Tōki Susumu (born July 4, 1974 as Jun Tamaki) 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 Ichikawa,

Chiba Prefecture is a Prefectures of Japan, prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama ...

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 ''

komusubi , 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 ...

.'' Wrestling for

Takasago stable is a stable of sumo wrestlers, one of the Takasago group of stables. It is correctly written in Japanese as "髙砂部屋", but the first of these ''kanji'' is rare, and is more commonly written as "高砂部屋". History The stable was establ ...

, he was a sumo coach at two other stables until his retirement in 2023.

Career

Tōki began his career in January 1991 after joining the

. Just like former '' sekiwake'' Takamiyama, who was a member of the same stable during the 1970s and 80s, Tōki wore long sideburns as a distinctive feature. In 1998 Tōki managed to enter 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 for the first time and quickly became a regular '' maegashira'', although his results were not sufficient to make him a ''

san'yaku The following words are terms used in sumo wrestling in Japan. A B C D E F G H ...

'' wrestler (although he was a ''

'' for one tournament in September 2003, he could not retain this rank). He was not a great challenge to the top wrestlers in his ''makuuchi'' days, losing every bout he fought against both Musashimaru and Takanohana. He never managed to defeat a ''

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 o ...

'' or win a special prize. On December 18, 2000 in

Osaka is a Cities designated by government ordinance of Japan, designated city in the Kansai region of Honshu in Japan. It is the capital of and most populous city in Osaka Prefecture, and the List of cities in Japan, third-most populous city in J ...

Tōki was behind the wheel of a car which hit a pedestrian and killed her. He should not have been driving at all because the Sumo Association had banned all wrestlers from doing so following a previous incident. Tōki was told by the Sumo Association not to leave his house for two months, and given a 20 percent pay cut. He withdrew from the January 2001 tournament as a result, and fell 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. This left the Takasago stable without any top division wrestlers for the first time in its 123-year history. However, Tōki was immediately promoted back to ''makuuchi'' following his return to the ring in March 2001. In 2004, Tōki suffered a shoulder injury which eventually led to him dropping to ''jūryō'' once more. He did not succeed in making a sustained comeback to ''makuuchi'', although he managed to return temporarily twice. He suffered increasingly from back problems related to

spinal stenosis Spinal stenosis is an abnormal narrowing of the spinal canal or neural foramen that results in pressure on the spinal cord or nerve roots. Symptoms may include pain, numbness, or weakness in the arms or legs. Symptoms are typically gradual in ...

, which was the reason why he missed six days of the January 2006 tournament. This also reduced the power of his pushes and thrusts to his opponents. After a disastrous ''make-koshi'' in March, Tōki was demoted to '' makushita'' in May 2006 and announced his retirement on the day the tournament started.

Fighting style

Tōki relied almost exclusively on slapping and pushing techniques, making his style very predictable, yet often surprisingly successful. However, he was very vulnerable when his opponents got hold of his '' mawashi''. He won only eight matches in his career by ''yori-kiri'', or force out, and lost 132. His most common winning '' kimarite'' were the slap down, ''hataki-komi'', and the pull down, ''hiki-otoshi''.

Retirement from sumo

Tōki had his official retirement ceremony on January 27, 2007 and worked as a coach at Kokonoe stable. Until January 2010 he used the name Sanoyama Oyakata. However, the elder stock is owned by the stable's former ''ōzeki'' Chiyotaikai, and upon Chiyotaikai's retirement Tōki switched to the Asakayama name owned by Kaiō. He changed once again, to Oshiogawa Oyakata, in September 2010. In 2012 he became Sendagawa Oyakata and in the same year left Kokonoe stable to take up a coaching role at Nishikido stable. The

Japan Sumo Association The , officially the ; sometimes abbreviated JSA or NSK, and more usually called Sumo Kyōkai, is the governing body that operates and controls Professional sports, professional sumo wrestling, called , in Japan under the jurisdiction of the Min ...

announced Tōki's retirement on 7 September 2023. At the time of his retirement he was working in various departments within the Sumo Association, including as a ringside judge.

Career record

References

External links