[sumo] Kotonowaka Interview

[Joe Kuroda <joe_kuroda@yahoo.com>]

I have a feeling I did post this..but your Delete
button is close enough.

This is from the May issue of Sumo magazine. The
interview has taken place after the Haru (March )
Basho in Osaka and before the May Basho in Tokyo. 
Almost all of the points are still very relevant. I
hope you find it interesting and will give you some
insight into the oldest Makuuchi rikishi at this
moment.

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Sumo Magazine: 
Last year Kotonowaka suffered serious injuries -
muscle separation in his right arm and ligaments
damage in his left knee. Considering his age of 35,
there was a concern that he would not be able to make
a comeback but at the Haru Basho he won 11 bouts and
earned his fourth Kanto-sho ward (he won another in
the Aki to make it his fifth). He will be inheriting
Sadogatake Beya in November 2005 but his 
passion for competitions is still getting stronger. 

Sumo: Congratulations on your impressive performance
at the Haru Basho overcoming your injuries and winning
the Kantosho.
Kotonowaka: Thank you very much.

Sumo: I believe you had some anxiety prior to the
basho.
Waka: Yes I was anxious. On the Day 1 I felt a bit of
fear when I stepped on the dohyo.

Sumo: On the Day 1, you lost to Asasekiryu, but did
you feel you still were able to perform reasonably
well?
Waka: I lost the bout but I felt I still could
continue. But on the Day 2 bout against
Asanowaka, I won, but I couldn't move with him and I
was all over the place. I
thought perhaps I was trying to cover my leg. Even
thoughI was trying not to do so. 

Sumo: You were saying winning a bout was the best
medicine there was but you still felt uncomfortable
about your sumo bout.
Waka: On the Day 3 against Buyuzan, I had the mawashi
at the dohyo ring but I
gave it up there. Suddenly I had an incredible fear
and I just stopped. So there I was with 1 win and 2
losses. And I did not have too much to fall back on in
the banzuke
(at Maegashira East 13) so I felt this could be it, I
may be finished here. That's what I was thinking back
then. On the Day 4 I barely beat Ushiomaru by slapping
him down. That night, I was invited by a supporter to
go for a drink, and then I ended up drinking like no
tomorrow.

Sumo: Do you think that was a turning point?
Waka: There I was told, "Don't kill yourself anymore.
Whatever happens, will happen anyway. You've been
working so hard up to now so as long as you don't get
injured 
again, it will be all right". Once I started thinking
I wouldn't need to worry about the consequence
anymore, I started feeling better. I figured so what
if I'd lost. Then on the next day I lost the fear and
started moving well. Then I felt maybe I could go on
for some more.

Sumo: Perhpas you started getting used to competing
again but the mental part is so important, isn't it?
Waka: I think your attitude is crucial in competition.
It's kind of funny but if you start thinking, you
really want to win badly, you can't win. I realized it
was rather important to reflect and get back to the
basic occasionally.

Sumo: You've suffered almost all of last year with one
injury or another so you must have felt strongly that
you wanted to get another Kachikoshi.
Waka: That's true. I had a feeling like whatever it
would take. During the Haru Basho both my wife and
Masakatsu (his son) came over (to Osaka) too. Then one
night the shisho came up to me and patted me on my
back, saying "You just need 6 wins. I've talked about
getting the kachikoshi before the basho, but if you
get six wins, you stay in Makuuchi. Once your injury
heals then you can train harder again". I was really
moved as I could feel what the oyakata was thinking.

Sumo: When you injured your knee severely at the last
Kyushu Basho, didn't you really feel like quitting
then?
Waka: To be honest, I thought so too. But I felt
strongly that I really didn't want to finish like
this. So that feeling sustained me through the
difficult rehabilitation time.

Sumo: The rehabilitation process must have been pretty
hard then?
Waka: Initially I could not sit still for long time
while getting the treatment so I was lying down most
of the time. It was really painful. I just went
through it thinking I didn't want to be defeated again
anymore.

