Kyokushuho Koki

Kyokushuho Koki - 旭秀鵬滉規 (born August 9, 1988) is a former Mongolian professional sumo wrestler from Ulaanbaatar. He made his debut in May 2007 and wrestled for Tomozuna stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 2012. His highest was maegashira 4 and he retired in January 2022.

Early Life[]

Tumurbaatar Erdenbaatar was born on August 9, 1988, in Ulaanbaatar. His father was a former president of a transportation company and his mother was a former teacher. They lived in the center of Ulaanbaatar, the capital city, and he has two siblings: an older sister who is a doctor at a military hospital and an older brother who studied at Japan's National Defense Academy and is now a presidential bodyguard.^[1]

Growing up in a comfortable manner, his father hoped that he would pursue something other than a military career. Erdenbaatar played basketball in Mongolia and could easily perform two-handed dunks. When deciding on his future path, Erdenbaatar also considered studying in Germany.^[1] In 2004, Erdenbaatar first came to Japan. He came as an exchange student through the Mongolian Judo Federation and became a student at Motosu City First High School in Gifu Prefecture. In his second year of high school he took first place in the prefectural judo tournament and went on to take third place in the Tokai regional tournament. He had no experience in sumo beforehand, but having aspired to fellow Mongolian Kyokutenho's success he decided to join Oshima stable, the same stable as his idol. He was able to circumnavigate sumo's one-foreigner-per-stable rule because Kyokutenho had become a naturalized Japanese citizen, although this loophole has since been closed. In April 2012 the stable closed with his stablemaster, former ozeki Asahikuni, close to the mandatory retirement age, and he moved to Tomozuna stable.^[2]

Career[]

Early Career[]

Erdenbaatar made his professional debut in May 2007 under the shikona "Kyokushuho" (旭秀鵬). In his jonokuchi debut he scored an impressive 6-1 record and the following September 2007 tournament, Kyokushuho posted another 6-1 record. This result boosted him to the top of jonidan for the November 2007, where he ended up winning all seven matches, plus a three-way playoff to clinch the jonidan yusho. As a result, Kyokushuho was promoted to sandanme in January 2008 where he finished with a 5-2 record and was promoted to makushita for the following March 2008 tournament.^[3]

KyukushuhoMakushita — Kyokushuho after wrestling a match in makushita (c. 2010)

Kyokushuho made his makushita debut in March 2008 and continued his strong performance, remaining in the top half of the division for about three years. In May 2011, he was ranked at makushita 12 and posted a 4–3 record. Due to the numerous openings created by the 2011 match-fixing scandal, he was promoted all the way to makushita 2. At that rank, he again recorded a 4–3 result, which included a victory over juryo-ranked Arawashi, securing his promotion to the salaried juryo division for the September 2011 tournament.^[3]

Juryo Career[]

Kyokushuho made his juryo debut in September 2011 at the rank of juryo 10, where he posted a solid 9–6 record. As a result, he was promoted to juryo 6. There, he delivered an even stronger performance with a 10-5 record, earning a promotion to the top-tier makuuchi division for the following January 2012 tournament.^[3]

Makuuchi Career[]

Kyokushuho struggled in his makuuchi debut and could only manage three wins against twelve losses. He was demoted back down to juryo in March 2012 after only one tournament in the top division. In May 2012, he transferred to Tomozuna stable following the closure of Oshima stable.^[4]

KyokushuhoPrepares2014 — Kyokushuho prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2014)

Though Kyokushuho seemed to have found his stride again after posting two consecutive 9–6 tournaments in the following March and May tournaments, a disastrous eight consecutive losses followed by a withdrawal from the July 2012 tournament saw him relegated back to the unsalaried ranks for the first time in a year. He bounced back quickly in the September tournament and a 6–1 record at makushita 1 put him right back in the salaried ranks. An 8–7 kachi-koshi in the November tournament and a very strong showing of 11–4 in the January 2012 tournament would put him at the rank of juryo 2 for the March tournament. Here he achieved his most successful tournament yet by posting a 12–3 record and the championship. To achieve this he beat fellow Mongolian Azumaryu on the final day to give both the same record for the tournament and then later in the day beat him again in a playoff to take the championship. For the May tournament Kyokushuho was promoted to the top division for the second time to a new highest rank of maegashira 12, but had to withdraw through injury on Day 10. He reached his highest rank to date of maegashira 4 in January 2016, but an injury forced him to sit out the May 2016 tournament, and this resulted in a fall to juryo.^[3]

Later Career[]

Kyokushuho remained in the juryo division for the next four years of his career, producing a mix of results. In November 2020, he achieved a 10–5 record and qualified for a playoff for the juryo yusho but was defeated by Midorifuji, who went on to claim the championship. Kyokushuho was forced to sit out of the January 2021 after a wrestler in his stable tested positive for COVID-19.^[5] Following this, he posted five consecutive 6-9 records and was demoted back to the unsalaried ranks after nine straight years as a sekitori.^[3]

Retirement from Sumo[]

After 27 straight tournaments in juryo, and five straight 6–9 records from March until November 2021, Kyokushuho faced demotion to makushita. He withdrew from the start of the January 2022 basho ranked at makushita 1. On 21 January 2022, the Sumo Association announced his retirement.^[6]

Kyokushuho's danpatsu-shiki (retirement ceremony) was held on 4 June 2023 at the Tobu Hotel Levant in Tokyo. According to reports from that time, he started a trading company in Mongolia and has been actively working as its manager.^[7]

Personal Life[]

On January 13, 2019, Kyokushuho married a 25 year old Mongolian woman who he had been in a relationship for four years. They have two daughters.^[8]
Kyokushuho served as yokozuna Hakuho's sword carrier, or tachimochi.^[9]

Fighting Style[]

Kyokushuho is a yotsu sumo wrestler, preferring grappling techniques to pushing or thrusting. His favored grip on his opponent's mawashi or belt is migi-yotsu, meaning his left hand is inside and his right hand outside his opponent's.^[10] A straightforward yorikiri or force out is his most common winning kimarite but he also regularly uses oshidashi (push out) and uwatenage (overarm throw).^[11]