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Gokushindo Takahiro

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Gokushindo Takahiro - 極芯道 貴裕 (born June 6, 1996) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Amagasaki, Hyogo. He made his debut in March 2012 and wrestled for Nishikido stable. He reached the juryo division in November, 2018. His highest rank was juryo 13 and he retired in May 2022.

Early Life[]

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Fukushima celebrates after a wanpaku sumo tournament

Takahiro Fukushima was born on June 6, 1996, in Amagasaki, Hyogo. He started sumo wrestling in his second year of elementary school from the behest of his parents. He attended the regional Kansai Amami Sumo Federation, but found the training to be too harsh. He attended Amadasaki Sonoda Higashi Junior High School and would practice sumo at Hotoku Gakuen High School, however he found the training to be too grueling. Sumo also took up most of his time, so he could not spend time with his friends. Therefore, his passion for sumo diminished and he started to skip practices in his second year of junior high school. However he was scolded by Yuki Nojima, the director of the Kansai Amami Sumo Federation, and he also felt guilty, because his mother was the one that recommended him to try sumo.[1]

In his third year of junior high school, he started doing sumo again and participated in the Hakuho Cup, which is a sumo event hosted by yokozuna Hakuho held in the Ryogoku Kokugikan. This event gains national coverage and this earned Fukushima offers from multiple sumo stables. In the end he chose to enter Nishikido stable.[1]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Fukushima made his professional debut in March 2012. He breezed through the bottom two divisions and was promoted to sandanme in November 2012. However he sat out of his first tournament in sandanme and would spend two tournaments in jonidan before getting promoted back to sandanme in May 2013. Fukushima struggled in sandanme and found it hard to get past it. He would spend four years in sandanme and he never produced a 6-1 or better record during his time in sandanme. With the influence of Yuki Nojima (Director of Kansai Amami Sumo Federation), Fukushima changed his shikona to "Gokushindo" (極芯道) in May 2015.[1] After the shikona change he produced mostly winning records and earned promotion to makushita in March 2016.[2]

Gokushindo produced a strong record of 6-1 in his makushita debut and was promoted to makushita 28 for the July 2016 tournament. However, at the time he was considering retirement and moved back to his parents house.[1] Yuki Nojima persuaded Gokushindo to return and continue his sumo career.[1] He returned for the September 2016 tournament and had fallen back down to the sandanme division as he missed the previous tournament. He gradually returned to the makushita division and became a makushita regular by May 2017. He went on a strong run starting in late 2017 and produced three 6-1 records which put him near the top of makushita at the rank of makushita 2 in July 2018. He suffered a 3-4 record in this tournament, but bounced back in the following September 2018 tournament by producing a perfect 7-0 record. Not only did he claim the makushita yusho, Gokushindo also secured promotion to the juryo division and became the first Japanese-born sekitori produced by Nishikido stable.[2]

Juryo Career[]

GagamaruGokushindo

Gokushindo battles Gagamaru (c. 2018)

Gokushindo struggled in his juryo debut in November 2018. Gokushindo defeated four makuuchi experienced wrestlers: Tomokaze, Jokoryu, Kyokushuho and Chiyonoo. On the eleventh day he suffered his eight lost against veteran Gagamaru and was bound to be demoted back down to makushita. He suffered a 4-11 record and was demoted back down to makushita for the January 2019 tournament. This proved to be his only tournament ranked as a sekitori.[2]

Later Career[]

In January 2019, Gokushindo had knee surgery and he had another operation in May 2019.[3] This caused him to fall to the bottom of makushita, however he bounced back with four winning records and was promoted to makushita 5 for the March 2020 tournament. However he sat out of this tournament and the following July tournament. He would be forced to sit out of another two tournaments for violating COVID-19 guidelines (see controversy for more information).[4] He withdrew from the January 2022 tournament due to a COVID-19 case within his stable.[5]

Retirement from Sumo[]

After his suspension, Gokushindo was ranked all the way down in jonidan in January 2021, but quickly made his way back to makushita by July 2021. However, due to his lingering knee injury, he was unable to establish himself in makushita and ultimately announced his retirement after the May 2022 tournament.[6] His retirement ceremony, or danpatsu-shiki, was held on August 21, 2022, in Osaka.[7] After retirement, he will work under a relative who is an electrician whilst serving as a sumo coach at a local dojo which he belonged to as a kid.[8]

Controversy[]

COVID-19 Violations[]

On August 6, 2020, it was revealed that he went out with makuuchi wrestler Abi multiple times to a hostess bar. This was a strict violation of the COVID-19 guidelines set by the JSA (Japan Sumo Association) to limit sumo wrestlers to the exposure of the novel coronavirus. The Sumo Association was already under immense pressure from the media after the death of sandanme wrestler Shobushi; this death also brought up questions about sumo wrestler's health.[9][10]

It was also revealed that Gokushindo also snuck out of the stable multiple times before the Abi incident. He injured his knee in January 2019 and would have another operation in May. Even though he was demoted to makushita and was forced to move back to the stable, he still had his own private room. However he would take advantage of that and have unnecessary check-ups on his knee without consulting his stablemaster first.[9][4]

As punishment for violation of the COVID-19 guidelines, Gokushindo was suspended for two tournaments and fell down to the jonidan division for the January 2021 tournament. Furthermore, his shikona was reverted back to his surname as Fukushima.[2]

Personal Life[]

  • In May 2016, Gokushindo was considering retirement and already moved back to his parent's house. Since he didn't officially retire yet, he was persuaded to return to professional sumo by Yuki Nojima, the director of the Kansai Amami Sumo Federation. He was also Gokushindo's coach in junior high school. Gokushindo decided to return to sumo and transformed his room at his parent's house into a gym. He bought a bench press set and a couple barbells for 70,000 yen at his own expense and returned for the September 2016 tournament.[1]
  • Gokushindo served as Kakuryu's tsukebito, or personal attendant, prior to becoming a sekitori.[1]
  • Gokushindo's favorite food is yakiniku.[11]

Fighting Style[]

Gokushindo's Fighting Style

Gokushindo defeats Jokoryu by oshitaoshi (frontal push down)

Gokushindo is an oshi-sumo specialist who prefers pushing and thrusting techniques to grabbing the opponent's mawashi. His most common winning kimarite is oshidashi, or push out. However he also frequently wins by yorikiri (frontal push out) which requires grabbing the opponent's mawashi.[12]

Record[]

Division Results[]

  • Total: 211-149-68/358 (61 basho)
  • Juryo: 4-11/15 (1 basho)
  • Makushita: 92-61-43/152 (28 basho)
  • Sandanme: 86-64-25/149 (25 basho)
  • Jonidan: 25-10/35 (5 basho)
  • Jonokuchi: 4-3/7 (1 basho)

Championships[]

  • 1 Makushita Championship (September 2019)

Shikona History[]

  • Fukushima Takahiro (2012.03 - 2015.03)
  • Gokushindo Takahiro (2015.05 - 2020.09)
  • Fukushima Takahiro (2020.11 - 2022.03)
  • Gokushindo Takahiro (2022.05 - 2022.05)

Gallery[]

JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata[]

Career Overview[]

External Links[]

References[]

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