Re: Misrepresenation by the press

[Masumi Abe <abe@accesscom.com>]

Peter:

Yes, I received your post.

At least I could say safely that the average weight of rikishi are
increasing rapidly and the injury rate seems increasing rapidly. There
are more rikishi taking an absent from Hon-basho, as well as more
bandages and supporters are used on the active rikishi these days than
anytime before. That's my own impression.

Since, I'm not in medical field professionally, I can't tell if these
two are directly related or not.

I have two books about "rikishi and health", both written by Eiroku
Hayashi.
A. "Rikishi wo Miru" #544 of Chuko-Shinsho, published by Chuokoron-sha,
1979
B. "Rikishi 100-nen no Carte", published by Baseball Mabazine-sha, 1984

The chapters on injuries are:
A: pp.194 - pp.207
B: pp.153 - pp.162

He had published another book on the similar theme, "A Report from Sumo
Clinic", published in 1978.

Unfortunately, these are rather old, but trend could be seen.

Average Body Size of Maku(no)uchi Rikishi
1910: 169 cm, 104 kg
1923: 174 cm,  99 kg
1940: 174 cm, 108 kg
1966: 179 cm, 121 kg

Now, probably 183 cm and 140 kg or so, I think.
If you are getting taller and heavier, the impact of falling on the
ground level will increase significantly. It's a simple and basic
physics, I think.

-Toshiyori Masumiriki

Peter A. Harmer wrote:
> 
> Following the widespread coverage of the press conference recently held
> by the chairman of the Sumo Kyokai especially the issue of rikishi being
> "too fat" I would like to provide the following information for the
> group. I recently spoke with David Shapiro, who many know from his
> writing in Sumo World etc, who was the chairman's translator for this
> press conference. David commented that the coverage was a prime example
> of the press' consistent failure to choose accuracy over sensationalism.
> If you read the stories carefully, the statements are directed to the
> "young wrestlers" and the press then extrapolates to the upper ranks.
> This was not the chairman's focus, that is, his concern was that lower
> ranks were not able to keep up with training because of their condition.
> It was not directed to the juryo or makunouchi riskishi. In addition,
> David notes that Sakaigawa never used the word "fat". David will provide
> a fuller text in the article he is preparing for the next issue of Sumo
> World.
> 
> On a related note: the conclusions that have been pressed forward on this
> issue of increase weight and increased injuries are examples of very poor
> sports medicine thinking. Fundamentally, most people seem to make the
> common mistake that correlation is the same as causation, and secondly,
> aberrations in injury rates are common in all sports and a long-term
> epidemiological analysis is needed to determine whether there is a true
> trend in the injury characteristics that are prevelaent at the moment or
> whether it is an unusual blip in the data. As part of my research on sumo
> during the past year I was suprised to find that there are actually very
> few data available on injuries (even at the clinic at the Kokugikan) so
> our understanding of underlying mechanisms is limited. A few researcher
> such as Masasuke Kuwamori at Meiji University and Masamitsu Tsuchiya (who
> has a clinic close to the Kokugikan) have provided some understanding
> but, as in the rest of the world, Japanese sports governing bodies
> (including the Kyokai) don't assign a high priority to epidemiology in their
> area and we are left guessing about the extent and causal factors in
> injury and illness in particular athlete populations.
> 
> Peter A. Harmer, Ph.D., ATC-R
> Exercise Science - Sports Medicine
> Willamette University
> Salem, OR  97301
> USA
> (w) (503) 370-6470
> (fax) (503) 370-6379

-- 
<abe@accesscom.com> Masumi Abe <abe@sentius.com>
San Francisco Bay Area / Silicon Valley / Palo Alto
URL: http://www.accesscom.com/~abe/ --- under construction
JUSTIN URL: http://www.dosanko.co.jp/spoton/abe/index.html