Straight from the GSB "delayed due to technical difficulties" Vault, comes a double header of US sumo interviews! Our second episode today is Jake catching up with Stan "Panda" Kocol" out of Washington state's Iron Goat Sumo Club after the Harvest Days tournament in Midvale, Utah.
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Straight from the GSB "delayed due to technical difficulties" Vault, comes a double header of US sumo interviews! First up, Jake sits down with Raijin Sumo's Edobor Konyeha and Dallas's Corey Morrison to talk about Edo and his epic run at the 2023 Cowboy Cup.
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The top of the banzuke looks a little beat up this tournament. Who will be left standing when the dust clears? Also towards the end of the episode, check out Ryan's excellent punishment for losing the Nagoya prediction bet.
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Was this a really good banzuke prediction from Ryan or a really bad one? Both? Neither?
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Ryan and Jake take a look at what's coming in Aki. Check out our Youtube version to follow along visually as we talk through the ranks.
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With Nagoya in the books and Mak finally home from Japan, it's time we looked back on a really weird and fun basho. Stay tuned to the end for Flyric's overdue (but worth it) punishment from last tournament: sumo erotica!
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*Spoilers thru day 8*
With the top 3 wrestlers well out of the running, who will step up to take the yusho in Nagoya?
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Nagoya brings us a new ozeki and three more potentials waiting in the wings. Join us to break down what we think of their chances and all the other storylines leading up to a very interesting Nagoya basho.
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If the title wasn't a hint, this episode covers the GSBs thoughts on the retiring of Tochinoshin, Ichinojo, and Ishiura. Let us know your favorite highlights and things you will miss from these great rikishi!
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Kind of a weird one here, does Ryan have to add new rules to his banzuke handbook?
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Today we sit down with Salt City Sumo's George Ferris ahead of his club's first ever tournament: The Harvest Days Sumo Open, coming up in Salt Lake City on August 5th! Check sumo411.com for details on this and other upcoming tournaments.
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Ryan walks Jake through his prediction for Nagoya, but per his overwhelming competitive nature, we are posting this banzuke prediction AFTER the Guess the Banzuke game has finished accepting submissions. He wants that top rank something fierce.
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This episode has been long overdue. Ryan and Mak sit down with Jason Harris of Jason's All Sumo Channel for some great conversations about the current state of Sumo and thoughts about the future of the sport.
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Natsu is in the books and it kinda went as expected? Regardless, plenty of sumo to break down.
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***Spoilers thru day 8***
Some great sumo so far, let's break down what we've got at the halfway point of the basho.
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Joining us today is Chicago Sumo's Jamal Williams, who tried his hand at live sumo for the first time last month in Dallas.
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There is a lot of potential volatility for the GSB crew to discuss this basho. Returning Yokozuna, desperate Ozeki, and surging Sekiwake.
Special thanks to Jared Tadlock, Caleb Baccus, The Sumo Punx, and the GSB extended family for lending their voices to Jake's punishment
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On the anniversary of their spur-of-the-moment transformation from bar patrons to sumo warriors, today we're joined by Dallas Sumo Club's Rick and Bubba Garza! A little over a year ago they stepped in the ring at the first Rollertown event and began their journey into sumo, so it seemed perfect to have them help us cover last weekend's Rollertown Showdown!
Also there was some strange interference at the end of the recording... Oh well, I'm sure it was nothing.
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Ryan nailed this one, so brace yourself for gloating amongst the data (it's well deserved, but still).
Special treat at 44:00 where Jake uses the lessons learned from Ryan's banzuke predictions to create a banzuke based on the recent amateur event, the Rollertown Showdown in Dallas! Plenty more coming on this tournament.
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Today we check in with friend of the show Mr. JWags, ostensibly to talk about what an ozeki run needs to look like in the modern era, but as always it inevitably evolves into general sumo talk. Find more from JWags on his YouTube channel, @TheDohyo!
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The next event in US Sumo is the Rollertown Showdown in Dallas! This is a big one, including a team draft, a sumo-themed beer release, and GAGAMARU visiting the USA to lead a training session! Dallas Sumo Oyakata Corey Morrison tells us all about it. Go to dallassumoclub.org to sign up!
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Ryan and Jake take a stab at what the rankings will look like for the May basho.
