Ryūhō Masayoshi (born June 18, 1977 as Keisuke Urazaki) 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 th ...

wrestler from Nakagami, Okinawa,

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. His highest rank was '' maegashira'' 16.

Career

He entered sumo in March 1993, joining Tatsutagawa stable. He initially wrestled under his own surname of Urazaki, first adopting the ''

shikona A is a sumo wrestler's ring name. The tradition of ring names in sumo dates back to the Muromachi period and established itself during the Edo period, where they were used as a means to hide the identities of the . Given by the master to his di ...

'' of Ryūhō in 1997. He changed the second part of his ''shikona'' several times, from Keisuke to Shokichi before settling on Masayoshi. In 2000 he moved to Michinoku stable when his old '' heya'' was closed down upon the retirement of its stablemaster. After over nine years in the unsalaried apprentice ranks, he finally became a '' sekitori'' for the first time in November 2002 upon promotion to the second highest '' jūryō'' division. He could only manage a 5-10 score in that tournament and was demoted back to the '' makushita'' division. He finally managed a return to ''jūryō'' in September 2005, after nearly three years away, and slowly moved up the division until an 8-7 score at ''jūryō'' 1 in July 2006 saw him promoted to the top ''

makuuchi , or , is the top division of Professional sumo divisions, 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 ...

'' division. It took him 81 tournaments from his professional debut to reach ''makuuchi'', which at the time was the tenth slowest since the introduction of the six tournaments a year system in 1958. Although Ryūhō won his first two top division matches (against Kasugao and Kakuryū) he could manage only two more wins in September 2006 (against Hakurozan and Toyonoshima) and was demoted back to the second division after only one tournament. By July 2007 he had fallen to ''jūryō'' 11 and a loss to Ichihara on Day 12 left him with only three wins against nine losses. Demotion to ''makushita'' seemed certain, yet he managed to win his last three bouts, and his 6-9 score was just enough to preserve his ''sekitori'' status. However, in the next tournament in September 2007 he could only manage 5-10 at ''jūryō'' 14 and was demoted from ''jūryō'', replaced by Ichihara. Back in ''makushita'' for the November 2007 tournament he turned in a '' make-koshi'' 3-4 score. He produced three '' kachi-koshi'' winning records of 4-3 in the first three tournaments of 2008, but partly due to knee problems, this was followed by three straight ''make-koshi''. In 2009 he achieved six straight winning records, bringing him to the verge of promotion back to ''jūryō''. Despite faltering in January and May 2010, a 6-1 record at ''makushita'' 11 in July 2010 was enough to return him to ''sekitori'' level for the first time in 18 tournaments. Benefiting from the large number of demotions from ''jūryō'' because of suspensions, he became the first wrestler since the instigation of the seven-day tournament system for the lower ranks in July 1960 to be promoted to ''jūryō'' from below ''makushita'' 10 without a perfect 7-0 record. Ryūhō described his promotion as a "miracle." Despite losing on the final day of the September tournament to the ''makushita'' wrestler Tsurugidake to finish with a ''make-koshi'' score of 7-8 he remained in ''jūryō'' for the following tournament. However, in November 2010 he could only score 4-11 at the lowest ''jūryō'' rank.

Retirement from sumo

Ryūhō withdrew from the May 2011 tournament with only one win, the first time since January 2000 that he missed any matches. He did not return to the ''dohyō'' again and dropped to the '' sandanme'' division in September, then '' jonidan'' in January 2012, and '' jonokuchi'' in May 2012. His rank of ''jonokuchi'' 4 in May was the lowest ever held by a former top division wrestler. Ryūhō finally announced his retirement on 12 June 2012, citing persistent knee and lower back injuries. His retirement ceremony (and wedding reception) was held on 30 September 2012 at a Tokyo hotel with around 200 guests. Since his retirement he has been involved in organizing amateur sumo in his native Okinawa prefecture, and has become a Zen Buddhist

monk A monk (; from , ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a man who is a member of a religious order and lives in a monastery. A monk usually lives his life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many reli ...

. He is unable to bend his left knee because of the injury sustained in his sumo career.

Fighting style

Ryūhō was a solidly ''yotsu-sumo'' wrestler and nearly half his victories came by using the most common '' kimarite'' of ''yori kiri'' or force out. He preferred a ''hidari-yotsu'', or right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent's '' mawashi''.

Career record

References

External links