Word: sumo
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Dates: during 1960-1969
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...Great Maui Hope. Actually, last week's big sumo tournament at Tokyo's malodorous Kuramae Kokugikan stadium had enough drama to make a U.S. boxing promoter salivate. There was the old champion, grimly struggling to come back. And there was the young challenger, the darling of the fans, eagerly pursuing the crown...
...winner of more tournaments (27) than any sumo champ in history, Koki Naya, a half Russian, half Japanese who weighs in at 314 Ibs. and is known professionally as Taiho (loosely, "Giant Bird"), had a bad year in 1967. He injured his left elbow and knee and was out of action for eight months. By contrast, 1967 was a banner year for Jesse Kuhaulua, a 24-year-old from the Hawaiian island of Maui. Of Polynesian-Spanish ancestry, he stands 6 ft. 4 in., weighs in at 315 Ibs. and wrestles under the pseudonym of Takamiyama ("High-View Mountain...
Takamiyama's rise has been meteoric but arduous. Recruited by a sumo manager on a visit to Hawaii in 1964, he was persuaded to move to Japan and train for the ring. In Tokyo, he shivered through the cold, dank winter, struggling to learn the language and get accustomed to the unfamiliar food. All work and no poi made Takamiyama a dull boy. He dutifully performed an apprentice's chores, such as scrubbing senior wrestlers' backs, and spent long hours toughening his body by slamming against a wooden pillar...
Dumped. Despite his exalted ranking, Takamiyama still has a lot to learn about technique, as his match with Taiho proved. Following sumo's ancient ritual, the two giants prepared for battle -rinsing their mouths with water to purify their souls, stamping their feet to frighten away evil spirits, tossing handfuls of salt to sanctify the dirt ring, holding out their arms to show that they had no concealed weapons. After that, they simply stared at each other for several minutes. Only then, with a wave of his fan, did the referee signal for the fight to begin...
...over in 30 seconds. Springing forward, Taiho ducked low, grasped Takamiyama in a sukuinage, or "scooping throw," dumped him on the ground. Takamiyama was not at all dismayed by his defeat. Nor were the critics. The Tokyo newspaper Hochi Shimbun predicted that Jesse Kuhaulua will win the sumo championship "within a couple of years...