points to watch will be Wakanohana's ring-enterance ritual. He will do it in the Shiranui style, the first time in 10 years. There are two styles, the other being Unryu, which was performed by both Akebono and Takanohana. Both styles were conceived in the 19th century and named after the yokozuna who performed them first.

 

The difference is in the use of the arms. With Shiranui both arms are spread apart in a style suggesting a two-handed grip around one's opponent and emphasized offense. In the Unryu, the left arm is positioned as if to block an opponent from getting his arm through for a hold. This symbolizes the importance of both offense and defense. Wakanohana has chosen the offense type.

 

The reason for the choice is due to a request from the Sumo Association that he not use the same style as the two yokozuna before him, and because it would be boring for him to have chosen the same style as his stablemate and brother. The association was also apparently afraid that if the Shiranui style didn't make its return, it might die out forever.

 

Futagoyama, Wakanohana's stablemaster, had intially announced the ritual would be done in the Unryu style, but then changed his mind, another indication he might have been pressured by advice to go with Shiraui.

 

There is a superstition that yokozuna who use Shiranui don't last long. That's why wreslters have avoided it. But Wakanohana has picked up this hot potato anyway. It is a brave choice.

 

How Wakanohana will do it in the win-loss department is also of great interest. It is very difficult to do one's best the first time out. Since the 15-day tournament system was established in 1949, only three of the 25 wrestlers promoted to yokozuna have won their debut tourney at that rank. The three are Takanosato, Taiho and Takanohana. Three had to be absent, and two couldn't even muster 10 wins.

 

The most common record was 11 wins (six wrestlers), followed by 13 and 10 wins (five wrestlers each). Three new yokozuna finished at 12 wins. Takanosato was the only one to win with no losses, and no yokozuna has won 14 matches in his debut.

 

Wakanohana's uncle, the first yokozuna Wakanohana, has a family of 12. An ozeki who loses most of his bouts only gets demoted, but if a yokozuna does that poorly retirement is about the only optoin. With that in mind, the original Wakanohana was at first worried about supporting his family when he won promotion. This pressure is what shakes up sumo.

 

Wakanohana, however, has a habit of saying what will be will be. Maybe 12 wins will be a good line for him to shoot for.

 

Newest yokozuna in good spirits

Asahi Evening News - June 24th '98

 

 

New yokozuna Wakanohana began practice for next month's Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament in high spirits Tuesday while Tochiazuma, sidelined during the entire May meet with a dislocated right shoulder, is pacing himself for a comeback.

 

Wakanohana went through about 30 heated practice bouts with lower-ranked wrestlers as many fans and reporters gathered at the Futagoyama stable's quarters in Kanie, Aichi Prefecture, to watch the grand champion at work.

 

"It's coming along," said Wakanohana, who became the 66th yokozuna after claiming his second straight Emperor's Cup at last month's summer tourney.

 

Wakanohana will enter te ring at sumo's highest rank with younger brother Takanohana and Hawaiian-born giant Akebono in the July 5-19 meet at Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium in Nagoya.

 

Meanwhile, one-time ozeki hopeful Tochiazuma, who had been out of action since withdrawing from the March tourney in Osaka after dislocating his shoulder in a bout, appears on his way back to form.

 

The former sekiwake, who will compete in Nagoya as the No. 5 maegashira, displayed good belt grabbing and shoving moves while handling 19 bouts at the Tamanoi stable quarters in Kasugai.

 

Yokozuna trio top Nagoya rankings

Japan Times - June 23rd '98

 

 

Newly promoted yokozuna Wakanohana makes for a trio of grand champions for the first time in seven years while Dejima leaps seven rungs in the rankings for the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament released Monday by the Japan Sumo Association.

 

Wakanohana claimed his second straight Emperor's Cup at last month's summer tourney in Tokyo and joins his younger brother Takanohana and Hawaiian-born giant Akebono for the first time in the rankings at the sport's peak.

