[sumo] Fwd: [Sumo news] - Another sumo story

[Jeff A]

Moti

Best regards,
Jeffrey Anderson
Gaijingai
For of all sad words of tongue or pen,
The saddest are these:
It might have been.
- John Greenleaf Whittier


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Moti Dichne <niramiai at gmail.com>
Date: Sat, Sep 13, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Subject: [Sumo news] - Another sumo story
To: Sumo Newsletter2 <sumo-newsletter2 at googlegroups.com>


 2021 was marred by the onslaught of the Coronavirus. Tokyo, Kanagawa,
Osaka, Saitama, and all of Japan were in trouble. They said that the best
thing to do is avoid the three Cs, avoid unnecessary outings, and stay
indoors, but there is a limit. At times like these, it's a good idea to
take the plunge and change your mood*. This change of mood, this freshening
of spirit, is a special skill of the rikishi. How do they do it? Well, let
us introduce you to their unique ways of changing their mood.
*Note-Do NOT go out to a club at midnight, and DO NOT sneak out to meet
your mistress when there's a curfew.. You are very easy to spot, wearing a
hoodie and sunglasses notwithstanding.

With all due respect
Kyokai  regulations prohibit rikishi from growing beards because they
consider them unsightly, but prior to February 2019, many rikishi would
grow or shave their beards to change their mood. For similar reasons, long
nails and tattoos are also prohibited. However, there were some rikishi who
went so far as to change moods by shaving their beard. On the 10th day of
the Hatsu basho 2017, East Maegashira 5 Takekaze (now Oshiogawa Oyakata),
who was doing well with a record of 6 wins and 3 losses up to that point,
appeared with the beard he had been growing completely shaved off, despite
having won the day before. Unsure of the reason or motivation behind this,
he was asked, "Why?" and without hesitation he mentioned  the name of his
opponent that day, East Maegashira 8 Hokutofuji, a rising star 13 years his
junior in only his second tournament since his debut. "He's a student
Yokozuna like me. He's more than a decade younger than me, but I shaved my
beard as a sign of respect. That's how a match starts – clean!" Takekaze
remained active until he was 39 years old. The secret to this was humility,
and the way he uses his energy in a different way. Of course, Takekaze's
spirit won the match that day as well. After a fierce clash of heads, he
won by hatakikomi, toying with the young Hokutofuji. It's sad that beards
can no longer be used as a means to mix things up.

Sumo editorial Department- BBM Sports

-- 

---
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"Sumo Newsletter2" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
email to sumo-newsletter2+unsubscribe at googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit
https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sumo-newsletter2/31c7ddbd-a53f-4574-995d-f357de013be6n%40googlegroups.com
<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/sumo-newsletter2/31c7ddbd-a53f-4574-995d-f357de013be6n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>
.
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://server.webtrek.com/pipermail/sumo/attachments/20250913/f3266c3c/attachment.html>