Towanoyama Yoshimitsu
Encyclopedia
Towanoyama Yoshimitsu is a sumo
wrestler from Toshima
, Tokyo
, Japan
. He made his professional debut in 1993. His highest rank has been maegashira 13, achieved in March 2002. He has had many injury problems and has had perhaps the unluckiest (and shortest) top makuuchi
division career of any wrestler in sumo, being injured before even fighting a match in the division.
straight from high school. At the time Dewanoumi stable was extremely strong and he had many powerful training partners. He served as a personal attendant to such top division men as Kushimaumi, Oginohana and Oginishiki. In March 1999 he won the makushita division championship with a perfect 7-0 record and earned promotion to the second highest jūryō division, becoming an elite sekitori
wrestler. He suffered an injury to his right ankle which required surgery and affected his performances, resulting in demotion back to makushita after only four tournaments. However, in May 2001 he won his second makushita championship and returned to the second division. A strong 11-4 record in January 2002 earned him promotion to the top makuuchi
division, alongside Shimotori.
At the time Towanoyama was the heaviest Japanese wrestler in sumo, weighing over 200 kilos. He was the highest ranked wrestler in his stable and was able to use his immense weight to good advantage. However, on the day of his first match in the top division in March 2002, he injured his knee in training and was forced to pull out of the tournament without participating in a single bout. He has not got back to the top division since. After winning only five bouts in the next tournament he fell to makushita once again. He was able to return to the jūryō division in November 2003, but on the tenth day of the March 2004 tournament, whilst trying to force a throwing move against Wakakosho, he fell badly and tore his patella tendon. He was hospitalised for four months, requiring transplant surgery for thigh tendons. He missed five tournaments in a row, which meant he fell greatly in rank, ending up in the second lowest jonidan division. After rehabilitation and weight training programs he returned to the ring in March 2005 and has made his way slowly back up the rankings since then. He has been ranked in the third makushita division since July 2006 but has yet to regain sekitori status. A 6-1 score in May 2008 moved him up to Makushita 6 for July, his highest ranking since his 2004 injury. He produced a 5-2 score there, putting him on the brink of promotion back to jūryō. However after two losing scores he slid down the makushita division again. In 2009 he rebounded again with three consecutive winning records.
If Towanoyama finishes his career without returning to the top division, he will be the first wrestler since 1926 to have been ranked in the top division without winning any bouts there.
is migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most common winning kimarite
is yori-kiri, a straightforward force out, which accounts for about 45 percent of his career victories.
Sumo
is a competitive full-contact sport where a wrestler attempts to force another wrestler out of a circular ring or to touch the ground with anything other than the soles of the feet. The sport originated in Japan, the only country where it is practiced professionally...
wrestler from Toshima
Toshima
-Place name:These places in Japan have the name "Toshima," written variously:* Toshima, Tokyo : one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo; population about 250,000...
, Tokyo
Tokyo
, ; officially , is one of the 47 prefectures of Japan. Tokyo is the capital of Japan, the center of the Greater Tokyo Area, and the largest metropolitan area of Japan. It is the seat of the Japanese government and the Imperial Palace, and the home of the Japanese Imperial Family...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. He made his professional debut in 1993. His highest rank has been maegashira 13, achieved in March 2002. He has had many injury problems and has had perhaps the unluckiest (and shortest) top makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
division career of any wrestler in sumo, being injured before even fighting a match in the division.
Career
Towanoyama made his professional debut in November 1993, joining Dewanoumi stableDewanoumi stable
is a stable of sumo wrestlers. It has a long, prestigious history. Its current head coach is former sekiwake Washuyama. As of November 2007 it had 21 wrestlers....
straight from high school. At the time Dewanoumi stable was extremely strong and he had many powerful training partners. He served as a personal attendant to such top division men as Kushimaumi, Oginohana and Oginishiki. In March 1999 he won the makushita division championship with a perfect 7-0 record and earned promotion to the second highest jūryō division, becoming an elite sekitori
Sekitori
A sekitori is a sumo wrestler who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: makuuchi and juryo.Currently there are 70 rikishi in these divisions...
wrestler. He suffered an injury to his right ankle which required surgery and affected his performances, resulting in demotion back to makushita after only four tournaments. However, in May 2001 he won his second makushita championship and returned to the second division. A strong 11-4 record in January 2002 earned him promotion to the top makuuchi
Makuuchi
or is the top division of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers , ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments....
division, alongside Shimotori.
At the time Towanoyama was the heaviest Japanese wrestler in sumo, weighing over 200 kilos. He was the highest ranked wrestler in his stable and was able to use his immense weight to good advantage. However, on the day of his first match in the top division in March 2002, he injured his knee in training and was forced to pull out of the tournament without participating in a single bout. He has not got back to the top division since. After winning only five bouts in the next tournament he fell to makushita once again. He was able to return to the jūryō division in November 2003, but on the tenth day of the March 2004 tournament, whilst trying to force a throwing move against Wakakosho, he fell badly and tore his patella tendon. He was hospitalised for four months, requiring transplant surgery for thigh tendons. He missed five tournaments in a row, which meant he fell greatly in rank, ending up in the second lowest jonidan division. After rehabilitation and weight training programs he returned to the ring in March 2005 and has made his way slowly back up the rankings since then. He has been ranked in the third makushita division since July 2006 but has yet to regain sekitori status. A 6-1 score in May 2008 moved him up to Makushita 6 for July, his highest ranking since his 2004 injury. He produced a 5-2 score there, putting him on the brink of promotion back to jūryō. However after two losing scores he slid down the makushita division again. In 2009 he rebounded again with three consecutive winning records.
If Towanoyama finishes his career without returning to the top division, he will be the first wrestler since 1926 to have been ranked in the top division without winning any bouts there.
Fighting style
Towanoyama is a yotsu-sumo specialist, preferring grappling techniques to pushing or thrusting. His favoured grip on his opponent's mawashiMawashi
In sumo, a mawashi is the belt that the rikishi wears during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a keshō-mawashi as part of the ring entry ceremony or dohyo-iri.-Mawashi:...
is migi-yotsu, a left hand outside, right hand inside position. His most common winning kimarite
Kimarite
Kimarite are winning techniques in a sumo bout. For each bout in a Grand Sumo tournament , a sumo referee, or gyoji, will decide and announce the type of kimarite used by the winner...
is yori-kiri, a straightforward force out, which accounts for about 45 percent of his career victories.