Takanoyama Shuntarō's Best Finishes - Technique Breakdown
Reading time: 3 minutes
Pavel Bojar, also better known as Takanoyama Shuntaro, is basically what he appears to be: a skinny sumo wrestler. Without a doubt, his light weight is what makes his victories so special and inspirational.
Fan of sumo or not, the teaching this man has to offer goes beyond the sport itself.
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Takanoyama Shuntaro
Takanoyama's real name is Pavel Bojar. Born 21 February 1983, Pavel is originally from the Czech Republic and is also the first man from his country to join professional Sumo in Japan.
Takanoyama is Pavel's shikona, a sumo wrestler's ring name, meaning "noble mountain".
At first, Pavel was a judo practitioner, and interest in sumo came into his life later. Apparently, there's a big interest in sumo in the Czech Republic, making it Europe's number one country where sumo is popular.
After achieving a Bronze medal in the 2000 Junior World Sumo Championship, Pavel was accepted by Naruto Stable. He made his official debut back in 2001 just after successfully passing his physical exam.
He retired in 2014 after losing his first match. Such loss would guarantee him a big fall down the makushita division. Since he could no longer win, he decided not to pursue and to return back to his country.
Takanoyama's Technique
What I found so inspirational about Takanoyama's style of execution is how much his technique and timing can overcome his opponent's weight.
Weight is a big factor when it comes to martial arts and combat sports. In fact, weight is the factor upon which divisions are made. Opponents are chosen based on their mass and if one exceeds too much, the match is considered not fair.
Ok, of course, you know all of that. However, did you know that in professional Sumo there are no weight divisions? This means that one can face an opponent double his weight.
Given Pavel's height (185 cm or 6 feet 1 inch) and weight (98 kilos or 200 lbs), we can agree that he makes a very skinny opponent in sumo wrestling. Consequently, this also means that most of his opponents are almost double his size.
Observing his moves, one can truly appreciate how Pavel uses his opponent's strength and bigger weight to his advantage. Creating favorable levers, he succeeds to throw a much bigger opponent to the ground.
He also uses the opponent's speed to his favor. When he's faced with a massive bull-like wrestler who attacks him, he uses his opponent's speed combined with weight in order to unbalance his posture.
In conclusion, Takanoyama is a great example of how much good knowledge and understanding of the technique can give you new persepctives and opportunities against much bigger opponents.
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