Word: takamiyama
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...year-old, 253-lb. "skinny" kid with a dream of being a professional sumo wrestler. Eight years later he became the first foreigner to win a sumo tournament and went on to fight in a record 1,654 bouts, making him something of a popular legend. Recently Takamiyama, 39, began to feel the combined effects of time and a string of injuries, losing 13 of his last 15 matches. Last week, confronted with a humiliating down-ranking to the third tier of sumo wrestlers, the 6-ft. 3-in., 400-lb. giant instead announced his retirement at an emotional farewell...
...Lady was not able to go to the mountain (Fuji, that is), but the mountainous Takamiyama came to the Lady. British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, on a visit to Asia, was ready to tussle with Japanese officials over matters of state. The Tetsu no Onna (Iron Lady) was not, however, prepared to lock arms with Japan's heftiest Sumo wrestler, Takamiyama, whose name means Mountain of the Lofty View. The 6-ft. 4-in., 448-lb. colossus, born Jesse Kahaulua in Hawaii and now a naturalized Japanese citizen, disarmed Mrs. Thatcher by cuddling her hand in his great...
...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...