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34-455: (Redirected from Kotozakura ) Kotozakura Masakatsu may refer to: Kotozakura Masakatsu I (1940–2007), sumo wrestler, the 53rd Yokozuna Kotozakura Masakatsu II (born 1997), sumo wrestler, current Ōzeki [REDACTED] Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles about people with the same name. If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

68-496: A Greco-Roman wrestler , coached by his father, and by the age of 14 he had already won a European championship. He was accepted by the Bulgarian National Sports Academy where he majored in wrestling. He hoped to compete for Bulgaria in the 2000 Olympic Games , but as his weight increased beyond the 120 kg upper limit, he switched instead to sumo. He was recruited by Sadogatake stable , whose stablemaster

102-402: A hidari-yotsu (left-hand inside grip) on his opponent's mawashi (the belt that is fixed around the wrestler's waist), although he was right-handed and his overall profile showed him preferring migi-yotsu (right-hand inside grip). He used his long arms and quick footwork to counteract his high center of gravity and relatively light weight. His most common winning kimarite was yorikiri ,

136-518: A 20-year-old Bulgarian junior wrestling champion. Having studied training theory at Nippon Sport Science University following his retirement, he was keen to develop his own training methods based on his sumo experience and studies at both Bulgarian and Japanese universities. Kotoōshū was appointed as a shimpan (ringside judge) in March 2022. He made his debut as a judge at the May 2022 tournament. Kotoōshū

170-561: A knee injury. He returned in July and preserved his rank by securing his eighth win on Day 10 (the last bout of fellow ōzeki Kaiō 's career), finishing on 9–6. However he withdrew once again in September after suffering five defeats in the first six days. In the May 2012 tournament Kotoōshū withdrew with an ankle ligament injury on the last day, handing opponent Tochiōzan his twelfth victory by default and eliminating Hakuhō and two maegashira from

204-401: A push for yokozuna promotion, producing scores of only 9–6 and 8–7 in the next two tournaments. In October 2008 he denied allegations by disgraced former wrestler Wakanohō that he had thrown matches against Kotoōshū in return for money, saying "I am saddened by this. It is all lies." Wakanohō subsequently retracted his comments. He produced scores of 10–5 in the first two tournaments of 2009,

238-711: A sumo background, as his father was involved in organising regional amateur sumo tournaments and his grandfather's brother had been a professional rikishi . The young Kamatani at first competed in judo , achieving shodan level while still in middle school. However, after doing well in a national high school sumo competition he decided on a career in professional sumo. Initially his parents wanted him to continue with judo but they were persuaded by former komusubi Kotonishiki Noboru to let him join Sadogatake stable . Kotozakura made his professional debut in January 1959. He reached

272-527: A tournament. He preserved his ōzeki rank with a 9–6 score in January 2008. In the Osaka tournament of March 2008 he injured his left arm in a match with Kakuryū on the 4th day and withdrew on Day 9 with only two wins. There was speculation that he would be demoted to sekiwake in the following tournament in May. Needing eight wins to hold his rank in the May 2008 tournament, he won 12 consecutive bouts including dominating victories against yokozuna Asashōryū on

306-588: Is the fourth highest in sumo history. A record of at least 10–5 at sekiwake in January would have allowed him to immediately regain his ōzeki rank. However, he suffered his 6th loss on the 13th day against Endō . He retired during the following tournament in March after 9 losses in a row, saying "I’ve had so many injuries recently, but I have no regrets because I gave it my utmost over 12 years." In 2014 Kotoōshū obtained Japanese nationality and legally changed his name to Karoyan Andō (安藤 カロヤン, Andō Karoyan), allowing him to remain in sumo as an elder . He acquired

340-435: Is a Bulgarian-Japanese former sumo wrestler. He made his debut in 2002, reaching the top division just two years later. In 2005, he reached the rank of ōzeki or 'champion', the second-highest level in the sumo ranking system behind only yokozuna . On May 24, 2008, Kotoōshū made history by becoming the first European sumo wrestler to win an Emperor's Cup. He was one of the longest serving ōzeki in sumo history, holding

374-410: Is also the first wrestler of European birth to hold the ōzeki rank, and the fifth non-Japanese to have achieved it (following Konishiki , Akebono , and Musashimaru from Hawaii and Asashōryū from Mongolia ). After his promotion, Kotoōshū was somewhat restricted by a knee injury. He was also criticised for relying too much on the henka technique– jumping to the side at the initial charge . It

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408-451: Is not considered to be a move worthy of someone at his high rank. Kotoōshū managed only three double-figure scores in 2006, and none at all in 2007, only doing enough to maintain his rank. Shortly before the November 2007 tournament he dislocated his right knee in training. Clearly troubled by the injury he pulled out on the 7th day, the first time in his career that he has had to withdraw from

