Tomonohana Shinya (born 23 June 1964 as Shinya Narimatsu) 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 Yatsushiro, Kumamoto Prefecture,

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 '' komusubi.'' He is now a sumo coach.

Career

He had been an amateur sumo champion at Nihon University but worked as a high school physical education teacher after graduation. He did not join the professional sport until March 1992, when he was nearly 28, an extraordinarily late age. (The Sumo Association have since changed its rules and all former amateurs must now make their professional debuts before the age of 25). He made his debut in the third highest '' makushita'' division, fighting out of Tatsunami stable. At just and , he was not much bigger than Mainoumi, the lightest wrestler at the time. He began wrestling under his own surname of Narimatsu, but upon reaching '' sekitori'' status he adopted the formal '' shikona'' of Tomonohana, meaning "flower of wisdom." Tomonohana had winning records or '' kachi-koshi'' in his first twelve tournaments, reaching the second highest '' jūryō'' division in November 1992 and the top '' makuuchi'' division in July 1993. A popular wrestler, he was nicknamed " Sensei" because of his teaching background. He used a wide variety of

techniques Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s *Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ''Technique'' (album), by New Order, 1989 * ''Techniques'' (album), by M ...

to counteract his light weight, and won the prestigious '' Ginō-shō'', or technique prize, in two consecutive tournaments in September and November 1993. In January 1994 he reached the '' sanyaku'' ranks at ''komusubi'', but turned in the first losing record of his career, 4–11, and never made the rank again. He was demoted back to ''jūryō'' in March 1996 and subsequent injuries prevented him from returning to the top division. Nevertheless, he carried on fighting until November 2001 when he announced his retirement at the age of 37.

Fighting style

Tomonohana preferred a ''migi-yotsu'' or right hand inside, left hand outside grip on his opponent's '' mawashi'', and his speciality was ''shitatenage'', or underarm throw, which was his most common winning '' kimarite''. He used 34 different ''kimarite'' during his career, some of them extremely rare. In January 1993 he defeated Hananokuni with ''izori'', or backwards body drop, a technique that had not been seen at '' sekitori'' level since 1964.

Retirement from sumo

Upon his retirement he temporarily used his old fighting name as an elder, under the ''jun-toshiyori'' system. In February 2003 he switched to the

elder An elder is someone with a degree of seniority or authority. Elder or elders may refer to: Positions Administrative * Elder (administrative title), a position of authority Cultural * North American Indigenous elder, a person who has and tr ...

name of Asakayama owned by former '' ōzeki'' Kaiō, after it was vacated by ex-''maegashira'' Ōwakamatsu who left the Sumo Association. He transferred from Tatsunami stable to coach at Tomozuna stable in April 2005. In March 2006 he obtained the Tamagaki stock upon the mandatory retirement of its previous owner, the former Wakanami.

Career record

References

External links