Hokutoriki Hideki

Hokutoriki Hideki - 北勝力英樹 (born October 31, 1977) is a former Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Otawara, Tochigi. He made his debut in March 1993 and wrestled for Hakkaku stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 2002 and has 4 special prizes as well as 1 kinboshi. His highest rank was sekiwake and he retired in May 2011.

Early Life[]

Hideki Kimura was born the second son of a taxi driver. He was born and raised in Ota, Tokyo, however, he later used Kurobane (now Otawara), Tochigi, as his shusshin (birth-place) because his parents were born there. He liked to fish in his childhood and would always visit Kurobane during the summer. He began playing softball in elementary school before transitioning to baseball in junior high school. He joined the judo club in his second year of junior high school since his father recommended it. After graduation from high school he joined Kokonoe stable in March 1993.

Career[]

Early Career[]

He was given the shikona "Hokutoriki" (北勝力) and initially struggled due to his lack of experience with sumo. In October 1993, he transferred to the newly created Hakkaku stable run by former yokozuna Hokutoumi. He was promoted to sandanme in September 1995 and makushita in July 1997. He fell back down to sandanme in July 1998, but was promoted back to makushita immediately after producing a perfect 7-0 record which also wn him the sandanme yusho. In November 2001 he was promoted to the top of makushita and managed to win five matches which secured a promotion to juryo in January 2002.

Juryo Career[]

Unlike the lower divisions, Hokutoriki breezed through juryo in only two tournaments. In his first tournament he posted a strong 10-5 record and followed it with an even stronger 11-4 record which earned him a promotion to makuuchi in May 2002.

Makuuchi Career[]

On his debut outing in makuuchi in May 2002 he made an immediate impression, finishing as runner-up with a strong 11-4 record and the fighting spirit prize. He was also a runner-up in the March 2003 tournament.

Hokutorikishs — Hokutoriki with his kesho-mawashi during the dohyo-iri

The highlight of Hokutoriki's career came in May 2004, the only occasion when he recorded a winning score from the upper maegashira ranks. Ranked at maegashira 1, he sensationally defeated Asashoryu on the sixth day - his first ever victory over a yokozuna. Asashoryu had won the previous two tournaments with unbeaten 15-0 records and was on a 35 bout winning streak. With Asashoryu suffering another defeat to Kyokutenho on Day 11, Hokutoriki came into the final day the sole leader on 13-1, his only defeat in the tournament thus far being to Wakanosato on Day 8. However, he lost his senshuraku bout to Hakuho, then in his debut top division tournament, being sidestepped by the 19-year-old after two false starts. With Asashoryu defeating Chiyotaikai, both Asashoryu and Hokutoriki were tied on 13-2 and had to meet again in a playoff for the championship, which Hokutoriki lost. Nevertheless, he was rewarded with special prizes for Fighting spirit and Outstanding Performance, and after the tournament he was promoted to sumo's third highest rank of sekiwake.

Hokutoriki managed only a 3-12 record in his sekiwake debut and never managed a return to the san'yaku ranks, instead bouncing up and down the maegashira ranks. He is one of the few wrestlers (along with Kotetsuyama and Hayateumi) whose only tournament in san'yaku was at sekiwake rather than komusubi. He won another Fighting Spirit Award for his twelve wins from maegashira 11 in January 2006, but in November of that year he pulled out of the tournament on the ninth day with no wins at all and was relegated to the juryo division. However, a 9-6 record at juryo 4 in March 2007 was good enough to earn promotion back to the top division for the May 2007 tournament. Although he remained in makuuchi he did not manage to defeat a yokozuna again and had several disastrous openings to tournaments, going 0-10 in July 2008 from maegashira 2 and 0-12 in March 2009 from maegashira 1. In May 2009 another poor record of 4-11 saw him demoted to juryo for the second time. However, an 11-4 score there returned him immediately to the top division.

He withdrew from the September 2010 tournament on the 13th day after suffering a neck injury, which also kept him out of the following tournament in November. Falling to the bottom of the juryo division, he was unable to enter the January 2011 basho as well.

Retirement from Sumo[]

Hokutoriki did not enter the May 2011 technical examination tournament, at which he had fallen to the rank of makushita 13, and announced his retirement on Day 7. He remained in sumo as a coach at Hakkaku stable under the toshiyori or elder name of Tanigawa-oyakata. His danpatsu-shiki or retirement ceremony was held in May 2012. In June 2018 he transferred to Kokonoe stable.

Personal Life[]

Hokutoriki is married, and his first child, a daughter, was born in December 2007.
Hokutoriki is the only Sekiwake to experience a winless 0-7 tournament before becoming a sekitori.
Hokutoriki's hobby is listening to music.

Fighting Style[]

Hokutoriki relied almost exclusively on pushing and slapping techniques, with over a third of his wins coming by oshidashi, or push-out. He was usually defeated if his opponents managed to grab hold of his mawashi or belt. He often used henka, or sidestepping, to wrong-foot his opponents, and was adept at pull-downs and slap-downs. However, in the January 2008 tournament he was himself a victim of the henka tactic on three consecutive days, slipping from a score of 6-5 to 6-8.