Life Lessons From Sumo (大相撲)

I have had a personal document where I write down life lessons from Sumo. Basically things I've noticed about life that I see exemplified in sumo in some way or form. Yesterday, I thought to start cataloging them down by blogging. After catching up on today's final bout, I was doing an analysis and decided to write. A lot of times, I write the lessons as I watch during the tournament but I think I may share some of what I've learned in the past on this blog. Sometimes, the lessons are from watching something Sumo related like Dosukoi Sumo Salon or even from a Hometown Stories episode on NHK that featured the sport. Writing them here provides a way for me to have them all in one place where I can easily find them by tags. It also allows me to add on without having a long document. 

Aonishiki won the January tournament. It was not an easy win. He won again by a playoff. Congratulations to him. I was clapping for him. It is an impressive win because he just got promoted to Ozeki and he won during his first tournament as Ozeki. The last person to do that was Hakuho. I'm happy for him.  That said I'm not going to focus on Aonishiki today. I think I've written something about him in the past that I will share later. 

I want to focus on Atamifuji. He is a Maegashira 4 on the Banzuke. That's his rank. He's a big guy. He was also in contention for the Yusho (championship). He won his bout earlier and had a score of 12-3. If Aonishiki had lost, he would've won. Anyway, during the final interview, he said something I thought was good and interesting but that's for another day.  There was something else he said that I thought differently: He thought he may have let his guard down. So I watched the playoff a few times and I really thought he fought very well. Aonishiki himself said in the interview that he knew that he would win so long as he didn't let himself get raised up. The way to beat Aonishiki is to keep him upright. I'm actually surprised he said that in the interview; that's like telling people the poison they should use to kill you. Discretion is an asset and I'm not the only one who thinks that way. Kisenosato and Kotozakura have shown me they know this important life skill. So that to me, and this isn't news because it's been obvious as I think everyone has noticed that Aonishiki stays low while fighting, the best way to fight Aonishiki is to raise him up.  Granted some people try to get lower than he does or go as low as he does but the right way is to really keep him upright and it's not easy to do. It's not just what I've thought, the guy himself gave it away today in the interview.

That was exactly what Atamifuji was doing. He didn't throw in the towel; he was fought very well during the playoff. It actually looked like he had Aonishiki at the edge to get him out of the dohyo and was trying to raise Aonishiki up to do that when Aonishiki, who I feel thinks quickly on his feet, went for the Kubinage. So really, Atamifuji was caught by a move he didn't expect Aonishiki to do at that point. I don't think it means he left his guard down; it just shows that his opponent thought quickly on his feet and came up with a last minute move to save himself and it worked. Otherwise, Atamifuji was doing exactly what needed to be done. 

In life, I think that it's easy to look back and see the things you think didn't do right in a situation as opposed to what you did right - especially when one is dealing with a loss or regretting the present outcome. It is not unnatural for one to want to have done differently in the past or wished they had anticipated a move or done something to prevent an undesirable outcome. 

Sometime ago in the past month, I was thinking that if I had to go back, I would've gone to a particular school. And what came to mind was, "and how would you have paid for it?" I burst out laughing. Because the truth  is that I wouldn't have been able to pay for it. That school would've been a community college as opposed to the private university I went to. Why did I choose the private university if I couldn't even pay for the community college? A scholarship, prestige and opportunities. While what I had to pay after the scholarship was a tiny bit larger than the community college (I'm talking about a $300 difference), the opportunities at the University afforded me the means to pay for it. I could work during co-op and pay for it. That option didn't exist with the community college. Sure, I would've finished the community college in two years but I wouldn't have had my bachelors and it would have to go back for one year for the bachelors. The 3 years I spent at the University was really two years because I spent two 6-month terms working during co-op. But in looking back at certain things afterwards, I was thinking that I should've stayed in a certain geographic region. 

When I reflected upon this and other aspects of the whole situation, I realized that I did my best in light of what I had back then and it worked out for me. If I'll be honest, there were several advantages to the choice I made but when looked at from a different perspective in terms of things I wish hadn't happened, I thought I could've made a better choice. Yet,  I did the best I could with the resources I had and it worked out well. Not only did the co-op afford me the ability to pay for my living and schooling so that I came out with no student loans but I also got a job right away during my first application due to the reputation of the school and the rigorous program they had really had me prepared. There were other benefits too but that's not for here. Plus, I left the profession not too long ago. 

Would I have had the same opportunities and benefits I have now had I done otherwise? I don't think it's wise to waste time on that as it won't yield anything. A perfunctory look back tells me no, so I'm not going to spend time on a careful analysis. 

My point is: in those moments in life where we think that if we had made "that choice" things would have turned out differently, if we would be honest to admit to ourselves, we were doing our best and actually doing what the situation required in the moment. Atamifuji in my opinion was doing exactly what he needed to win which is to raise Aonishiki up. The only way I feel he can blame himself is if he has the ability to know the thoughts of Aonishiki so that he could know what Aonishiki was thinking to do and then combat that. He does not have that ability therefore he didn't do anything wrong. As a matter of fact, he should pat himself on the back because Aonishiki practically gave it away in the interview that the way to beat him is to raise him up so that Atamifuji was doing exactly that. 

Now if I step back twice, I could say that maybe tunnel vision had set in so that he was solely focused on raising up Aonishiki and got caught by surprise by the Kubinage. Even then, how was he supposed to know Aonishiki would pull such a move? The person I think is notorious for trying a kubinage when he's at the edge is Yoshinofuji although now that I remember that Aonishiki trains with Yoshinofuji, I'm not surprised. Even then, Yoshinofuji is usually upright at the edge when he tries that. Aonishiki was low and suddenly raised himself up quickly just as Atamifuji was trying and went for the kubinage. 

If you are regretting things in life, I suggest asking yourself what you did right in that situation and congratulating yourself for what you did right. Don't look at it from this vantage point; examine it as if you were back then with only the information and resources you had then. All in all, Atamifuji beat both Yokozuna and he ended with an impressive 12-3 record. He only lost as a result of the playoff. He is a winner. He did very well as a rank and file Maegashira. He is young and has years ahead of him to keep doing his best. I think he fought well therefore I don't think he let his guard down. I was impressed with his performance. My only gripe was that while he got the Fighting spirit prize, I think he should've also gotten the Outstanding Performance prize. 

Anyway, it's done. Congrats to Aonishiki and Congrats to Atamifuji who also earned an impressive 12-3 under regulation. In those times when we think we made a mistake and could've done something else to create a different outcome, let us remember that we were doing our best at that time.