Re: American sumo? (fwd)

[Kevin L Carter <kcart@hawaii.edu>]

On Mon, 4 Dec 1995, Nathan Hoover wrote:

> I received this mail today.  Can anyone answer this guy's question?
> 
> Thanks,
>    Nathan
> 
> >>>>> Forwarded message from GCHANG@rosebud.berkeley.edu
> From: GCHANG@rosebud.berkeley.edu
> To: nathan@hal.com
> Date:          Mon, 4 Dec 1995 15:22:22 PST
> Subject:       American sumo?
> 
> Dear Nathan Hoover:
> 	Hi! I really liked your sumo page.  I'm not a die-hard fan, but I do 
> enjoy watching it when I can.  And there are so many personalities, it 
> makes it real interesting.  I loved Taka's wedding....unbelievable!! 
> Anyway, I want to ask you a question: Is there an American sumo 
> wrestling society?...that is, are there people here who are actually 
> practicing sumo? I'm a journalism student, and I'm trying to think of a 
> story I could write about sumo in the US, and I thought that might be 
> interesting, if it exists. any idea?  
> 	Yours,
> 	Greg Chang
> 
> << End forwarded message
> 
Guys, there are several small groups that are practicing sumo. The oldest 
and most important is the Oahu Sumo Club, which is based on the Windward 
Side of Oahu in Hawaii and has about 50 members. Former pros Takamikuni 
(Taylor Wily, or Teila Tuli), and John Collins (former Futagoyama Beya 
deshi, I forget his shikona) are members. So are most of the US national 
team, which presently only gets together for the US/Japan Expo and the 
World Amateur Championships in Tokyo. The founder and leader of the Oahu 
Sumo Club is John Jacques. Also important in its founding is Larry Aweau, 
who discovered Takamiyama/Azumazeki Oyakata/Jesse Kuhaulua, Akebono and 
Konishiki. There is also a nascent movement, based on the East Coast and 
Ontario, Canada, called the International Sumo Wrestling Federation. 
650-pound Emanuel Yarbrough, the most recognized American amateur (he has 
placed second in the world twice and third once) is a member, as am I. We 
have done exhibitions in Ontario, New York, Ohio, Washington D.C., 
Detroit, Pittsburgh, and Fort Worth, Texas. There are about 25 guys doing 
sumo on the East Coast. Unfortunately, we do not have that many 
opportunities to train, because we are scattered from Windsor, Ont, to 
Toronto to Niagara Falls to upstate New York to Rhode Island to New York 
City to North Jersey to Philadelphia. We are trying to establish a 
semiprofessional sumo circuit, using our 25 guys as a starting point, and 
we are trying very hard to recruit. I moved to Hawaii for a year to work 
on my sumo, and will be back on the East Coast in summer '96. So, three 
people - John Jacques in Oahu, Charles Bray in Canada and Yoshisada 
Yonezuka in New Jersey would be the best contacts for you in your quest 
for sumo. I, of course, am basically the only thread that unites the 
three. Myself and Yarbrough, that is. E-mail me if you want more information.

Aloha,

Kevin L. Carter \m/