RE: [sumo] The Great Switcharoo

["Buchanan, Michael" <buchanan@aunetwork.com>]

Thank you.  Great work.  Now the question remains, was this issue
brought up in 2001 privately, and only now made public because Asashoryu
still hasn't conformed?  Or is it just now being addressed?  And if so,
why more than two years later?

Michael Buchanan
Ookitakora

-----Original Message-----
From: Walker, Jay [mailto:Walker@nhrc.navy.mil] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 12:16 PM
To: sumo@statgen.ncsu.edu
Subject: [sumo] The Great Switcharoo

My recollection, along with others, was that Asashoryu used to receive
kensho with his right hand, and while not extensively researching the
matter, I squandered close to an hour looking at some of his old bouts
to
try to determine if and when The Great Switcharoo happened.  

He was indeed using his right hand in his makunouchi debut (Hatsu 2001,
Day
1 against Daishi, although no kensho).  The switch over seemed to occur
at
the Kyushu 2001 basho.  For his last 2 victories at the prior Aki 2001
basho
(plus all the bouts I viewed before then) he received kensho with his
right
hand.  In his first 2 victories at Kyushu 2001, plus all the bouts I
viewed
after that, he used his left.

I can't say if there was ever a time after Kyushu 2001 when he went back
to
using his right hand for a period, but it seems that that was the basho
when
he started using his left.

-George W.
[EndPost by "Walker, Jay" <Walker@nhrc.navy.mil>]

[EndPost by "Buchanan, Michael" <buchanan@aunetwork.com>]