Kimurayama Mamoru (born 13 July 1981 as Mamoru Kimura) is a former professional

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 Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. His highest rank was '' maegashira'' 7. He is now a coach at Kasugano stable. He was the only wrestler in the elite ranks in his time from Wakayama Prefecture.

Career

Born in

Gobo Gobo may refer to: Places * Gobō, Wakayama, a city located in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan ** Gobō Station, a railway station in the city * Gobo, Cameroon, a commune in Cameroon Plants * Gobō ''Arctium lappa'', commonly called greater burd ...

, he was an amateur champion at Toyo University, but did not have enough collegiate titles to receive '' makushita tsukedashi'' status and join professional sumo in the third highest '' makushita'' division, instead beginning at the bottom of the rankings in March 2004. He joined Kasugano stable, run by another Wakayama Prefecture native, the former '' sekiwake'' Tochinowaka. His '' shikona'' or fighting name was adapted from his own surname, which is also a time-honoured name in Kasugano stable, being the name of a '' gyoji'' or referee, Kimura Soshiro, who ran the stable in the early 20th century. Sumo May09 Kimurayama

Kimurayama reached '' sekitori'' status in January 2008 upon promotion to the second highest '' jūryō'' division and won his first '' yūshō'' or tournament championship in the following tournament with a 12–3 record. He made his debut in the top '' makuuchi'' division two tournaments later at ''maegashira'' 12, but fell short with a 7–8 record. He won his second ''jūryō'' championship in March 2010, after a three way playoff with Kōryū and

Tamaasuka Tamaasuka Daisuke (born January 26, 1983 as Daisuke Takahashi) is a former sumo wrestler from Atsuta-ku, Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. He made his professional debut in March 1998. His highest rank was ''maegashira'' 9. He was well known for m ...

. He did not manage a '' kachi-koshi'' or winning record in the top division until his eighth try in July 2010. This performance, and another 8-7 in September, resulted in promotion to what was to be his highest career rank of ''maegashira'' 7 for the November 2010 tournament. He actually moved up from ''maegashira'' 17 to ''maegashira'' 15 despite only scoring 7–8 in the May 2011 Technical Examination tournament, due to the large number of retirements caused by a match-fixing scandal. Despite recording his fifth successive '' make-koshi'' in September 2011, he remained in ''makuuchi'' for the November tournament. After yet another losing score there he was finally demoted back to ''juryo'' in January 2012 and spent only one more tournament in the top division, in September 2012. Of his total of 16 tournaments fought in the top division, only two resulted in winning records (both 8-7), and his record there was 101 wins against 139 losses.

Retirement from sumo

Kimurayama chose to retire and take on an elder name rather than being demoted to ''makushita'' after the January 2014 tournament. He has secured the Iwatomo '' toshiyori-kabu'', one of 105 shares in the Japan Sumo Association, and now works as a coach at Kasugano stable. He is now known as Iwatomo Oyakata.

Fighting style

Kimurayama favoured pushing and thrusting techniques as opposed to fighting on the '' mawashi''. His most common winning '' kimarite'' (or technique) was a simple ''oshi-dashi'', or push out. He frequently employed the sidestepping '' henka'' move at the '' tachi-ai'' or initial charge, and consequently won many bouts by ''hiki-otosh''i, the pull down, and ''tsuki-otoshi'', the thrust over.

Career record

References

External links