(born October 24, 1975, as ) is a former

sumo is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

wrestler from Fuchu, Tokyo,

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. His highest rank was jūryō 4. He was a member of the Tomozuna stable, and he was a '' tsukebito'' or personal attendant to '' ōzeki'' Kaiō for a number of years, as well as a frequent training partner of Sentoryū. He retired in 2006.

Career

As a child he played baseball. Kaidō went to Meiji Nakano High School where he was a year senior of

Tochiazuma Tochiazuma Daisuke (born November 9, 1976 as Daisuke Shiga in Tokyo, Japan) is a retired sumo wrestler. He began his professional career in 1994, reaching the top division just two years later after winning a tournament championship in each of th ...

, and he was named the High School Yokozuna in 1990. He was an amateur sumo champion at Chuo University before making his professional debut in March 1998, at the bottom of the third highest '' makushita'' division as a '' makushita tsukedashi'' entrant. He initially fought under the '' shikona'' of Tanaka, before changing to Kaito and then Kaidō (the character "Kai" being a common one in his stable or ''

heya Heya or Hey Ya may refer to: *Heya (sumo) from the Japanese word for "room" (部屋), also in compounds -beya, or Sumo-beya, an organization of sumo wrestlers (pronounced ''beya'' when in compound form) * Heya TV, from the Arabic word for "Hers", ...

).'' He never made the top '' makuuchi'' division, but he spent 11 tournaments in the second highest '' jūryō'' division, which he first reached in 2003, reaching a high of ''jūryō'' 4. He was demoted to ''makushita'' in May 2005 and never made his way back. For many years he was a training partner to Sentoryū, as the two were the second and third most senior members of Tomozuna stable behind longtime ''ōzeki'' Kaiō. Kaidō served as Kaiō's '' tsukebito'' or personal assistant when he was in the lower ranks and credited his senior stablemate for encouraging him when he was struggling with injuries.

Retirement from sumo

He announced his retirement on August 18, 2006. He had been injury-prone throughout his career, suffering a number of knee injuries, although diabetes was the major factor in his decision. His '' danpatsu-shiki'' or official retirement ceremony was held in the Shinagawa Prince hotel in Takanawa, Tokyo on October 15, 2006. In 2007 he began running a '' yakiniku'' restaurant called "Sakigo" in

Ogawamachi, Tokyo , or formally , is a district in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. It consists of 3 '' chōme''. As of March 1, 2007, the district's population is 875. Kanda-Ogawamachi is located on the northern part of Chiyoda. It borders Kanda-Sarugakuchō, Kanda-S ...

Fighting style

Kaidō's favourite techniques were ''hidari-yotsu'', a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on the opponent's '' mawashi,'' and ''yori-kiri'' (force out). He also regularly used ''uwate-nage'', or overarm throw, and like Kaiō was keen on arm grabs such as ''tottari'' and ''kote-nage.''

Career record

References

External links