[sumo] Kokkai interview-- part 1

[Moti <sumo@dichne.com>]

I am very pleased to say we have a translation of the Kokkai interview 
which was promised a while ago. This is part one, and a huge round of 
applause and appreciation to Amanogawa for her excellent effort!!!

Secret Story of Heroes
-everything starts from zero

The "relaxed" life of Kokkai Futoshi,
A man who strips sumo to the skin

It's very common nowadays to see foreign rikishi rising through
the ranks in Ozumo, however, one from a small European country
radiates a quite prominent aura which separates him from the others.
Aiming to witness more of his unique manner, I visited his stable to
see the reality of heya life where rikishis, beyond being merely
"athletes", care about each other, something that a TV never reveals.

Kokkai was looking at himself in a big mirror at keiko-ba. Skin as supple
as a big ham. Lush chest hairs. Thick eyebrows and eyelashes. He watched
himself while rubbing his five o'clock shadow. So how long will he be there
like that? Suddenly he looked back at me.

"I look pretty cool - don't I?"

"You do look cool" I responded.

"Yeah I knew it"

This 23 year old guy from Republic of Georgia, who's been storming up
the ranks to make Makuuchi after he joined Oitekaze-beya 3 years ago, has
tremendous tachiai-force and so is nicknamed the "Monster from Georgia".
True, his tsuppai does look astounding -- and brutally disoriented. No
cunning tricks, no fakes, just a reckless rush. Almost like "why do yotsu
when I have this oshi". It's quite common to see foreign rikishis
performing well in sumo these days, but rare to see one who simply tries
to rush forward, which appealed the pulse-pounding to me. And that made
me want to meet this man in person.

Kokkai, when I saw him close-up, felt more like a "strange white man"
with chonmage than "Monster". He kept swinging his hips as if doing
hula-hoop, and it just looked like an old fat lady's work-outs. As I started
to wonder - how long will he be doing this? - he deliberately put his hands
behind his shoulders, and twisted his body like Venus de Milo. Then he
paused. I assumed he was only stretching his muscles, though he did appear
strangely sexy. Then he stared off into the distance as playing with his 
chest
hairs. Scratched his head. Looked at the fingers that were scratching 
his head.
And I even saw his mouth extend vertically as he yawned. It was still early
morning, but there was a touch of "lazy afternoon" here.

- what brought you to sumo?
As an amateur wrestler, he had won the championship in the European
tournament. His father won the Russian wrestling championship too. He had
been dreaming of making the Olympics, as a sport "elite". "You know,
wrestling has the weight discrimination. I was fighting in the 130 kg
division but one day the rules changed and suddenly there was no heavier
class than 120kg, when I weighed 135kg. You wouldn't be able to be in the
120kg division when you're that heavy... it was almost impossible to lose
that much weight.. " With the new rule demanding him to lose 15kg instead
of only 5kg, he looked to sumo instead. In his country Georgia where martial
arts are commonly practiced, amateur sumo has been one of popular sports.
Its national teams have participated in the European tournaments and the
world championship, which connected them to Nihon University's sumo club
where Kokkai was scouted. However, Kokkai had never practiced sumo at all,
and it was only one week before he left for Japan that he donned a mawashi
for the fist time ever.

"I wanted to be a professional, and wanted to be strong"
So he took off -in a dream of making money in the professional sumo
where he wouldn't have to worry about his weight any more. And yet he was
barely prepared.

- Isn't this professional sumo-kai a difficult place to live? You have
to go with this hierarchy..."

"Well, it's just normal ( futsuu ) to me"
Kokkai smiles. Big thick eyebrows.

-Normal ( futsuu )?
"It's not too difficult. We're same human beings. Hey, I don't get
too harsh on you, do I?"

Daishokaku, who was standing next to him, wagged his head. So did
Daishowaka and Daishoriki, and Wakatakeshi. Everyone there was
shaking their heads when I knew it. And then I noticed they would smile
a lot even during keiko sessions. I couldn't believe my eyes when Kokkai,
the hottest guy of the moment and the most successful one in the heya,
was laughed at when his tsukebito was washing his hair "Oh gosh! What
bristly hair you have!". If you only come up with the ideas like "harsh
keiko" or "difficult lifestyle", "quiet patience" "persistence" or 
"endeavor",
you may be shocked when you visit this heya - it doesn't quite feel like the
way you would think sumo is.

-By the way, what is your favorite waza?
A young tsukebito burst out into laugher when Kokkai grinned and answered
"Head-on crash, then tsuppari...". That made all young rikishis standing
by the dohyo laugh hard too. I laughed too not knowing why, and
so did Kokkai. Certainly, not only was Kokkai strange, but this whole mood
that was hovering over us, in this entire Oitekaze-beya.

"RELAXED" OITEKAZE-BEYA

The Ozumo March Tournament was held in Nanba, Osaka. I wanted
to witness Kokkai's spirit and so visited Oitekaze-beya's camp in Mozu
Hachimangu. The shrine yard was colorful with nobori-banners and the
hurriedly-built panelized keiko-ba building.

It was only 2 days before the basho. People were crowding in there,
and I was expecting the tense atmosphere, but on the contrary, rikishi in
the keiko-ba looked relaxed as ever, creating a sharp contrast with the
serious faces of the onlookers. Kokkai was sitting around on a bench in the
shrine yard, absentminded.

-Shouldn't you be doing keiko now?, I asked Kokkai in his yukata.

"Not any more, because the basho will start soon"

He almost looked like he was enjoying a cool evening breeze there,
though it was the early morning hour. By and by, young rikishis began to
flock around the bench. They were putting big towels on their shoulders.
"Wow, this place is nice and warm!" "I could take a nap here" And they
threw their big bodies down there.

--
Kintamayama Mochiron

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