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Been traveling with Kyle so much this year we figured we better have him on the show again to help us cover all of March's events.
Full video of both 2023 Nationals and the Kuma Sumo Bash on the Grand Sumo Breakdown YouTube channel!
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With today's bombshell announcement, GSB couldn't help but offer our 2 cents. Let us know what you think as well!
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Ah yes, exactly what we predicted on our midway... Even if it took till the second week to heat up, the Haru basho absolutely delivered.
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***SPOILERS THRU DAY 7***
Does this basho deserve a midway episode? Well, yes, but we're still going to whine about it.
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We go quite a ways off the rails on our coverage of the March tournament, but stick with it. There's gotta be some actual sumo content in there somewhere.
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Another basho with a wild upper banzuke. Ryan's predictions for this one start off great but end up bordering on dumpster fire.
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Are you a new wrestler looking to compete at your first nationals? Are you a veteran looking to get an idea who your competition is? Kyle and Ryan fill us in on all the details for Orlando.
More info and signups here: Smoothcomp Link
Event will stream live on the Grand Sumo Breakdown YouTube channel March 11.
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So this next banzuke will have a normal-looking san'yaku, right? RIGHT?
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Our second installment of the GSB Hall of Fame, where we revisit stories that are worth talking about but might not be worth a full bonus episode.
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As Midwesterners, there's no place GSB would rather be in February than Southern California, and though we can't make it there in person, Honu Sumo's Justin "JJ" Jones and Mengkin Ragan give us the next best thing: a US sumo tournament! The SoCal Open takes place February 25th in San Diego, so find Honu Sumo on Instagram or go to bit.ly/socalopensd for more info! Streaming will be on the Maximum Effort Studios YouTube channel.
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Tom Zabel and Caleb Baccus join us to talk about the next US sumo event: February 11th's Mighty Eagle Team Tournament in San Antonio. Go to mightyeaglesumo.com for more info and make sure to watch the stream at noon central on the Lonestar Sumo YouTube channel!
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To promote, or not to promote? That is the question that we spend far too long debating.
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***Spoilers thru day 8***
Pretty solid basho so far. Some great technical battles, some brutal striking matches, and best of all HENKAS!
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2023 looks to be an interesting year. Will we get any new yokozuna or ozeki? Will we even keep the ones we have? Ryan, Mak, Flyric, and Hakuh- I mean Jake discuss.
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This was a rough one. Ryan tries to pick up the pieces while Jake tries to podcast and parent.
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2022 was a wild year in sumo. Every tournament had a different champ, covid demolished the July basho, Mitakeumi gained and subsequently lost ozeki status, Takayasu broke a million hearts... Join the GSB crew to discuss the best and worst of the year! Stay tuned after the credits for our punishment of the year replay.
Also make sure to check out our amateur sumo award show where Jake and Mak were joined by the Sumo Punx and Sake & Sumo's Caleb!
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With 2022 coming to a close, all of us US sumo enthusiasts should look back with pride on one of the biggest growth years our sport has ever seen. Mak and Jake are joined by Caleb Baccus - sumo black belt and Sake & Sumo podcast host - as well as the SUMO PUNX! Congratulations to all our award winners and thank you to everybody who helped make 2022 a great year for sumo!
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After hundreds of responses, the 2022 popularity poll results are in! Find out who are the most and least liked rikishi of the year in GSB's 4th annual event.
Oh also Jake's baby is here.
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Five junior san'yaku slots? Eight?! Who the hell knows? Ryan takes his best guess. Also Jake apologizes in advance...
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It's time for the Kyushu Review-shu! The guys scrape the depressed pile of Jake off the floor and discuss the final heartbrea- I mean basho of 2022!
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Ad music: "Easy Lemon" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
Sometimes an event feels cursed, like the whole universe is conspiring to keep a good thing from happening. The Houston Open was one such event, but the sumo way is to keep moving forward! Nick Ton and Shogeki Sumo powered through to make the tournament a great one no matter what. First-time competitor Nate Hudson joins us to talk about how it went.
Also, since Jake fumbled it so bad, here are the special prize winners he was trying to remember:
Outstanding Performance: Madison Guinn
Technique: Jared Tadlock
Fighting Spirit: Khalil Collins
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***SPOILERS THROUGH DAY 8***
Which of the co-leaders can continue their dominance into week 2? We have some shoddy guesses for you.
