Kokkai Futoshi

Kokkai Futoshi (born March 10, 1981 as Merab Tsaguria, მერაბ ცაგურია) is a professional sumo wrestler from Georgia. He is the first Caucasian rikishi to reach sumo's highest division, makuuchi. His highest rank has been komusubi. His shikona, or ring name of Kokkai is named after the word for Black Sea in Japanese.

Early career

Kokkai was born as Merab Tsaguria in Sukhumi, Abkhaz Autonomous Republic in then-Soviet Georgia. The secessionist war in Abkhazia forced his family to move to Tbilisi, capital of Georgia, in 1992. He started amateur wrestling from the age of six, being taught by his father who represented the Soviet Union in the sport. Merab enrolled in the National Academy of Sports of Georgia and quickly got interested in sumo, taking part in the World Amateur Sumo Championships in Riesa, Germany. In January 2001, he arrived in Tokyo, Japan, and joined a local sumo school. He made his professional debut in May 2001, joining Oitekaze stable. He quickly rose through the lower divisions, winning the jonidan and sandanme championships with perfect 7-0 records. Another tournament title in the makushita division in January 2003 followed by a 5-2 score at Makushita 1 saw him reach elite sekitori status in May 2003. After winning the jūryō division championship with a 14-1 record in November 2003 he was promoted to the top makuuchi division in January 2004, just 16 tournaments after his debut.

Top division career

Kokkai steadily climbed the maegashira ranks, reaching maegashira 1 in November 2004 before slipping back slightly. One of his best performances came in July 2005 when he defeated Yokozuna Asashōryū for the first time, scored nine wins and was awarded the Fighting Spirit prize. He made his sanyaku debut in September 2006 at komusubi rank and held it with a solid 8-7 record, but he fell back to the maegashira ranks after a back injury restricted him to a poor 3-12 mark in November.

In March 2007 he turned in an impressive 10-5 score but he struggled again in May 2007, only managing three wins at the rank of maegashira 2. After another losing score in July of that year he fell to maegashira 12 in September, his lowest ever top division rank. He managed nine wins in November 2007, his first kachi-koshi or winning score since March.

Kokkai has recently begun to fight more on the mawashi, gripping his opponent's belt, switching from the pushing and thrusting techniques he used earlier in his career. After a solid 9-6 performance in January 2008, in the following tournament he produced his best ever top division result, a 12-3 score from the rank of maegashira 5, which earned him joint runner-up honours and his second Fighting Sprit prize. However, in the May 2008 tournament he could only manage three wins from the maegashira 1 ranking. Demoted to maegashira 10 for July, he struggled again, winning only five bouts. He was disqualified from his final match against Kimurayama after his was judged to have pulled his opponent's topknot, which is a kinjite or foul. Kokkai maintained it was accidental as the tape on his fingers had stuck to Kimurayama's hair.

Kokkai has since been joined in the top division by several wrestlers from Eastern Europe: Kotoōshū from Bulgaria, Rohō, Hakurozan and Wakanoho from Russia, and Baruto from Estonia. In May 2008 a fellow Georgian, Tochinoshin, was also promoted to makuuchi., and Kokkai defeated him in their first match that July. Kokkai is also good friends with fellow top division wrestler Kakizoe.

He speaks four languages: Georgian, Russian, English and Japanese.

He is a devout Christian and prays every day.

He will sometimes choose not to shave during a tournament for superstitious reasons and will therefore build up stubble, unusual for sumo wrestlers who are normally always clean-shaven. In a recent tournament he also appeared with prominent sideburns for a few days, before he was told by his stablemaster to shave them off.

Family

Kokkai's younger brother George also became a professional sumo wrestler in September 2005 under the name Tsukasaumi, but quit after just a year because of persistent injuries, returning to Georgia to take over the family business.

Top division record

References

See also

• Glossary of sumo terms
• List of active sumo wrestlers

External links

• Japanese Sumo Association Biography (English)