[sumo] Kotonowaka interview

[Moti <sumo@dichne.com>]

35 year old Senior Makuuchi Kotonowaka speaks out. He was injured in 
Kyushu, and missed Hatsu because of the injury. His recovery has been 
very slow. He was interviewed by Yamagata Shinbun, but I still found out..

Q-I'll get right to the point-if you have a bad Basho in Haru with not 
much of a cushion (Maegashira 13) what will you do?
A- I will unwillingly retire. But I'm not thinking of that at this time. 
I don't want to push myself into a corner and cause myself any useless 
tension. I'll just have to face what comes. Otherwise, I can't do Sumo. 
Willpower is very important.

Q-Do you think there are fans out there who would like to see 
"Kotonowaka Sumo' even if you drop to Juryo?
A-If I drop to Juryo that would mean my Sumo has dropped as well. I've 
been in Makuuchi for 13 years now. I have no wish to continue in Juryo.

Q- What is the situation of your injury?
A- The left knee ligament injury is very serious, and seems to be worse 
than my prior injuries. I'm having difficulties bending. Truthfully, my 
knee is in a bad way. I have no choice but to compensate with my 
physical strength.

Q-What tactics will you be using as you go in there with your injury?
A- I'll try to go in there and try to put as little burden on the knee 
as I can. I'll try to do "quick" Sumo, short bouts. (Hmmm.. MD) I'll 
have to go for an all-out attack from the start and do my Sumo, then I 
may be able to succeed.

Q-In order to achieve that, what kind of keiko are you doing?
A-One hour of warm-up exercises, then training of upper and lower body, 
and sideways movement exercises as well. I primarily do frontal 
butsugari-geiko, and am slowly increasing the length of each session.

Q-It was really too bad that you were riding a 7-1 record in Kyushu when 
you got injured against Takekaze..
A-I was convinced I was heading for a KK. The instant I was injured, my 
head became "white".. I couldn't move my knee and said to myself 
"Aaah..it's over". The 19th of November was the middle of the Basho and 
also my eldest son's 6th birthday. I had promised him the KK for his 
birthday. There was a lot of crying, disappointment and regret.

Q-So now, you are planning to return..
A-Oyakata said to me after the injury-"No use going on if you're going 
to permanently not be able to walk. But that one elusive win I needed 
for the KK in Kyushu is haunting me. "I can still do it. I'd like to 
'bloom' one more time", I said to Oyakata, asking him to let me go on. 
So here I am now.

Q- What is your message to the people?
A- My weight is now back to 175 kilos. I have added some more muscle. 
I'd like to put up a good fight, have good bouts. I'll use the memory of 
when I beat Yokozuna Takanohana  by Yorikiri as an inspiration and go 
all out!!

Picture:
http://www.yamagata-np.co.jp/kiji/20040210/0000000846.jpg
--
Kintamayama Mochiron

Download my Sumo  glossary for "Babylon" at:
http://info.babylon.com/cgi-bin/search.cgi?layout=results.html&cat=259&sort=s&nc=2&n=10


[EndPost by Moti <sumo@dichne.com>]