Sumo: Throughout that difficult period, what have
sustained you or supported you?
Waka: I guess you could say it was my family. My wife
was always there for me when I really got down on
myself. When I returned from Kyushu and my knee was
not recovering quickly, I said to my wife, "Maybe it's
over now". Then she said, "if you can't do it, then go
ahead and quit. But don't you have any regrets at all
if you quit now?". Then I thought she was right. If I
quit now while I am losing like that, I will regret
it. And then my son made an origami paper for me and
wrote, "Ganbatte". I read it before I went to the
dohyo every day. I guess that's when you start
thinking your family is so integral part of you. 

Sumo: I guess now he's at the age he knows what's
going on and remembers things. 
Waka: True. That's why I had a strong desire to come
back again once more and show what I could do.

Sumo: He is going to elementary school now.
Waka: Yes. Just the other day he participated in a
sumo tournament. It was the Day 1 of Haru Basho, on
March 14, and he won the Yusho. But when he entered in
his first sumo event, he lost in the semi-final and
placed the third. I couldn't make it on that day as I
was in a Jyungyo tour but my wife took the video. The
Yusho winner was a grandson of Tsugaruumi san. As the
kid is taking full sumo lessons, he shows a good form.
Mine, he thinks it's cool to win by a throw but if he
went in with an oshi, he could have won. He tried to
be finicky and tried to get the mawashi so he lost. He
shouldn't follow his old man's example, you know.

Sumo: When he lost, did he cry?
Waka: Not that time, I believe. After the last
September basho we went to Sadoshima Island for a
family trip and there was a sumo championship there.
He went up against Grade 4 student and he got one win
but lost four. There he just kept crying. The opponent
was in Grade 4 so it's understandable but we couldn't
stop him from crying. 

Sumo: It's OK that he feels he hates losing around his
age.
Waka: Exactly. I told Masakatsu then, "you've got a
good experience now. When you lose, you feel you can't
stand it. So that's why your father trains hard
because he feels the same way when he loses". When we
came back home, he started putting his mawashi on and
started doing shiko. Also once we went to Osaka, he
also came down to the training dohyo and he was doing
shiko and suri-ashi. He got (Koto)shogiku to teach him
the basics. He gets to be taken care of by the young
rikishis at the heya so he should be happy.

Sumo: I am sure you are looking forward to your son's
development but now in your heya, you have more
promising rikishis coming up through Makushita. So
there is a lot to look forward to now. 
Waka: (Koto)oshu will be a new Juryo. I guess we see
the guys are getting more motivated around him. We
have good lively training sessions too. (Koto)Kasuga
is now at the Makushita Lead so he could get
Kachikoshi, he would go up too.

Sumo: It looks like you are going to get a new Juryo
rikishi the next several bashos in a row. 
Waka: We have five in the top 15 Makushita ranks now.
If (Koto)shogiku and (Kotono)mine win five, they are
within a range to go up. If (Kotono)Kuni and
(Koto)kanyu-san can win all their bouts and go into
the kettei-sen bouts, then they 
could all go up at the same time.

Sumo: When you had the most, you had seven or eight
sekitoris, right?
Waka: We had eight. I'd sure like to see "moushiai"
training sessions with eight white mawashis
(sekitoris) again.

Sumo: You must be leading a great example by training
hard overcoming your injuries.
Waka: Well, I don't know really. Young kids today get
beaten down easily by a few injuries. I get down on
myself too but I believe I was able to show them that
if you try hard enough and do your best, you can do
it. I am not sure if you can say any ordeal like this,
is good but as far as what I was able to do, it was
good. Perhaps it was a trial given to me by God. I now
really can empathize with young recruits when they
suffer a serious injury. 

Sumo: When you become an oyakata in the future, an
experience like this should helpful to you too.
Waka: Yes. I believe once I start guiding them
through, it will be a real life experience.