 

The 27-year-old Tokyo native, who as ozeki notched a 12-3 record for his fifth overall makuuchi championship in May, becomes the first new grand champion in 21 tourneys along with becoming one-half of the first-ever pair of yokozuna siblings in the history of Japan's ages-old sport.

 

Abebono continues to occupy the most prestigious east yokozuna seat while Takanohana, regaining his form after a bout of bronchitis last winter and lingering liver aliments, will step onto the ring from the west. Akebono and Takanohana were both 10-5 in the summer basho.

 

Meanwhile, former sekiwake Dejima, who suffered a serious injury to his left ankle last November, saw his ranking improve seven places - to No. 4 maegashira - after a successful return to the ring in May that ended with a 10-5 record and a Fighting Spirit Award.

 

In the second-highest rank of ozeki - reduced to two following Wakanohana's promotion - Takanonami, a runner-up in summer at 11-4, takes up the east side while Musashimaru stays on the west.

 

Chiyotaikai, an up-and-coming 22-year-old steadily making his way up the makuuchi ladder, was promoted to sekiwake after just once tournament at komusubi where he posted an 8-7 record against many of the sport's top wrestlers.

 

One-time ozeki hopeful Tochiazuma, sidelined the entire May meet with a dislocated right shoulder, remains at No. 5 maegashira.

 

In the lower ranks, Mongolia's Kyokushuzan notched a winnning record for the first time in three basho to climb two spots to No. 11 maegashira and compatriot Kyokutenho returns from the second-tier juryo division to sumo's top flight as a 15th ranked maegashira.

Sumo rankings for Nagoya Basho '98

Konishiki bids farewell to fans

Asahi Evening News - June 1st '98

 

 

Former ozeki Konishiki, the first foreign-born wrestler to reach sumo's second highest rank, bid farewell to his many fans at a retirement ceremony Saturday at Tokyo's Ryogoku Kokugikan.

 

The ceremony officially brought Konishiki's competitive career to an end although he announced his pals to retire on the next to final day of the Kyushu tournament last November.

 

The ceremony was held in a cheerful atmosphere, unlike the sober surroundings of Japan's age old sport, as Hawaiian dancers performed at the gate of the sumo arena and drew cheers from a crowd packing the house.

 

During the ceremony, the Hawaiian-born giant, now know as sumo elder Sanoyama, wrestled against Terao in the bout which had been scheduled for the final day of Kyushu tourney but was canceled because of Konishiki's retirement.

 

"I have so many memories from the 15 years of my career. People can't live alone. My wife (Sumika) is the person who I would like to say thank you to most," Konishiki said from the ring after the traditional topknot cutting ceremony.

 

Some 320 people held scissors to take snips of his "ochiyo," the topknot, and among them sumo elder Azumazeki, formerly known as Takamiyama, who was responsible for bringing the former Hawaiian high school football star to Japan.

 

The 34-year old Konishiki's eyes were clouded with tears as his stable master Takasago stepped up to make the final cut removeing the topknot from Konishiki's head.

 

The popular former ozeki, whose name was Salevaa Atisanoe, made his debut in July 1982 and advanced quickly to the elite makuuchi division in just two years with his combination of devastating slaps and thrusts and physique weighing more than 200 kilograms.

 

The three-time Emperor's Cup winner, was promoted to ozeki after the summer meet of 1987 but suffered from knee injuries and was demoted after the Kyushu basho in 1993.

 

The sumo elder was granted Japanese citizenship in 1994 and outside sumo will be known by his Japanese name Yasokichi Shiota.

 

After Saturday's ceremony, Konishiki appeared to be at a loss for words and told reporters "I really can't think of anything."

Konishiki loses topknot in retirement ceremony

Japan Times - May 31th '98

 

 

Charismatic and massive sumo champion Konishiki had his topknot clipped off Saturday in a tearful retirement ceremony.

 

Over 300 people, including political and business leaders, along with numerous sumo legends, each took turns at the scissors to cut a few strands of Konishiki's hair.

 

The American-born Konishiki was the heaviest wrestler in the history of the sport known for its massive athletes. The 272-kg giant fought back tears for most of the traditional ceremony.

