Yamato Gō (born 17 December 1969 as George Kalima) is a former sumo wrestler from

Oahu, Hawaii Oahu () ( Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over two-thirds of the population of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The island of O’ ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. His highest rank was ''

maegashira , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'' 12.

Career

He was a schoolfriend of future ''

yokozuna , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers (''rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the on ...

'' Akebono. He made his professional debut in November 1990, joining

Magaki stable was a stable of sumo wrestlers, formerly one of the Nishonoseki group of stables. Wakanohana Kanji II, the 56th ''yokozuna'' in sumo history, re-established the stable in 1983. Its first wrestler to reach the top ''makuuchi'' division was the Ha ...

. Yamato reached the salaried ''

sekitori A ''sekitori'' (関取) is a '' rikishi'' (力士, sumo wrestler) who is ranked in one of the top two professional divisions: '' makuuchi'' and ''jūryō''. The name literally translates to having taken the barrier, as only a relatively small fra ...

'' ranks in March 1995 when he was promoted to the ''

jūryō Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' division. He reached the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of the six divisions of professional sumo. Its size is fixed at 42 wrestlers ('' rikishi''), ordered into five ranks according to their ability as defined by their performance in previous tournaments. This is the o ...

'' division in January 1997, the first wrestler from his stable to do so since it was re-established in 1983. He chalked up a winning record of 8–7 in his debut and was ranked there for seven tournaments. He was forced to sit out the March 1998 tournament with a life-threatening bout of

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severi ...

which sent him down to ''jūryō''. Still not fully recovered in May, he turned in a disastrous 1–14 record and fell to the unsalaried ''

makushita Professional sumo as administered by the Japan Sumo Association is divided into six ranked divisions. Wrestlers are promoted and demoted within and between these divisions based on the merit of their win–loss records in official tournaments. Fo ...

'' division. Just before the July tournament he was hit by a car and was forced to withdraw once again. This sent him down to the bottom of ''makushita''. After a 5–2 score in September he decided to retire rather than face another long struggle back up the rankings, and started up his own restaurant, Kama'āina's, in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

's Roppongi district. Although Yamato never rose high enough in the rankings to face a ''yokozuna'' in tournament competition, he once defeated Takanohana eight times in a row in training.

Fighting style

Yamato specialised in pushing and thrusting techniques, rarely fighting on the ''

mawashi In sumo, a is the loincloth that (sumo wrestlers) wear during training or in competition. Upper ranked professional wrestlers wear a as part of the ring entry ceremony or . For top ranked professional , it is made of silk and comes in a v ...

,'' and his two favourite ''

kimarite ''Kimarite'' ( ja, 決まり手) is the technique used in sumo by a '' rikishi'' (wrestler) to win a match. It is officially decided or announced by the '' gyōji'' (referee) at the end of the match, though judges can modify this decision. The r ...

'' were ''tsukidashi'', or thrust out, and ''oshidashi'', or push out.

Family

His brother Glenn, one year younger than George, also joined Magaki stable two months after Yamato, competing under the ''shikona'' of Ōnami 男波 (later Wakachikara 若力). He was the same height as Yamato but considerably lighter at around 110 to 126 kg. In May 1993 he was ranked higher than his elder brother at Makushita 26, but was injured in the September 1993 tournament and dropped significantly in rank. He retired in November 1994, a few months before Yamatō's jūryō debut. A third Kalima brother, Kalani, was also interested in joining sumo but was unable to find a stable and instead became a practitioner of Hawaiian martial arts.

Career record

References

External links