442-493: The jūryō division in July 1962 and the top makuuchi division in March 1963. After making his san'yaku debut at komusubi in January 1964 he suffered an injury and returned to jūryō , but he quickly recovered. After an 11–4 record at sekiwake in September 1967 he was awarded the Outstanding Performance prize and promotion to ōzeki . He won two tournament championships in July 1968 and March 1969, but by

476-449: The Naruto toshiyori kabu (elder license) in 2015, and began as a coach at Sadogatake stable . In April 2017 Kotoōshū opened his own stable of wrestlers, Naruto stable (鳴戸部屋 Naruto-beya). He is the first European-born sumo wrestler to run his own stable and the third wrestler born outside Japan. His title is sumo elder Naruto Katsunori. The stable started with three wrestlers, including

510-446: The yūshō race. The crowd showed their displeasure by booing as his withdrawal was announced. He continued to suffer from injury problems, also withdrawing from the September 2012 as well as the March, September and November 2013 tournaments. Having failed to obtain winning records in two consecutive tournaments, Kotoōshū was relegated back to sekiwake at the January 2014 tournament. He had been an ōzeki for 47 tournaments, which

544-484: The 11th day and yokozuna Hakuhō on the 12th day. He was easily defeated by Aminishiki on the 13th day, but came back strong to defeat Ama on the 14th day, becoming the first European to win a top division championship. His father was in the crowd to witness his victory. He was also congratulated by the Bulgarian President Georgi Parvanov . Kotoōshū was unable to follow up his victory with

578-467: The July 2005 tournament Kotoōshū defeated Asashōryū for the first time with an overarm ( uwatenage ) throw, bringing to an end a run of 24 consecutive bout victories for the yokozuna . He also was the runner up in the tournament, winning an "outstanding performance" sanshō prize. Kotoōshū was promoted to sekiwake for the following September tournament and won his first twelve bouts, finishing with an exceptional 13–2 runner up record and only losing

612-614: The age of thirty two, after thirty two tournaments at ōzeki . In July 1973 he defeated Kitanofuji in a playoff to win his only championship as a yokozuna . After injuring his knee in 1974 he withdrew from several tournaments and announced his retirement that July. He made an appearance in the 1967 James Bond film You Only Live Twice , seen fighting Fujinishiki . Kotozakura had been expecting to open up his own training stable, but when his stablemaster died suddenly just days after Kotozakura's retirement, he took over Sadogatake stable instead. He produced many top division wrestlers over

646-439: The best record amongst his fellow ōzeki . In the May 2009 tournament, he finished the tournament with a 9–6 score. However, he ended yokozuna Hakuhō's 33-bout winning streak on the 14th day. In July 2009 he was in contention for the yūshō until the final day and finished runner-up with an impressive 13–2 score. He never won more than ten bouts in a tournament after that. He pulled out of the May 2011 tournament on Day 11, citing

680-407: The early 1970s he had begun to be regarded as something of a "perpetual ōzeki ", often struggling with injuries and finding it difficult to come up with the necessary wins to maintain his rank. He was kadoban , or in danger of demotion from ōzeki , three times during this period. Remarkably however, he won consecutive championships in November 1972 and January 1973 to earn promotion to yokozuna at

714-460: The force out, followed by uwatenage , the outer arm throw. Kotoōshū has remarked that his tournament victory was partially due to a weight gain of five kilos which enabled him to be sturdier against his opponents. Kotoōshū's father was born in 1955 or 1956 and his mother was born in 1960 or 1961 in Bulgaria. One of the reasons that led to Kotoōshū's introduction to sumo wrestling was to help with

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748-604: The household, because his father could not work due to a traffic accident. Kotoōshū sent money to his parents in Bulgaria, but his parents said "I want the child (Kotoōshū) to use it for himself." He has given a washing and drying machine to his mother, a wristwatch to his father, and two cars (a used Ford car and a new Toyota Land Cruiser) to them. In later years Kotoōshū said, "Why do Japanese people ask their parents to send them money after getting started? It's weird." In May 2009 Kotoōshū announced his engagement to 29-year-old Asako Andō from Ichinomiya , Aichi , whom he had dated for

782-441: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kotozakura_Masakatsu&oldid=1231384135 " Category : Human name disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Kotozakura Masakatsu I Born Kamatani Norio ( 鎌谷 紀雄 ) , he came from

