Akebono and his weight/sumo Re: Japanese citizen Akebono

[Shoujirou Mizutori <mizutori@orph01.phy.ornl.gov>]

Abe-san wrote:

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> Akebono's dillemma is that his sumo power is mainly from his 
> overwelming body, and if he lose some of his weight, he lose that
> power. For him to stay active longer, he needs to lose some weight
> for his knees. 

I think the point is what kind of sumo he is poing to have.
Back when he was invincible (when he just became a Yakozuna and
Takanohana was still struggling), he was  much lighter. At that time,
his tsuki (thrusting) was amazing. Of course he was powerful and his weight
helped him, but the balance of body which enable to convert his weight to 
thrusting power was much more important. (He had also long arm, accuarate aim,
and good footwork. In short, his tsuki was ideal.) I suspect too much weight
would rather weaken power of tsuki, because it is too risky to lean forward
to make ths tsuki powerful with one's weight.
I unfortunately wasn't able to watch sumo for a few years, so I don't exactly
know what kind of sumo he is having, but I think in most types of sumo, someone 
with such a high center of gravity would get more disadvantage than advantage 
by getting to much weight.

Anyway, I think if Akebono is seeking the type of sumo he did when he became
the Yokozuna, I don't think losing, say, 50lb wouldn't hurt him.
Of course, he have to lose in a proper way.

shou, aka dekobokoyama