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Ad music: "Epic Unease" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License
GSB's better-late-than-never preview is here! Enjoy our long, meandering opinions that even manage to stay on topic some of the time.
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Ahead of this Saturday's Houston Open, Jake and Mak are joined by Brandon and Al to preview the next US sumo event: December 3rd's Ronin Sumo Tournament!
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Ryan and Jake review the first ever... Christmas Tree banzuke?
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Jake sits down with Nick Ton and Paul Gutierrez, two of the founding members of Houston's Shogeki Sumo. Watch for the Houston Open on GSB's YouTube channel Saturday November 12th!
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Mak recaps the 2022 Beer City Sumo Open with sumo wrestlers Gabe Unick of Grand Rapids, Matt Shields of Chicago, and…. Jake of Iowa? If you’d like to try wrestling with these folks, make sure to come to Davenport IA on 10/15 for a training seminar! More details on Facebook under the event “Quad Cities Sumo Training.” Feel free to reach out to any of us with questions!
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Ryan walks a very sore Jake through a banzuke that is simultaneously really messed up but somehow also predictable.
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Just in time for his All American Sumo Classic, Jake and Mak are joined by Sumo Dan! The event will be held October 8th at the Mr. America Sports Festival, find @SumoDanUSA on Instagram for more info!
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***Book review at 1:27:28***
A dramatic and chaotic and, dare we say, "wacky" Aki basho is in the books. Hearts were broken, henkas were henka'd, hype trains were derailed.
Stay tuned for Jake's review of Ash Warren's new book, The Way of Salt, a great read on sumo and Japanese culture. Available now!
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***Spoilers thru day 8***
Settle down, Ryan. Settle down. There's still a whole week to go...
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Dark Circle Sumo's premier event of the year is in the books! Head coach Justin Kizzart and heavyweight Ben Marquez help us go over the results and talk about about the day.
Check out full event video on Dark Circle's youtube page
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When the GSB boys don't get to hang out much during an offseason, we tend to go long... Enjoy our epic, rambling preview of the Aki tournament that starts this Sunday.
Special thanks to our musical guest, JWags! Check out the mrjwags channel on youtube
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No getting around it, this one's a mess.... Enjoy!
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Only a few days left before one of the biggest amateur sumo events of the year! Mighty Eagle Sumo's Caleb Baccus joins us to preview the Consulate's Cup, happening this Saturday in Austin, TX! Watch over 50 wrestlers collide live on Dark Circle Sumo's youtube page from 11-4 central with play-by-play commentary from GSB, Sumo Kaboom, Sumo Punx, Sake & Sumo, and more!
More info @ DarkCircleSumo.com
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With the 2nd annual Iron Belly tournament now behind us, who better to help us recap the action than some first time competitors? Oscar and James of New York Sumo Club join us to talk about traveling to their first ever tournament and about practicing sumo in NYC.
Full video for the Iron Belly II tournament on the Grand Sumo Breakdown YouTube channel.
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What on earth are we supposed to do with this banzuke? Ryan does the painfully in-depth research so you don't have to. Here's the calendar of upcoming amateur events that Jake mentioned:
- 8/6 - Iron Belly II, Orlando FL
- 8/28 - Seminar w/ Gagamaru, Dallas TX
- 9/3 - The Consulate's Cup, Austin TX
- 9/10 - US Sumo Open, Los Angeles CA
- 10/1+2 - Beer City Sumo Open, Grand Rapids MI
- 11/12 - Texas Sumo Open, Houston TX
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Adding to an already excellent upcoming stretch of amateur sumo events, Grand Rapids Sumo Club's Gabe Unick fills us in on the Beer City Open, as well as his start in sumo and their recent tournament at the JAFAX convention. Lots going on this Fall, make sure to update your calendars!
- 8/6 - Iron Belly II, Orlando FL
- 8/28 - Seminar w/ Gagamaru, Dallas TX
- 9/3 - The Consulate's Cup, Austin TX
- 9/10 - US Sumo Open, Los Angeles CA
- 10/1+2 - Beer City Sumo Open, Grand Rapids MI
- 11/12 - Texas Sumo Open, Houston TX
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Sorry we're late, but we simply could not record until Ryan shotgunned a beer on camera. It'll make sense I promise.