Sumo: What will be your goal or objective from now on?
Waka: The first is to return to a Sanyaku rank. I will
be up high in the bazuke at the Natsu Basho but I
don't know how much success I may have. I wonder if I
face the 
yokozuna...well I shouldn't worry too much about that.
Anyway I just want to get the full 15 days in without
suffering any injury. Not getting an injury will be
the best thing. Once you get an injury, you will lose
everything again. I just don't want to suffer another
major injury again.

Sumo: In reality, you should be aware that your active
days are numbered now.
Waka: I guess if we are talking in bashos, it will be
around 10 bashos. It's less than two years. I never
imagined I could last this long myself. I'd just want
to take care of one basho after antoher.

Sumo: One thing we are really impressed with you is
that your motivation will not go down. Even in your
kyujo during the Hatsu Basho, you put on your mawashi
and went down to the training dohyo.
Waka: Well, the shisho keeps telling me, "you have to
do your training. Until you retire, you have to be the
example to others". And I have to instruct them as
well. 
I just don't want others outside to think that I have
it so easy when I can inherit a heya, nothing to worry
about the future and can take it easy.

Sumo: I think the fans want you to remain a strong
rikishi until right before your retirement.
Waka: I feel the same way too. Until the last possible
moment I want to stay strong. Like I want to be asked
why I am retiring if I try, I could still continue
stuff. If it's all possible, I want to retire with
Kachikoshi at a Sanyaku rank in my last basho. I think
it's really a cool way of retiring, isn't it? But the
top ranks are pretty strong so it will be pretty
tough. The top ranked rikishis did leave pretty good
results in Osaka in the last little while this time
around. And they say the Osaka usually has a lot of
upsets.

Sumo: Currently Asashoryu has a streak of two Yushos
without any loss, 30 straight wins and the question
being who will stop him.
Waka: The Yokozuna is really strong. Even if he is
pushed to the dohyo ring, he no longer goes for a
throw. He became more patient and he will take it back
to the center of dohyo. He used to lose trying to go
for a throw at the last minute. Now he shows no
weakness. 

Sumo: He is studying very closely every opponent he
faces. He watches every rikishi's bouts countless
times on video.
Waka: Right. He trains hard and he studies hard. His
sumo technique is brilliant. I've seen him train
younger rikishis often. If they started not giving it
all, he'd yell, "If you don't give your all and go
half-hearted, you will get injured. If you are not
giving it all, there is no point in all of us doing
what we are doing." I believe he was giving it to
Kakizoe and Shimotori during training sessions prior
to the Haru Basho. He is absolutely right, of course.

Sumo: You think he is moving with his own instict but
every move is really calculated to a minute detail.
Your record against him is 4 wins and 7 losses. You've
done well.
Waka: So I won that many eh? I know I won the last
time. I now got injured having muscle separation in my
right arm. The major premise about this is to not
having an injury. But if I can get the uwate and I can
get my chest on his, then it will all right but he is
so quick, he won't let me get into the position. All I
can do is do my best. I suppose it's the same with any
other opponent.

Sumo: There were some fans who were worried that the
Haru Basho would be your last so I suppose now they
could rest easier. 
Waka: Yes. I've been going on kyujo so often these
days. Our Yamagata's supporters club chairman and his
wife were really pleased that I was able to stay in.
for the whole basho. Up to the point the basho
started, I could not have done any training at all so
personally I was really worried as well. But in the
end you just have to believe in yourself. Every time I
got on the dohyo, I told myself, I've done enough
training in the past so that should pay the dividends
now. But now I run out of the dividends in the last
basho, so I have to start training now. 

Sumo: You will need to do your best for the fans who
still keep cheering for you and also for your family.
Waka: Yeah, for Masakatsu, I need to stay as a strong
papa, too.

Sumo: We will be looking forward to your success in
the upcoming bashos. Thank you very much. 

=====
.....Jonosuke 
  <  Heart  Technique  Physique      &#24515;&#12288;&#25216;&#12288;&#20307;&#12288;>

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[EndPost by Joe Kuroda <joe_kuroda@yahoo.com>]