 

Konishiki had a tumultuous and glorious 16-year career that saw him win three tournaments and the eventual admiration of my Japanese who initially dismissed him as an oversized American import.

 

Over the years, Konishiki became fluent in Japanese and became the first foreign-born wrestler to rise to the ozeki (champion) rank.

 

"To me, the whole thing was like going to school, learning a lot of things -- about the culture, the language," Konishiki said about his life in sumo.

 

"The hardest thing was trying to learn to deal with the lifestyle, learning to accept and then taking it from there."

 

Konishiki was born in 1963 in Hawaii as Salevaa Atisanoe.

How 'the big guy' survived the school of hard knocks

Japan Times - May 31th '98

 

 

Konishiki is well-practiced in dealing with adversity. In a newly published Japanese-languague memoir, "Konishiki Exposed," he writes about the impoverished childhood.

 

"I was raised on canned goods, almost," he said recently.

 

He also wrote about the bullying he experienced by senior wrestlers who would slam his head with beer bottles and then expect him to respond with "thank you" and about the beatings he has taken from the media over the years.

 

Arriving in Japan at 18, Konishiki rose through the sumo ranks in rocord time -- delighting in defeating those who had tormented him.

 

"Hard feelings, that's what made me good at sumo," he said. "Go out there...and bang those guys, man. Hit'em as hard as you can 'cause it's a legal hit."

 

He was quickly promoted to ozeki, the second-highest rank in sumo, but even after winning three tournaments, he was not elevated to the top rank of yokozuna, as other wrestlers with similar track records had been. Detractors dismissed Konishiki as big on bulk but lacking finesse, and one Sumo Association judge thought that no foreigner could have the requisite "dignity" to hold the highest rank in Japan's national sport.

 

Konishiki made headlines for crying after losing a match -- an unthinkable display in Japan. Although he has taken Japanese citizenship, he is very American in showing his emotions as, in his book, he writes frankly about his enduring love for his wife, a Japanese former fashion model.

 

And Konishiki travails with the sumo establishment have forced Japan to examine some of its attitudes -- and paved the way for another American, Akebono, to be promoted to yokozuna.

 

Perhaps because Konishiki has shown the courage of his emotions, he has conquered hearts. On his Internet home page, which features a life-sized print of his huge hand, fans post affectionate mail from Japan and all over the world. Konishiki answers it himself, signing his e-mails "Koni da man" or "Big guy in Japan."

 

Even in retirement, he remains "a more regular fixture on the media circuit than the current U.S. ambassador, Thomas Foley," critic Sakyua Fujiwara wrote in a review of Konishiki's book.

Koni wrestles with a new lifestyle

Japan Times - May 31th '98

 

 

Move over, Fegie. Konishiki -- the biggest sumo wrestler on Earth, a man who once tipped the scales at 283 kg and was capable of consuming 100 beers and 70 pieces of sushi in a single sitting -- has retired from the sumo ring and is trying to shed 100 kg.

 

It is a Herculean task, one that throws the dieting woes of ordinary mortals into a new perspective. But Konishiki's life story is already as oversized as his extra-long mawashi (lioncloth).

 

One of 10 childern of a poor Samoan family in Hawaii, he became, through grit and charm, the largest champion ever to shove his way to glory in Japan's ancient sport.

 

Other Americans have since outshone Konishiki in the ring, but the behemoth remains one of Japan's bestliked celebrities. Few who have seen the ferocious glare with which Konishiki fixed his opponents before barreling them out of the ring would bet against his meeting his new goal: getting thin enough to be allowed on a roller coaster.

 

"I'm not on a diet. It's a change of lifestyle," the 34-year-old wrestler said as he lounged on a bench outside the Takasago sumo stable, where is now a junior coach known by the post-retirement name of Sanoyama. "When you say 'diet,' it just kills the ears."