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After half a year out of the ring, Mark Jones is back! The heavyweight AND openweight gold medalist at last year's Iron Belly Tournament will look to defend his titles next weekend in Orlando. In classic GSB fashion though, we still end up managing to spend half the time talking about anime and crab legs.
Make sure to tune in for the Iron Belly II Tournament coming up on August 6th at noon Eastern in Orlando. Jake and Mak will be providing livestream commentary on YouTube!
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Ahead of Florida's next big tournament, Brandon and Al of Ronin Sumo-Beya take a break from their dohyo on the beach to tell us more about their new club and what else is on their calendars.
Make sure to tune in for the Iron Belly II Tournament coming up on August 6th at noon Eastern in Orlando. Keep an eye out for more info soon!
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***Spoilers through day 8***
Hairpulls? Loose mawashis? No one with less than 2 losses? What a weird one so far...
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The World Games in Birmingham was an incredible experience, both for our USA wrestlers and fans. Since GSB couldn't be there in person, we thought we'd check in with Brenda, who had a front row view of all the action and helped the rest of us watch the preliminary matches. Make sure to check out highlights on YouTube, especially on the Sumo Punx channel. Full event results on TWG2022.com
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After The World Games, the next chance to see our American amateur wrestlers will be the 2nd annual Iron Belly Tournament, hosted by Ironwave Sumo! We check in with Ironwave to recap last year and talk about what to expect next month.
The Iron Belly Tournament takes place August 6th at 10Ten Brewing in Orlando at noon local with livestreaming by GSB!
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Wait a sec, that's not Jake and Mak! Enjoy a new lineup that is, on average, much funnier than normal. Catch Jake on the next episode of Sumo Mainichi and Mak on the next Sumo Kaboom, we'll bring them home to GSB on the Midway.
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With just a few days left until The World Games in Birmingham AL, we sit down with Team USA lightweight Elizabeth Salazar out of Mighty Eagle Sumo. Make sure to watch the highest level amateur sumo event of the year this Saturday, July 9th on the Olympic Channel! More info HERE.
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Today we check in with one of the newest American clubs, Ronin Rikishi Sumo out of Dallas/Fort Worth. Coach and sambo expert Julian Sanchez tells us about their sumo journey so far and their debut at the Cowboy Cup.
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Ryan gets to boast about an all-time great banzuke performance while Jake limps through new video controls. Averages out to a passable episode I suppose?
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The hungriest man in sumo is on the prowl, pity the fools who will have to face him at The World Games! The legendary Trent Sabo takes some time off the road to sit down with GSB and deliver possibly the best beans-related wrestling promo of all time.
Sumo at The World Games takes place July 9th and 10th in Birmingham, Alabama, more info at twg2022.com/sports/sumo
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THE COWBOY CUP WAS FRICKIN' AWESOME. GO WATCH IT ON YOUTUBE. THEN LISTEN TO THIS PODCAST. THEN SHOW UP NEXT YEAR. HAKKEY'ALL!
(Full stream on the Dallas Sumo Club channel)
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Today we're joined by one of the best wrestlers in the country, reigning women's heavyweight champ Kellyann Ball. Kellyann brought home plenty of hardware to the trophy case of Yamamoto Sumo Dojo at this year's Nationals, and next she's headed to the World Games in July!
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Ryan has a huge amount of research for this banzuke, and Jake is finding unhealthy ways to cope.
Watch the Cowboy Cup this Saturday, June 11th at noon central on Dallas Sumo Club's youtube page!
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A new player has entered the sumo podcasting game! Join Jake and Mak to get to know our new rivals, the Sumo Punx: Matt and Sabrina!
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After earning his first gold medal this spring at the Texas Classic, former pro wrestler Jared Tadlock has high hopes for the next leg of the Texas championship season: the first ever Cowboy Cup Sumo Open!
The Cowboy Cup takes place June 11th at noon central at the Panther Pavilion in Fort Worth TX. Streaming details coming soon.
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What a weird tournament. All that chaos in week one just for that result? Don't get me wrong, it makes sense in the big picture but it feels like it deserved something... whackier?
Also in order to fulfill our podcast punishments from this and previous bashos, the last segment of this episode is pure misery.... Watch us suffer live on the youtube version!
