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Kakuryu Rikisaburo 71st Yokozuna
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This tegata was a birthday present from my parents and it is from the newest Yokozuna and 4th Mongolian to reach the top rank, Kakuryu. Kakuryu, unlike the other Mongolian Yokozuna did not come from a family of wrestlers and wrestling was never even an interest of his (he preferred basketball as a kid). He only got interested in sumo after watching Kyokushuzan (see the 1st tegata I posted) and Kyokutenho on TV. When he arrived in Japan to train at the Izutsu Beya he had never wrestled before and only weighed 143 lbs. Izutsu Oyakata thought he would have made a better hairdresser than rikishi when he first saw the skinny hopeful. Now Kakuryu is the only Sekitori ranked wrestler in the stable and has surpassed his master. He has had 5 runner-up tournaments and he won one Emperor's Cup which saw to his promotion to Yokozuna. When he won the cup he said, "I will work hard to become the kind of wrestler who can make everyone happy."
In addition to Mongolian Kakuryu speaks Japanese, English and Russian.
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Harumafuji Kohei 70th Yokozuna
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Here is my latest tegata from the 3rd Mongolian Yokozuna Harumafuji. Harumafuji is a rikishi after my own heart because of his deep interest in public safety, law enforcement, and higher education! His father was killed in a car accident. Because the EMS response is so poor (Mongolia has few ambulances) his father died at the crash site, whereas in Japan, the US, the UK etc. he likely would have been transported to a hospital and survived. Harumafuji has been instrumental in obtaining proper ambulances for his nation because of this tragedy. He is also qualified to be a police officer in Mongolia and wrote a university thesis comparing Mongolian and Japanese law enforcement models.
Harumafuji comes from a Mongolian wrestling family and he naturally took to sumo. He began his career under the name Ama but changed it to Harumafuji upon reaching the rank of Ozeki. His coach is the former Yokozuna Asahifuji (see above). Although he had a slow start as Yokozuna Harumafuji has an impressive 8 championships under his belt. He is rather light, weighing in just under 300 lbs but makes up for his size with a fast tachiai and a vast array of techniques (he has used 42 different kimarite to win to date!). Harumafuji's excellent career has sadly been overshadowed by his fellow countryman Hakuho. I'm hopeful that Harumafuji will break the double digits in championships though!
Probably in Oct. or Nov. I'll have another tegata posting. Stay tuned!
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Asashoryu Akinori 68th Yokozuna
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Here is another controversial but great Yokozuna's tegata. Asashoryu (morning blue dragon) was the first (of four so far) Mongolian to reach the sport's highest rank. Like most of the Mongolian rikishi in sumo, Asashoryu came from a Mongolian wrestling family. He posted 25 yusho making him 4th on the all-time list behind Hakuho (37), Taiho (32), and Chiyonofuji (31). For all his talent in the ring he was a bit of a problem in and outside of the dohyo. He was frequently chided for behavior unbecoming of a Yokozuna ranging from small things like taking prize money with his left hand to brawling with other rikishi in the locker room and vandalizing their cars. He is the only Yokozuna to have been disqualified from a match for pulling Kyokushuzan's hair, suspended from a tournament for missing regional matches (he claimed he was injured and went home to Mongolia, only to be caught on camera playing in a charity soccer match), and eventually being forced to retire for criminal assault allegations. Had he not been forced to retire who knows how many more basho he would have won? We might have been talking about Asashoryu breaking Taiho's record instead of Hakuho. As it stands we'll never know. While he was wrestling he was a force of nature.
Presently Asashoryu is a businessman in Mongolia. In addition to his investment company he also provides resources to schools and scholarships for college bound Mongolian students.
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Takanohana Koji 65th Yokozuna
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I've picked up two new tegata. This first one is Takanohana Koji 65th Yokozuna and the younger of the two Hanada brothers. Above I shared a plain autograph on a shikishi. I finally was able to pick up an actual tegata from Takanohana.
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Akebono Taro 64th Yokozuna
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Here is the 2nd tegata I recently obtained, Akebono Taro, 64th Yokozuna and the first foreign born grand champion. Akebono was born Chad Rowan in Hawaii. He was interested in basketball and even had a scholarship to play at Hawaii Pacific University. He was introduced to the famous Hawaiian sumo wrestler and elder Azumazeki Oyakata (wrestled as Takamiyama, the first foreigner to win a honbasho). Azumazeki Oyakata was worried that Akebono, at 6'8" (203cm), was too tall for sumo. Akebono proved him wrong and climbed through the ranks. Fighting at 518 lbs he was one of the largest rikishi. He was rivals with the Hanada brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana and with them he helped bolster sumo's popularity to new heights. He would end up winning 11 honbasho in his career and even preformed a dohyo-iri ceremony at the opening of the Nagano Olympics.
Akebono became a Japanese citizen. After retirement and a brief stint as an elder coach at the Azumazeki stable he entered MMA. His MMA career was less than stellar and he gave it up in favor of pro-wrestling. He has been an active pro-wrestler since 2005.