 

Nonetheless, he has bid sayonara to the two gargantuan meals that a sumo wrestlers eat every day. The meals, ritualistically called chanko, are what everyone else eats -- but three or four times the amount. His lunch and dinner once typically ended with three or four serving-bowl-size portions of rice; now he has one ordinary-size bowl per meal.

 

His busy schedule as a coach, sumo commentator and budding television talent leaves no time for the long, obligatory after-lunch nap that helps sumo wreslters maintain their bulk.

 

And his drinking days, when he could down those 100 cans of beer in an evening --- "Oh, easy" -- are a thing of a past.

 

"I'm not that much a liquor guy, anyway. I just drink when I get together with the boys and we puch each other in the head and that kind of thing," Konishiki said.

 

Although he is now hawking Suntory whiskey in Japanese television commercials, his limit is one beer -- sipped, not guzzled. And recently, when taken to a sushi bar, he ate nothing near his record of 70 pieces. (The usual Japanese serving is 10 to 12 pieces.) Nor did he finish the small bowl of ice cream for dessert.

 

"I got full real quick," he said. "I just wasn't hungry, I guess."

 

His non-dieting strategy is too sensible to make for best-seller material: First, he has begun eating breakfast, which sumo wrestlers never touch before their dawn training sessions.

 

"Breakfast really helps your metabolism," he has found. "I'm not as hungry as I used to be."

Second he drinks only water and green tea, with an occasional beer.

 

"Water, man. H20. Natural," he said, repeating, "It's a lifestyle, not a diet."

 

He eats three meals a day, nothing in between, and tries to eat dinner no later than 7 p.m. He never goes hungry. He does not have a diet doctor and doesn't want one.

 

By May, he was down from his November retirement weight of 274 kg to 260 kg, but his goal is to lose 100 kg more, allowing himself three years to shed the weight slowly.

 

"I'd like to be skinny for once, just to see how it feels," he said. "But not too skinny. I was always big."

 

In addition to the Suntory commercials, Konishiki has made ads for the American company Uniden. But unlike the Duchess of York and other weight-watching pitchmen, he has passed up offers to endorse diet products -- just as he has tossed out the flood of vitamins, herbal remedies and other weight-loss concoctions sent by well-wishers.

 

He's also hosting a wildlife documentary, appearing regularly on TV as a sumo commentator and making frequent appearances on entertainment programs, where he sings, dances and cracks wise.

 

"I'm a clown anyway, so if they want me to make people laugh, I can make people laugh," he said.

 

But an extremely successful diet could jeopardize all that, argues sumo critic Teiji Kojima."

 

"Konishiki's size is his selling point. If he loses too much weight, he won't be worth as much. But, of course, from the standpoint of his health, he should lose weight."

 

Most sumo wrestlers manage to lose 10 to 20 kg after retirement, but none has ever been as big as Konishiki. Although there are no statistics, records kept by the Sumo Museum in downtown Tokyo indicate that the champion heavyweights do tend to be short-lived. While the life expectancy of the Japanese male has climbed from 59 to 77 since 1950, the average life span of those who became ozeki or yokozuna after 1925 is only 56.

 

Konishiki recently had his final retirement ceremony, in which his topknot got the chop. He says he enjoys coaching youngsters and plans to stay in the Sumo Association "for now," although the group has the final say on -- and takes a cut from -- all of his commercial activities.

 

And as his waistline shrinks, he sees other other possibilities opening up. He'd like to land a recording contract, star in more commercials or even try Hollywood -- "if," he said, "it comes my way."

Wakanohana promoted to yokozuna

Japan Times - May 28th '98

 

 

Sumo made history Wednesday when ozeki Wakanohana officially joined younger brother Takanohana at the summit of the traditional Japanese sport

 

The Japan Sumo Association board of directors gave unanimous approval to Wakanohana's promotion to yokozuna, the first time that two brothers have simultaneously held the sport's highest rank.

 

"I will devote myself more than ever as yokozuna with an indefatigable spirit," Wakanohana said at the Futagoyama stable in Tokyo in accepting the JSA decision conveyed by its messsengars.