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Barely 4 months after trying sumo for the first time, wrestling coach Jordan Karst is the American middleweight sumo champion. Join us to discuss his adventures in wrestling and in expanding his hobbies during the pandemic.
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***SPOILERS THRU DAY 8***
Wtf is this basho....
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Today we're joined by Yamamoto Sumo Dojo's Danny Avila, 2022 light heavyweight bronze medalist and new USSF board member! We talk about last month's Nationals, training in California, and the illness that has sidelined him for nearly 2 years.
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Are Terunofuji's injuries finally catching up to him? Can Wakatakakage follow up his March yusho? Ryan, Mak, Flyric, and the shambling zombie of Jake discuss all this and more.
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Ryan and Jake review a very silly and inconsistent banzuke that seems to thoroughly debunk every rule of thumb that we've discovered so far...
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***US Nationals this Saturday, April 23rd on Youtube! 10-4 MDT!***
On the eve of the National Championships, Mak and Jake are joined by the legendary Kelly Gneiting to talk about what to look for this weekend and hid journey in sumo so far.
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Anime enthusiast and World Games qualifier Angel Delatorre joins Jake and an internetly-chellenged Mak to discuss why Hinomaru Sumo is the best anime ever. Also we talk a bit about real life sumo I guess.
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You heard it here first folks, Ryan finally has his priorities in proper order. Banzuke math is now officially higher on his list than his sweet baby daughter.
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Texas is the place to be for women's sumo, and Mighty Eagle's Nicole Burgess is the reigning state champ. We chat about the W.I.N. Tournament, the upcoming Nationals, and what it will take to defend her title.
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Hide your tater tots, the Samoan Bulldozer's comin through. If you're anywhere near Kansas City and want to try some sumo, reach out to Robert at 816-606-4350 or robertfuimaono@gmail.com
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GSB has a huge announcement about bringing sumo wrestling to the midwest....
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Jake's heart is broken, Flyric had an unavoidable recording conflict, and Mak has some major culinary difficulties ahead of him. Nobody's having a good day. Except for Ryan I guess, who gets to watch his friends suffer. Warning, this episode might get gross...
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Dark Circle Sumo's Chad Neu joins us to talk about his extensive history studying the art of ass-kicking.
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Just in time for America's only all-women sumo tournament, we sit down with our second Mighty Eagle wrestler of the week! World Games qualifier Ketzel Jefferson tells us about her journey with sumo and what we can expect this weekend in San Antonio.
The W.I.N. is streaming on Lonestar Sumo and Dark Circle Sumo's YouTube channels as well as Dark Circle's Facebook and Twitch this Saturday at 10 AM Central!
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Meet the best taxidermist in all of sumo: Mighty Eagle's Simone Longe! Though injury has sidelined her for the summer, she's still hanging with the team and looking to heal up ASAP.
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***SPOILERS THRU DAY 8***
Haklfway through the March tournament and we have a surprise leader, a man whose name Jake dares not speak aloud...
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This week we check in with Eric Huynh out of Raijin Sumo Club in North Carolina and his ongoing war against his neighborhood trees.
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We're just days away from the March tournament and we're getting hyped. For the gamblers out there, what's the over/under on how long it takes Ryan to learn how to end a podcast?
Also in case you missed it on Sumo Kaboom's excellent Valentine's Day episode, stay tuned after the credits for Mak's belated punishment from January: "Abi's Special Treat."
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Today we sit down with Makini Manu, gold medalist in December's NASC tournament in Vegas and all around butt-kicker. Makini tries his hand at everything, from football to pro wrestling to... dodgeball?
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Ryan actually did a great job on this one. Nobody tell him though, his ego is big enough already.
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How much sumo can fit under one roof? 2021 US heavyweight champ Jose and World Games qualifier Yaleidy Galindo test the limits.
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As an excuse to revisit fun stories from the deep history of sumo (or at least the last few years), we introduce the Grand Sumo Breakdown Miscellaneous Hall of Fame or Whatever We Want. It's a working title, give us a break. We plan to continue the series soon, so send us your ideas for nominations!
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It's about time we had another Iowan on the show! Today we catch up with Ohayo Sumo's Jake Book about his start in sumo and his personal quest into the history of sumo here in America.
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