Naminohana Kazutaka

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Naminohana Kazutaka
浪之花 教隆
Personal information
BornKazuhiro Kudo
(1969-03-19) 19 March 1969 (age 50)
Namioka, Aomori, Japan
Height1.79 m (5 ft 10 12 in)
Weight130 kg (290 lb)
Career
Stable Futagoyama
Record423-402-10
DebutMay, 1984
Highest rankKomusubi (March, 1995)
RetiredMarch, 1997
Championships 2 (Jūryō)
Special Prizes Fighting Spirit (1)
* Up to date as of August 2012.

Naminohana Kazutaka (born 19 March 1969 as Kazuhiro Kudo) is a former sumo wrestler from Namioka, Aomori, Japan. He was active from 1984 until 1997 and his highest rank was komusubi. He fought for Futagoyama stable and won one special prize for Fighting Spirit. After retiring at age 28 because of injury he went into the restaurant business.

Contents

Career

He was born in Namioka, Aomori, the third son of a farmer. He won a sumo competition at Namioka Tachi Nozawa Elementary School and fought for the fourth grade sumo club even when still in the third grade. At junior high he moved away from sumo and was thinking of becoming a physical education teacher. However he was recruited by the former yokozuna Wakanohana Kanji I and joined his Futagoyama stable upon graduation from junior high school. Initially fighting under his own surname of Kudo, he made his professional debut in May 1984. Weighing less than 100 kilograms (220 lb) early in his career he rose rather slowly up the ranks, but he compensated for his lack of physique by hard training. He was promoted to the second highest juryo division in November 1990 and reached the top makuuchi division for the first time in September 1992. After falling back to juryo in 1994 he won two yusho or tournament championships in that division. Upon his return to makuuchi in November 1994 he scored 10–5 and won his first and only sansho, for Fighting Spirit. He was nominated for the prize on the condition that he win on the final day, and had he failed to do so, there would have been no sansho at all awarded in a tournament for the first time since they were introduced in 1947. His highest rank was komusubi , which he held for one tournament in March 1995 after a 9–6 record at maegashira 7 in the previous tournament saw him somewhat fortuitously promoted to the sanyaku ranks. He scored only 6–9 and never made komusubi again. He injured his elbow in a match with Kaio in March 1996, which restricted his performances and led to six consecutive losing records and demotion to the makushita division.

He is the only wrestler in modern sumo to reach a sanyaku rank but never defeat any yokozuna or ozeki in his career. He was only eligible to face Akebono and Musashimaru during his 18 tournament stay in the top division as the other yokozuna and ozeki were all fellow members of Futagoyama stable, and sumo rules prevent wrestlers from the same stable meeting in competition.

Retirement from sumo

He retired in March 1997 at the age of 28. He had no elder stock in the Japan Sumo Association and so was unable to stay in sumo. He ran a restaurant in Nishi-Azabu, Tokyo and has appeared on J Sports ESPN's Genshiko Ozumu  [ ja ] sumo program.

Fighting style

Naminohana was an oshi-sumo specialist who preferred to push and thrust rather than go for a grip on the mawashi or belt. His most common winning kimarite or techniques were oshi-dashi (push out), yori-kiri (force out), hataki-komi (slap down) and tsuki-otoshi (thrust over).

He was known for trying to tempt his opponent to begin the bout early, a practice known as jikanmae.

Career record

Naminohana Kazutaka [1]
Year in sumo January
Hatsu basho, Tokyo
March
Haru basho, Osaka
May
Natsu basho, Tokyo
July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya
September
Aki basho, Tokyo
November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
1984xx(Maezumo)WestJonokuchi#50
43
 
EastJonokuchi#9
34
 
EastJonokuchi#16
52
 
1985EastJonidan#107
34
 
WestJonidan#119
61
 
EastJonidan#49
43
 
EastJonidan#24
52
 
WestSandanme#88
25
 
EastJonidan#12
34
 
1986WestJonidan#27
61
 
WestSandanme#69
34
 
EastSandanme#83
61
 
WestSandanme#28
25
 
WestSandanme#56
43
 
EastSandanme#39
52
 
1987 WestSandanme#13
25
 
WestSandanme#34
43
 
EastSandanme#20
52
 
EastMakushita#58
25
 
WestSandanme#23
34
 
EastSandanme#39
52
 
1988 EastSandanme#15
43
 
WestSandanme#1
52
 
EastMakushita#42
61
 
WestMakushita#20
25
 
WestMakushita#39
52
 
WestMakushita#22
25
 
1989 WestMakushita#41
61
 
EastMakushita#19
43
 
WestMakushita#12
52
 
EastMakushita#4
034
 
WestMakushita#39
34
 
WestMakushita#51
52
 
1990 WestMakushita#34
43
 
WestMakushita#27
43
 
WestMakushita#16
61P
 
WestMakushita#4
43
 
EastMakushita#3
52
 
EastJūryō#12
105
 
1991 WestJūryō#4
510
 
WestJūryō#10
69
 
WestJūryō#12
87
 
WestJūryō#8
69
 
WestJūryō#9
510
 
WestMakushita#2
52
 
1992 WestJūryō#11
105
 
WestJūryō#6
96
 
EastJūryō#2
69
 
WestJūryō#4
105
 
EastMaegashira#15
69
 
WestJūryō#1
105
 
1993 EastMaegashira#14
105
 
EastMaegashira#7
510
 
WestMaegashira#13
411
 
EastJūryō#5
96
 
WestJūryō#2
87
 
WestJūryō#1
69
 
1994 EastJūryō#6
114
Champion

 
WestJūryō#1
96
 
WestMaegashira#15
69
 
EastJūryō#2
87
 
WestJūryō#1
105
Champion

 
EastMaegashira#15
105
F
1995 EastMaegashira#7
96
 
EastKomusubi#1
69
 
EastMaegashira#2
69
 
WestMaegashira#4
411
 
EastMaegashira#11
87
 
EastMaegashira#5
69
 
1996 EastMaegashira#9
96
 
WestMaegashira#1
69
 
WestMaegashira#3
78
 
EastMaegashira#4
312
 
WestMaegashira#11
78
 
EastMaegashira#14
510
 
1997 EastJūryō#4
312
 
EastMakushita#1
Retired
016
xxxx
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Top Division Runner-up Retired Lower Divisions

Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: =Kinboshi(s); P=Playoff(s)
Divisions: Makuuchi Jūryō Makushita Sandanme Jonidan Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks:  Yokozuna Ōzeki Sekiwake Komusubi Maegashira

See also

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References

  1. "Naminohana Kazutaka Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 27 August 2012.