 

"I'm still nervous. I think all I can do is try my best to make fans happy with my bouts," he noted. "I still don't know what being a yokozuna is going to be like as I'd never imagined what I am today."

 

Wakanohana became the 66th grand champion as the JSA endorsed a recommendation by the Yokozuna Deliberation Council, an advisory panel to the association, after the 27-year old Tokyo native claimed back-to-back tournament victories.

 

The council gave the green light a day after Wakanohana, featuring trademark shoves and thrusts with tremendous tenacity, secured his fifth Emperor's Cup on Sunday by winning the Summer Grand Sumo Tournament with a record of 12 wins and three losses.

 

The latest victory followed his triumph in March basho with a more impressive 14-1 record, which set the stage for him to fulfill a council requirement that yokozuna candidates win two straight tournaments.

 

He is the first wrestler to win promotion to yokozuna since 1994 when Takanohana won the Kyushu basho that Novemeber and made his grand champion debut at the New Year tournament in January 1995.

 

Unlike the 25-year old Takanohana, a holder of 18 Emperor's Cups, Wakanohana has climbed to the top at a snail's pace due partly to his diminutive physique for a sumo wrestler (131 kg and 181 cm).

 

He needed 62 tournaments since he first stepped onto the "dohyo" in March 1988 along with Takanohana and Hawaiian-born Akebono, the other current yokozuna who has stayed in the position since early 1993.

 

Wakanohana has spent 47 basho in the makuuchi top division while retaining the ozeki rank for 29 tourneys, the second-longest spell of waiting until earning yokozuna promotion behind 32 for Kotozakura, a grand champion in the mid-1970s.

 

"It's hard for me to comment as his father, but I feel today greeted him after years of patience, hard work and efforts," said Futagoyama, the stablemaster and father of the Waka-Taka brothers.

 

Takanohana is likewise delighted with Wakanohana's promotion.

"I'm happy. Making yokozuna had been a common goal for us," he said. "I'm going to give him as much help as I can in return for the support I've gotten from him."

 

"We had been hoping for the birth of new yokozuna and now that the sumo world is in the middle of tough time, I hope this will help boost attendance at tournaments and sumo's popularity on the whole," said JSA President Tokitsukaze.

Often painful training is the key to success in sumo

Japan Times - January 8th '95

 

 

Although sumo training primarily consists of traditional training methods handed down over the centuries, more and more rikishi are starting to add modern methods such as weight training, jogging or fast-paced long-distance walking.

 

Ex-yokozuna Chiyonofuji took up weight training because of the numerous shoulder dislocations that he incurred in the lower ranks. Although he was one of the lightest rikishi in makunouchi at 125 kg, he was also the strongest in the top division during most of his prime. At the same time, he was one of the fastest and most agile rikishi of his generation, a notable exception to the traditional belief that you have to keep adding more and more weight if you want to become strong in sumo. As a new type of role model, Chiyo demonstrated that today's youth in Japan can become successful by following in his footsteps rather than those of such yokozuna rivals as Onokuni, who tipped the scales at around 180 kg.

 

Ex-yokozuna Wajima, who flourished in the 1970s, lifted weights so much he eventually became muscle-bound like ex-yokozuna Kashiwado before him in the 1960s. It left them both with very strong but inflexible bodies. In his early days in makunouchi and before, Akebono worked out at the weight-training gym of Dr. Bob Beverdge in Ebisu, Tokyo, along with some of his Hawaiian stablemates. Azumazeki Oyakata, ex-sekiwake Takamiyama - familiarly known as Jesse - has a fast-walking program for his deshi, requiring them to cover a certain distance within a specified time. Ex-ozeki Konishiki of Takasago Beya has often done power-lifting at a gym in Okachi-machi, Tokyo. Konishiki is also a keen swimmer.

 

Stable training starts as early as 4:30 or 5 a.m. for the newest members of the stable, with others rising later in accordance with the increase in their rank until the heya's yokozuna, ozeki or highest-ranked sekitori is reached. The senior rikishi generally sleep undisturbed until about 7 a.m.

