Yamato Gō

Yamato Go
大和 剛
Personal information
Born George Kalima
(1969-12-17) December 17, 1969
Hawaii, USA
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 1⁄2 in)
Weight 191 kg (421 lb)
Career
Stable Magaki
Record 251-198-24
Debut November, 1990
Highest rank Maegashira 12 (March, 1997)
Retired September, 1998
Championships 1 (Jonokuchi)
* Up to date as of July 2007.

Yamato Gō (born 17 December 1969 as George Kalima) is a former sumo wrestler from Oahu, Hawaii, United States. His highest rank was maegashira 12.

Career

He was a schoolfriend of future yokozuna Akebono. He made his professional debut in November 1990, joining Magaki stable. His brother, Glenn, joined two months later, competing under the name of Onami. Yamato reached the salaried sekitori ranks in March 1995 when he was promoted to the jūryō division. He reached the top makuuchi division in January 1997, the first wrestler from his stable to do so since it was re-established in 1983. He chalked up a winning record of 8-7 in his debut and was ranked there for seven tournaments. He was forced to sit out the March 1998 tournament with a life-threatening bout of pneumonia which sent him down to jūryō. Still not fully recovered in May, he turned in a disastrous 1-14 record and fell to the unsalaried makushita division. Just before the July tournament he was hit by a car and was forced to withdraw once again. This sent him down to the bottom of makushita. After a 5-2 score in September he decided to retire rather than face another long struggle back up the rankings, and started up his own restaurant, Kama'āina's, in Tokyo's Roppongi district.[1]

Although Yamato never rose high enough in the rankings to face a yokozuna in tournament competition, he once defeated Takanohana eight times in a row in training.[1]

Fighting style

Yamato specialised in pushing and thrusting techniques, rarely fighting on the mawashi, and his two favourite kimarite were tsukidashi, or thrust out, and oshidashi, or push out.

Career record

Yamato Go[2]
Year in sumo January
Hatsu basho, Tokyo		 March
Haru basho, Osaka		 May
Natsu basho, Tokyo		 July
Nagoya basho, Nagoya		 September
Aki basho, Tokyo		 November
Kyūshū basho, Fukuoka
1990 x x x x x (Maezumo)
1991 West Jonokuchi #34
6–1–PP
Champion
 		 West Jonidan #74
2–3–2
 		 East Jonidan #106
4–3
 		 West Jonidan #70
3–4
 		 East Jonidan #94
6–1
 		 West Jonidan #22
6–1
 
1992 East Sandanme #64
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #78
5–2
 		 East Sandanme #45
6–1
 		 West Makushita #59
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #13
3–4
 		 West Sandanme #31
3–4
 
1993 West Sandanme #46
5–2
 		 West Sandanme #14
5–2
 		 East Makushita #48
2–5
 		 West Sandanme #6
3–4
 		 East Sandanme #22
5–2
 		 East Makushita #58
4–3
 
1994 West Makushita #50
5–2
 		 West Makushita #31
5–2
 		 West Makushita #18
5–2
 		 East Makushita #10
3–4
 		 East Makushita #16
5–2
 		 West Makushita #7
4–3
 
1995 West Makushita #4
6–1
 		 East Jūryō #13
6–9
 		 West Makushita #3
6–1
 		 West Jūryō #11
6–9
 		 West Makushita #4
5–2
 		 West Jūryō #13
9–6
 
1996 West Jūryō #8
6–9
 		 West Jūryō #12
9–6
 		 East Jūryō #7
7–8
 		 East Jūryō #11
10–5
 		 East Jūryō #4
10–5
 		 West Jūryō #1
11–4
 
1997 West Maegashira #14
8–7
 		 West Maegashira #12
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #14
7–8
 		 West Maegashira #15
6–9
 		 West Jūryō #2
11–4
 		 East Maegashira #12
7–8
 
1998 East Maegashira #14
7–8
 		 East Maegashira #16
Sat out due to injury
0–0–15		 East Jūryō #9
1–14
 		 East Makushita #9
Sat out due to injury
0–0–7		 East Makushita #49
Retired
5–2		 x
Record given as win-loss-absent    Top Division Champion Retired Lower Divisions

Sanshō key: F=Fighting spirit; O=Outstanding performance; T=Technique     Also shown: ★=Kinboshi(s); P=Playoff(s)
Divisions: Makuuchi — Jūryō — Makushita — Sandanme — Jonidan — Jonokuchi

Makuuchi ranks: Yokozuna — Ōzeki — Sekiwake — Komusubi — Maegashira

See also

References

  1. 1 2 Panek, Mark (2006). Gaijin Yokozuna. University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-3043-1.
  2. ↑ "Yamato Go Rikishi Information". Sumo Reference. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
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