RE: Questions from a new(ish) fan...

[Jon Leader <jleader@Brownewoods.com>]

Aside from the slapping, especially the recent Wakanayama (sp?)
incident, I like Takatoriki.  He makes a bad first impression, but as
you become a more seasoned fan you have to admire his pugnacity and
attitude.  Also, he has gone far with fairly limited skills.  I do not
speak Japanese, but when I watch him off the dohyo he seems engaging,
bright, and funny.  Not the deer in the headlights look with grunted
answers sometimes seen. 

As for Terao, handsome is as handsome does.  However, his slaps seem
less vicious.  Perhaps because he is smiling?  Also, my recollection is
that he is more of a windmill, dervish guy than a slugger.

-----Original Message-----
From: Stephen Messer [mailto:smesser@hiddenmind.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 6:34 AM
To: jkleader
Cc: sumo@brooks.statgen.ncsu.edu
Subject: Re: Questions from a new(ish) fan...




jkleader wrote:
> 
> Is it considered bad form to slap an opponent (as henka is considered,
by
> some, to be bad form)?  I see few take a swing at an opponent like
> Takatoriki.  It often looks cheap and dirty to me.  What does the
Kyokai and
> the other rikishi think about this?
> 

Probably the number-one "slapper" in sumo is Terao.  He begins nearly
all of
his matches with windmill slaps to the face and neck of his opponent. 
And
yet Terao is much-loved on this list and no one calls him cheap or
dirty.
I think the slapping is just another technique - some rikishi use this
style
and some don't.  It doesn't seem to be considered bad form.  I think 
sometimes we Westerners (and most of us are Westerners) see something
like
henka or slapping and immediately extrapolate this into our culture and
deem it "unsportsmanlike" or what have you.  Actually these things are
not
frowned upon so much in sumo, as far as I can tell.  I can list several 
popular rikishi who make use or have made use of both of these styles on
a regular basis.

Regarding Takatoriki - I think if he was as handsome as Terao, he would 
probably be well-liked on this list just as Terao is.  If Terao were
ugly,
he would probably be generally disliked on this list and more comments
would be made about his slapping.  Takatoriki is not generally spoken
well
of on this list, and it seems to be mostly due to the way he looks.

sjm