 

Kings of the mountain

 

The most common type of training is a sort of king-of-the-mountain competition called moshi-ai in which the winner takes on all comers on the keiko-ba dohyo. As soon as one bout is over, the other deshi waiting around the dohyo rush up to the winner, each calling out to him for the right to be his next opponent. The other type of training bout is known as sanban-geiko, which is usually restricted to the top two or four deshi in the heya and involves 12 to 15 consecutive bouts between the two riskishi.

 

Training usually tapers off two or three days before the basho starts so that many top-rankers only do light keiko on the Friday and Saturday leading up to the basho or when recovering from an injury. When a top-ranker practices with some of the lower-ranked deshi in the heya, this is called anma, or getting a massage.

 

Other types of training included tsuriashi, which involves charging across the dohyo to the edge from a crouching position and pushing an imaginary opponent across the dohyo, stopping short at the edge. This training is designed to make the practice of sliding the feet across the dohyo - never lifting them - second nature to the young rikishi. Ozeki Musashimaru lost a key bout to Takanohana on senshuraku (final day) in last year's Hatsu Basho when he lifted his feet during the match and actually stepped over the edge an instant before crushing out his ozeki opponent, thereby losing by isamiashi (inadvertent step-out). A win would have given him a first-place tie and set up a three-way playoff.

 

There's also matawari - doing the sumo splits. This entails sitting and stretching the legs outward as far apart as possible and then bending forward to touch the forehead and even the chest on the dirt floor. If the young deshi can't make it all the way, one of the oyakata or senior rikishi, climbs on his back and forces him down. This often brings tears of pain to the youth's eyes, as young Takamiyama found shortly after his arrival from Hawaii to begin a sumo career in 1964.

 

Stamping and slapping

 

Then there are the traditional shiko and teppo training methods. In shiko, the rikishi alternatively stamp their feet into the clay a hundred times or more. Some stables arrange their young deshi in rows on the keiko-ba at the end of the day's keiko session and require them to do shiko, with the rikishi taking turns in calling out the stamping by the number - ichi, ni, san, shi, go and so on up to 10. Shiko is done to strengthen the hips and legs. Takamiyama recalls that it sometimes became so painful in his first couple years of sumo that he could hardly drag himself up the stairs to his futon bed at night.

 

Every heya has a big, wooden pole in one corner, and slapping this pole is called teppo. This is done rythmically, alternatively slapping the pole with each hand and stepping forward with each foot on the same side that you slap, thus allowing you to put the weight of your body into each blow. Though this exercise is a must for thrusters and pushers to toughen and enlarge their hands and to develop the rhythm essential to that kind of attack, it often leaves their hands brusied and numb.

 

A leg exercise termed shikyaku is also important for limbering up before a practice bout. This involves squatting and fully extending one leg alternatively back and forth. The rikishi usually presses down on his leg as he extends it outward. A similar exercise is done from a squatting position, with the legs stretched outward as in matawari. The rikishi then bends his torso forward along with line of each leg in turn, extending his arms outward to touch his toes.

Daily practice sessions invariably end up with a type of rugged training called butsukari-geiko, although some beya may follow this up with group foot-stamping excercises. A rikishi pushes his partner back and forth across the dohyo in butsukari-geiko to strengthen his pushing power. The partner often rolls him into the dirt to improve the other rikishi's ability to take a fall without injury. Charging forward, colliding with an opponent and pushing him out of the dohyo - this is sumo's most fundamental technique.

 

Some promising young deshi are often forced to undergo a lengthy and seemingly brutal session of butsukari-geiko, often lasting more than 15 minutes, with no respite. But it is through constant repetition of such severe training like this that a rikishi gradually increases his power. It is well known that former yokozuna Futabayama, one of the greatest rikishi in sumo history, succeeded so well on the hon-basho dohyo in the 1930s because he trained so hard on the keiko-dohyo for so many years - a regular keiko work-horse. In truth, keiko is the secret to success in sumo.

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