I always root for Shishi. I can’t help it. He just stands out to me for being so pale compared to everyone else. 😄
I usually expect him to lose (he must be good if he’s in the top tier, but from just having seen him in March and May I think he’s lost more than he won) so I’m always pleasantly surprised when he pulls one off. He’s also the first person I saw pull off the henka, and I think possibly in 2 matches in a row in the May basho, so I do find him legitimately fun in an underdog way. Seeing him undefeated so far is a blast!
Watching him do so well is keeping my positive while Ura is in a bit of a slump so far, but I’ve only watched up to Day 3 so far, I keep being too sleepy after work due to all this heat.
I think it was this day’s tournament where it looked like everyone was being extra careful and courteous not to let anyone fall out of the ring. It was so endearing, like they were giving each other hugs at the end of the match! I feel I notice a lot of odd stuff watching these matches, but it amuses me.
I usually expect him to lose (he must be good if he’s in the top tier, but from just having seen him in March and May I think he’s lost more than he won)
Rule of thumb: if his opponents is very high rank, Shishi will lose. Otherwise he’ll often win. He’s currently ranked at the very bottom of the top Makuuchi tier, so he’s been fighting people he could win against. Previously he was mid-tier so he was fighting people he lost against. At some point now the tournament planners are going to have him start fighting the very top wrestlers, and then we’ll see how he does…
Ura is in a bit of a slump so far
Yeah Ura goes into slumps all the time. If you look at his record, earlier this year he went 4-11 and 5-10. He’s not “best of the best” but he’s solid, seems like a genuinely good guy, and occasionally comes up with some astonishing moves.
So, my hypothesis is that Shishi’s big and strong and that’s what he bases his style on. He’s like the opposite of Ura. (ofc Ura is strong, but you know what I mean…) I think that’s what’s why Shishi was in so much trouble when he hurt his leg: he has no plan B. His only plan is to go there and be big and strong, and of course he’s practiced all his techniques diligently. And that’s got him to the top league which is pretty impressive, but the best wrestlers in Makuuchi have a little “something else” (imaginativeness, agility, ability to think two steps ahead?) which is why Shishi plateaus mid-maegashira. Or maybe it was just the leg injury. Maybe he’s learning what he needs to. Maybe I’m wrong about this. idk, we’ll find out.
I think you’re pretty on point with your analysis.
A couple weeks ago I was asking on places to watch more than the top fight highlights and someone asked why I’d want to watch some of the juryo fights. I was watching a “what I wish I knew before starting to watch sump” video, and they put into words what I like about it. As a new fan, it gives me a better idea of the level the top guys are really at and what peak sump looks like. Just watching the best guys, they make it look so fast, smooth, and easy in a way, and they’re just good athletes. Taking a look at the juryo matches, it shows me that “something else” the top guys have. Shishi looks better than the juryos, and it makes it understandable why he can still be competing at the top level despite not winning much. Someone is always going to stuck being at the back of the pack, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad athlete. He’s still in the top handful of rikishi in the whole world at the end of the day!
Ura is still a blast for me to watch, even if he loses. I watched a short video on him and it talked about his untraditional style and how that makes some people not like the way he wrestles. I imagine those people are the same people that complain about henkas. I like that his matches always stand out, that his mawashi is bright, and he always looks so happy and positive. Those moments I see him suddenly flip around behind his opponent and push them out are just so exciting! And of course when he goes full rubber mode, just taking all those shoves and slaps, but not budging, well, at least his lower half! The guy is just plain entertaining no matter the outcome.
Oh yeah for a couple months I worked out with a local bunch of guys who were doing amateur sumo. (they were all into judo or BJJ or the like.) The exercises were hella fun, but the bouts were just amazing - everything is so hard when the other person is resisting. It made me realize how talented even the very lowest ranks are, and how superherolike the upper ranks are.
I’m a pretty good sized guy, and I know I can’t move anything like them! 😆
Just thinking of someone with the same mass as me with quads that big giving me a tachi-ai headbutt into my skull makes me wince. And that guy who had that huge vertical leap on Day 4, holy heck that was impressive! Even watching some of the shiko amazes me.
I always root for Shishi. I can’t help it. He just stands out to me for being so pale compared to everyone else. 😄
I usually expect him to lose (he must be good if he’s in the top tier, but from just having seen him in March and May I think he’s lost more than he won) so I’m always pleasantly surprised when he pulls one off. He’s also the first person I saw pull off the henka, and I think possibly in 2 matches in a row in the May basho, so I do find him legitimately fun in an underdog way. Seeing him undefeated so far is a blast!
Watching him do so well is keeping my positive while Ura is in a bit of a slump so far, but I’ve only watched up to Day 3 so far, I keep being too sleepy after work due to all this heat.
I think it was this day’s tournament where it looked like everyone was being extra careful and courteous not to let anyone fall out of the ring. It was so endearing, like they were giving each other hugs at the end of the match! I feel I notice a lot of odd stuff watching these matches, but it amuses me.
Yeah! I cheer for Shishi, for reasons I laid out in a previous post: https://lemmy.world/post/41999933
Rule of thumb: if his opponents is very high rank, Shishi will lose. Otherwise he’ll often win. He’s currently ranked at the very bottom of the top Makuuchi tier, so he’s been fighting people he could win against. Previously he was mid-tier so he was fighting people he lost against. At some point now the tournament planners are going to have him start fighting the very top wrestlers, and then we’ll see how he does…
Yeah Ura goes into slumps all the time. If you look at his record, earlier this year he went 4-11 and 5-10. He’s not “best of the best” but he’s solid, seems like a genuinely good guy, and occasionally comes up with some astonishing moves.
I think you’re pretty on point with your analysis.
A couple weeks ago I was asking on places to watch more than the top fight highlights and someone asked why I’d want to watch some of the juryo fights. I was watching a “what I wish I knew before starting to watch sump” video, and they put into words what I like about it. As a new fan, it gives me a better idea of the level the top guys are really at and what peak sump looks like. Just watching the best guys, they make it look so fast, smooth, and easy in a way, and they’re just good athletes. Taking a look at the juryo matches, it shows me that “something else” the top guys have. Shishi looks better than the juryos, and it makes it understandable why he can still be competing at the top level despite not winning much. Someone is always going to stuck being at the back of the pack, but that doesn’t mean they’re a bad athlete. He’s still in the top handful of rikishi in the whole world at the end of the day!
Ura is still a blast for me to watch, even if he loses. I watched a short video on him and it talked about his untraditional style and how that makes some people not like the way he wrestles. I imagine those people are the same people that complain about henkas. I like that his matches always stand out, that his mawashi is bright, and he always looks so happy and positive. Those moments I see him suddenly flip around behind his opponent and push them out are just so exciting! And of course when he goes full rubber mode, just taking all those shoves and slaps, but not budging, well, at least his lower half! The guy is just plain entertaining no matter the outcome.
Oh yeah for a couple months I worked out with a local bunch of guys who were doing amateur sumo. (they were all into judo or BJJ or the like.) The exercises were hella fun, but the bouts were just amazing - everything is so hard when the other person is resisting. It made me realize how talented even the very lowest ranks are, and how superherolike the upper ranks are.
I’m a pretty good sized guy, and I know I can’t move anything like them! 😆
Just thinking of someone with the same mass as me with quads that big giving me a tachi-ai headbutt into my skull makes me wince. And that guy who had that huge vertical leap on Day 4, holy heck that was impressive! Even watching some of the shiko amazes me.