| | EATING WITH THE SUMO GUY PART 2
last night, i went to the sumo tournament in hawaii with ronald. the event was very fan friendly and they made many changes that would not have been done in japan, mainly for the western audience. okay, when i say western, i use it very lightly since most of the audience was either japanese, like 100 percent japanese from the motherland kind, or local hawaii japanese like myself. lots of old local japanese grandmas out there. i don't know if they were looking for dates or they just enjoy sumo. all i know is the old lady sitting next to me brought out her game program from the last time sumo was in hawaii, back in 1993. she was probably checking out takamiyama back in the day. speaking of old ladies, i had to laugh at the picture with the old lady from my china trip from my blog entry exactly two years ago. not having xanga premium makes it easier to check out old entries.
so anyways, how did they change the sport for hawaii?
first of all, they shortened the pre-match rituals so that instead of three stare downs, there were only two. i'm also certain that the promoters told them to entertain the fans as there were many extra long staredowns--the kind you would see before a japan pride (check it out) or ufc match--as this video featuring takamisakari shows. by the way, if you don't know who takamisakari is, check this video out. everybody knows the effects boxing has on boxers and how it slowly causes damage to the brain......bet you didn't know sumo can be hazardous as well. he's by far the most popular wrestler in japan because of his in the ring theatrics. i'm pretty sure it's not an act though. here's an up close and personal interview with him.
second, they put a microphone right above the sumo circle so that people could hear a loud smacking sound when the two men hit each other. it was a natural reaction for people to gasp and cheer when the naked bodies of the giants initially collided.
finally, there was much more interaction between sumo wrestlers and the fans. sumo wrestlers who wanted to smoke interacted with fans outside. a new law in hawaii was passed last year preventing people from smoking indoors or in public places. thus, any sumo that wanted to smoke, had to go outdoors in designated smoking areas where the fans were waiting. it was kind of funny that most of the european sumo rikishi were the ones outside interacting with fans. they also had the sumo wrestlers sign autographs for fans as they left the sumo circle and headed to the dressing room. it would have been cool if they took off their loin cloths and gave it to some lucky kid in the front row like they do at baseball games. now that would have been fan freindly.
i think the fan favorite on sunday was mongolian, ama. he put on a show by jumping over one guy in one of his matches, faking a jump and tripping a guys legs in the next match, then making it all the way into the final battle before losing to hakuho, the new grand champion.
later in the evening, i was invited out to dinner with hokutoriki again, but this time he called for back up. thirty minutes into dinner, his stable master, yokozuna, hokutoumi, joined us for dinner. it was pretty to see how much respect this guy commanded. that's when the heavy drinking started. for some reason, he made me and everybody on the table drink. crap, i'm not a freshman in college anymore and don't let people make me drink....
but i did.....
and with a semi happy smile on my face.
i told my friend, if he keeps this up, i'm going to challenge him to parking lot sumo wrestling match after a few more drinks. i really wanted to. seriously. if i cut up my arm, so what. wouldn't that be the coolest thing to show the ladies at the bars. yeah girls, i got this scar wrestling sumo.....on the pavement.....against a yokozuna.
chicks dig scars.
i thought about how i could beat this guy if he stepped up to my challenge. i wonder if i gave it my best effort and my hardest shove, if i could push him back a little....a few inches maybe. better yet, if i gave him a shake left and go right move, i could get behind him and pull him down from behind. the basketball juke and drive. that would be the best sneak attack since pearl harbor. or what about the football defensive lineman swim move? think that would have worked? a little tag team action would surely have worked. you know the one where your partner gets behind your target on all fours and then you push your target. oh yeah, that surely would have toppled the big fella. i was snapped out of my little dream when i heard a thunderous voice, oi, sake nomeyo!
yeah, sometimes my mind gets a little crazy while drinking.
look for my picture with the sumo rikishi on the walls of yanagi sushi. i'm the skinny one (skinny compared to those fatsos) with my red drink face on.
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| | Posted 6/12/2007 12:18 AM - 7 Views - 0 eProps - 0 comments
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