Fight to the Last
Sunshine English Course 3 (Showa 61) pg. 66-71
| Fight to the Last | |
|---|---|
| ? | |
| Details | |
| Word count | 479 |
| Book | Sunshine |
| Grade | 3 |
| Year | 1986 |
"I am very proud of my long 20-year career in sumo," said Takamiyama when he left the sumo ring at the age of thirty-nine.
Jesse Kuhaulua was born and brought up in Hawaii. He joined his high school football team. With his huge body and strength he made himself a star player. But his knees and legs were not strong enough, so he joined the Maui Sumo Club to strengthen them.
A few years later he won the Hawaiian Sumo Championship. His name was known to all sumo fans in Hawaii.
One day Takasago Oyakata led the Grand Sumo team to Hawaii. There he found this promising sumo wrestler. He invited Jesse to join the Takasago-beya. Jesse accepted the offer.
In February, 1964, Jesse arrived in Tokyo. It was snowing. "Oh, how cold!" he said. "I’ve never seen such white rain before!"
From an easy Hawaiian life Jesse had to change to a life of shimbo, endurance. Shimbo was the first Japanese word he learned.
At first Jesse could not eat the special stew called chanko-nabe. So he was given bacon, eggs, and bread instead. It took him two years to get used to chanko-nabe.
Jesse had special training day after day. He often cried, but never lost heart. He said, "These are not my tears but drops of sweat from my eyes." After he lost too many matches in the ring, he lost confidence in himself.
One evening he left his room alone. He took a Yamanote Line train, though he had no place to go. For many hours he just sat on the train that went around and around Tokyo. He came back after midnight, but the Oyakata was still waiting for him.
Jesse often wrote to his mother that he felt lonely. But he never said he wanted to go back home. His mother’s words were always the same: "Fight to the last!"
In 1967, when he rose to juryo, he said, "Sekitori is in heaven, and makushita is in hell." He tried to be Japanese in every way, and married a Japanese woman in 1974.
Takamiyama often pushed yokozuna out of the ring. At other times he quickly lost matches and showed his regret with his body. He was a real star of the sumo ring even when he lost.
He is 192 centimeters tall, and at one time weighed 192 kilograms. With his humorous gestures he pleased all sumo fans.
Jesse’s two children always watched his matches on television. When he was in Kyushu, Takamiyama got a letter from his six-year-old son.
The letter read:
Dear Dad,
Why did you fall down? Try your best.
From Yumitaro
Takamiyama was encouraged by this letter and the next day he pushed a yokozuna out of the ring.
In 1984 Takamiyama left the ring. But the name of Takamiyama will remain in the history of sumo forever.
Notes
- Makuuchi is the top division in sumo. There are 42 wrestlers in this division.
- Jūryō is the second division in sumo. There are 28 wrestlers in this division.
- Makushita is the third division in sumo. There are 120 wrestlers in this division.
- Sekitori refers to a wrestler from the top 2 divisions. They receive regular monthly payments.
- Yokozuna is the highest rank available in sumo.