816-966: The nickname "Mō Gyū" ( 猛牛 , lit.   ' Wild Bull ' ) . His favoured techniques were the two most common kimarite in sumo – yorikiri (force out) and oshidashi (push out). When grabbing his opponent's mawashi he preferred a migi-yotsu , or left hand outside, right hand inside grip. Sanshō key: F =Fighting spirit; O =Outstanding performance; T =Technique     Also shown: ★ = Kinboshi ; P = Playoff (s) Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi Koto%C5%8Dsh%C5%AB Katsunori Karoyan Andō ( Japanese : 安藤 カロヤン , romanized :  Andō Karoyan ; born Kaloyan Stefanov Mahlyanov , Bulgarian : Калоян Стефанов Махлянов ; born 19 February 1983), known professionally as Kotoōshū Katsunori ( Japanese : 琴欧洲 勝紀 ) and in his coaching career as Naruto Katsunori ( Japanese : 鳴戸 勝紀 ),

850-678: The previous five years. The first time he became acquainted with her, he called her at a convenience store in Nagoya in 2004. A long-distance romance going between Chiba and Aichi continued for five years until he proposed. The following February, had a ceremony at Hie Shrine (Chiyoda-ku). They married in February 2010, on St. Valentine's Day , at the New Otani Hotel in Tokyo, with around 600 guests including yokozuna Hakuhō attending. Kotoōshū acquired

884-402: The pronunciation, shū , is the same for both.) He posted kachikoshi (winning records in tournaments) throughout his early career, going 71–15 in the five divisions below the makuuchi top division. He reached makuuchi in September 2004, only 11 tournaments after his professional debut, the fastest rise since the introduction of the six tournaments per year system in 1958. Upon reaching

918-517: The rank for 47 consecutive tournaments until November 2013. In January 2014 Kotoōshū obtained Japanese citizenship, a requirement of becoming an elder in the Japan Sumo Association , and he announced his retirement during the following tournament in March. In April 2017 he opened his own training stable , Naruto . He was born in Dzhulunitsa, Veliko Tarnovo Province . He was originally

952-426: The retirement of his stablemaster, former yokozuna Kotozakura . His promotion to ōzeki took only 19 tournaments from his professional sumo debut. Although he was not the youngest ōzeki ever, this represents the most rapid rise for a wrestler entering sumo from the bottom jonokuchi division. (Certain experienced amateur wrestlers can be given dispensation to start in the third-highest makushita division.) He

986-414: The stable upon reaching the mandatory retirement age of sixty five in November 2005 to Kotonowaka, who had become his son-in-law. Shortly after attending the ōzeki promotion ceremony of Kotomitsuki, Kotozakura died on August 14, 2007. He had battled diabetes for several years and had also suffered the trauma of a leg amputation. Kotozakura was known for his bull-like rushing style of sumo, earning him

1020-411: The top division he had kachikoshi winning records for four consecutive tournaments, being promoted to san'yaku at the rank of komusubi before the March 2005 basho (sumo tournament). At the rank of komusubi , he made his first makekoshi (losing tournament) record, and was demoted to maegashira again before returning to the higher rank of komusubi after a strong 10–5 record in May. In

1054-409: The tournament victory after a play-off bout with Asashōryū. An 11–4 record in the final (November) tournament of 2005 was his third runner-up performance in a row and included another victory over the otherwise dominant Asashōryū. This led to his promotion to the rank of ōzeki on November 30, 2005. His three-tournament record (on which ōzeki promotions are based) was 36–9. His promotion coincided with

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1088-461: The years, such as ōzeki Kotokaze , Kotoōshū , Kotomitsuki and Kotoshōgiku and sekiwake Kotogaume , Kotofuji , Kotonishiki , and Kotonowaka . When yokozuna Asashōryū was criticized for his behaviour in 2003, Kotozakura defended the Mongolian by pointing out the lack of emotional strength in young Japanese sumo wrestlers at the time. After 31 years as head coach, he passed on ownership of

1122-428: Was a tall and rather light rikishi at 203 cm (6 feet, 8 inches) and 152 kg (334 pounds). In comparison, former yokozuna (grand champion) Akebono , at the same height, weighed 235 kg (517 pounds) at his peak. Yokozuna Asashōryū had about the same weight, but is only 184 cm in height. Kotoōshū primarily relied on so-called 'belt-throws' to win his sumo bouts. He typically preferred to take

1156-455: Was impressed by his filial duty of sending money home to his parents. Mahlyanov's professional sumo debut was in November 2002, starting in the lowest-ranked jonokuchi division. He was given the shikona of Kotoōshū, derived from his place of origin — koto , shared by all wrestlers at his stable, and ōshū , meaning Europe. (Following the September 2006 tournament, he changed one of the characters in his ring name, 州 becoming 洲, although

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