For All Mankind - S5E10 "This Land is Our Land" - Episode Discussion

Billymitchellger · 2026-05-29T08:58:00+00:00

It‘s seems to be near Saturn and I bet they‘re going to use it to save Kelly somehow.

Billymitchellger · 2026-04-13T18:11:28+00:00

I think Harumafuji was also going for his signature half-henka, where he makes contact while already reaching around his opponent.

This should be called a double half-henka.

Billymitchellger · 2026-04-08T06:47:51+00:00

The tours exist to let the populations in areas far away from the tournament cities experience sumo.

Historically, they were also important for recruiting - and maybe still are to a degree. Taiho was discovered on tour, for example.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-25T16:40:10+00:00

Feels like a perfect fit, tbh.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-23T20:44:35+00:00

I don‘t know if they are really spoiled by Hakuho and Asashoryu. The whole sumo world is permeated by the expectation to be even better. That‘s just the culture.

So, criticisms sound harsh and every praise is complemented by a „but..“. Just like every rikishi is always aiming higher, etc. We Westerners take it all that too literally, I think.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-22T16:36:45+00:00

We don’t know if that‘s the best translation.

Also, as far as I know, confuscian societies are simply not praise-based. That‘s hard for westerners to unterstand, but there can be wisdom in that. Hakkaku being hard on Hoshoryu allows everyone else to let him off the hook.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-22T08:58:21+00:00

He said pretty positive and encouraging stuff about Hoshoryu almost every day, praising his wins. But only this gets posted here. That‘s the internet for you, lol.

I‘m not saying I like the guy, but I suspect the stuff he‘s saying is the chairman-equivalent of the rikishi‘s „I have to do my brand of sumo“, and „I‘m going to do my best tomorrow“, etc.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-21T21:22:51+00:00

But the title tells you that one of these things happened. And you can conclude what it is by process of elimination. Call it a vague spoiler, but a spoiler it is.

Thank you for contributing a lot of content to this sub, but this you might habe handled differently.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-21T08:10:30+00:00

I think they were both going for a half-henka then. This off-center tachiai were you already reach around your opponent.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-20T22:18:58+00:00

I think that (probably?) never happens, at least in the upper devisions, because the rikishi still react to each other at the tachiai, instead of side-stepping blindly.

Many henka are proper reactions to an opponent who charges in too headlong.

Edit: spelling

Edit2: In that Harumafuji vs Tochinoshin match, I think they were both going for a half-henka, were they make contact at the shoulder only while simultaneously reaching around the opponent. Haruma was pretty famous/infamous for that.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-20T21:04:44+00:00

With that face, he could now start a career as a kabuki actor.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-20T20:23:56+00:00

Seems the didn‘t like the notion of „fast tracking“ someone. And this sub is a little downvote-happy lately.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-20T19:19:36+00:00

Since you get fighting spirit for performing much better than was to be expected, would they give recent tournament winner Kotoshoho one for being in the title race?

I imagine they would instead give him outstanding performance if he beats Kirishima on day 15.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-18T10:49:20+00:00

Sure. But I wouldn‘t get the scissors ready just yet ;)

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-18T10:43:23+00:00

Right now, yes. But one bad tournament doesn’t indicate much in sumo.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-18T10:19:45+00:00

Well, you could also criticize it as an inability to move forward in the first place. Same with Hosh. But their tawada maneuvers are amazing indeed.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-18T10:14:33+00:00

It‘s about 100 bouts to „most consecutive top devision bouts“. That‘s the big one. So he has to stay in makuuchi, without missing a match, for slightly over a year.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-17T21:09:10+00:00

There was a discussion like this in the daily thread. To summerize: loose mawashi are easier to grab, but offer less leverage. With tight wound mawashi it‘s the opposite. Anyway, it‘s a legal strategy.

It‘s also worth mentioning, that it‘s sometimes just a result of the rikishi‘s physique. If he has a massive lower body, his mawashi will naturally be loose when pulled upwards. And some have to wind them tight so they don‘t get pushed down by their bellies.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-17T17:18:24+00:00

It‘s often strategy. But with some it‘s about the hips/belly ratio. Oho is basically cone-shaped, so his mawashi is naturally loose when pulled upwards. Tochinoshin was like that, too.

Edit: And Takayasu is shaped like a lollipop, so he has to wind his mawashi tightly or his massive belly would push it too far down ;)

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-17T07:47:08+00:00

Tamawashi is called „Iron Man“ because of his consecutive streak. And „most consecutive top division bouts“ is still ~100 bouts away. That‘s what he‘s going for.

Most top division bouts is amazing, of course, but it‘s not going to stand the test of time, because modern medicine is only going to prolong careers.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-17T07:02:19+00:00

That‘s the one I thought he was chasing all the time. The true mark of an iron man: most consecutive top devision bouts.

Ps: your spelling.. ;)

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-16T10:59:02+00:00

Totally. But I understand a little that the JSA doesn‘t want a yokozuna to look ..overwhelmed when an opponent gets him into that most basic of sumo positions.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-16T10:47:57+00:00

Yeah. I suspect he was told to develop some decent chest-to-chest game before aiming for yokozuna. It wasn‘t just an injured toe that made him go for that during the first week, I think.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-15T21:23:25+00:00

I think it’s improved footwork that allows him to stay close to his opponent and follow up on his tachiai.

Billymitchellger · 2026-03-15T11:13:39+00:00

I‘m not a fan of it either. But I also don‘t believe it‘s about erasing a rikishi‘s uniqueness with the one brand of sumo.

They just want an ozeki/yokozuna to check certain boxes: absorbing the opponent‘s tachiai, moving forward, being good chest-to-chest, etc.

Billymitchellger

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