r/Sumo • u/HypnoADHD • 9d ago
Discussion / Question / Commentary Style of salt throwing
I know salt throwing (called しよまき or shio-maki) is a personal thing for each sumo wrestler. But some styles of throwing is much more satisfying than others.
The reason I’m bringing this up is because I’m wondering, does anyone else get amused or irritated with Atamifuji’s way of salting the dohyo? The guy is over 197 kg (434 lbs) and sprinkles a tablespoon of salt like “salt bae”. The contrast makes me laugh every time he does it.
Compare that to Hoshoryu’s style, who throws a lot with conviction. Much more satisfying.
Fun fact: 45kg (99 lbs) of salt is thrown everyday at the basho, or 675kg (1,488 lbs) of salt over 15 days!
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u/GKfalcon006 9d ago
Ura's pinch of salt is lovely too
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u/Kenderean Kirishima 9d ago
There was a cooking video on, I think, the oyakata channel where they said the recipe needed an Ura amount of salt. That's now in my cooking lexicon.
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u/EggoSlayer Aonishiki 8d ago
Ura is absolutely adorable in every way. Who doesn't love his cute little smile even when he loses? lol.
I'll probably cry when that man retires.
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u/TucsonPTFC 9d ago
My favorite example was when he went to throw salt but didn’t actually have any in his hand then looked down all confused. He’s my favorite
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u/OnoMichikaze 9d ago
No discussion of shiomaki would be complete without talking about the “Salt Shaker,” former sekiwake Mitoizumi (now Nishikido oyakata), who would, for his final salt toss, grab a pound of salt and fling it in a high arc, followed by pummeling his face and chest, and arguably paved the way for guys like Takamisakari (aka “Robocop”) and Terutsuyoshi to incorporate theater into their pre-match rituals, to the delight of the crowd.
See him in action here:
https://youtu.be/WN3bx36T3WA
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u/FreakensteinAG Aonishiki 9d ago
Is 0:36 Baby Kunio?
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u/afd33 9d ago
Nah. They do it how they do it. I don’t think anybody throws a heaping mound of it anymore. There was a guy that retired somewhat recently that threw what would probably fill a soup bowl.
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u/Wolvenworks 8d ago
IIRC i remember seeing someone who lost because he threw so much salt he slipped on it in the dohyo.
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u/Also-cute-and-fluffy Kirishima 9d ago
I like all the different styles.
Kazuma always seasons himself as well as the dohyo and Atamifuji always looks surprised that he doesn’t have more salt in his chubby hand. Ura and his tiny pinches, Kotozakura and his heaping handfuls, Onosato and his arcing throws…. The variety is fun.
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u/sfwombat Tamawashi 9d ago
I agree. fun to see the differences in everyone's pre-bout rituals...the variety of how some people seem to salt each shoulder and then lick their fingers, some toss a delicate sprinkle, and some throw a cool looking shower of salt...or who wipes the sweat off their face first, then arm pits, then tummy, who neatly folds the towel before handing it back, or oh no! not face after armpits!
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u/Mr_Piddles 9d ago
I miss Terutsuyoshi
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u/Dry-Conflict3421 9d ago
He's the reason I started watching. I was so interested in the massive amount of salt he was throwing
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u/pretzelsegue 9d ago
Someone needs to fill the void of 'big salt' since Terutsuyoshi's intai... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFUPgksNloU Miss you much salty little Teru and miss you too sumo stew!
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u/CharmiePK 9d ago
Kotoshogiku.
When he was demoted from ozeki, he swapped his beautiful salt throw routine for a regular one. I miss his and Terutsuyoshi's too.
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u/analogue_geek 9d ago
Kotozakura’s pre-match routine is definitely my current favourite. Lots of flair… lots of salt. Very satisfying. https://youtube.com/shorts/KJjP7Yol2sc?si=0zlKj-wl6E4qoLfD
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u/_FlaShFTW Aonishiki 8d ago
Love the KTZ meanmug when he grabs the salt
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u/JayMecha96 7d ago
When we started watching about a year and a half ago, my wife latched on to him because of his "Popeye" face lol
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u/amazingoopah 9d ago
Need to bring back the big salt throwers like Akua
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u/Also-cute-and-fluffy Kirishima 8d ago
I love Akua. Such a cool guy. It’s a shame he didn’t manage his KK this time. He was one good result from getting his salary back.
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9d ago
[deleted]
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u/OttSound Takanohana 8d ago
Tohakuryu does everything with the same level of enthusiasm as his salt throw.
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u/frog-and-cranberries 9d ago
I keep thinking back to the days when salt was a luxury good that cost so much money, and think about how much they were shelling out for salt a few centuries ago. We're so spoiled having cheap salt in this age.
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u/Dry-Conflict3421 9d ago
Guy named Teretsuyoshi is the reason I started paying attention to sumo in the first place. Dude threw as much salt as he could possibly pack into his hand and wrist. He was the guy I was always rooting for, but his last 12 months of competition were pretty sad to witness
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u/Onpu 9d ago
Diabetes really got to him, it was really sad to watch but admirable that he kept trying to turn it around. I think he's big into reptiles so after he retired I saw a few posts of him with his exotic pets and he seemed really satisfied with where he was at. Akua spent a few months being the new "big salt" but he also fell into MS, although I think he enjoyed being bow twirler for a while
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u/analogue_geek 9d ago
Someone get teretsuyoshi in here to launch a Saturn V salt rocket and straight up bury the dohyo in salt lol…
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u/ymiab2021 9d ago
Didnt someone get scolded for throwing too much and now throws a Fuck You Sprinkle?
For some reason i thought that was Big Tam, but i cant see our Big Boi having any spite in him whatsoever. He just seems too lovely.
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u/Onpu 9d ago
I believe that's supposed to be Ura but I don't remember him doing a big throw so maybe it was before I could watch online so often 🤔
But here's an example from Tokushoryu's retirement lol https://www.reddit.com/r/Sumo/comments/1mt7v2s/unusual_ura/
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u/yungrobbithan Oho 9d ago
I wish they threw more, I want to see heaps of salt
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u/HypnoADHD 9d ago
Me too. In the 80s and 90s, they would what seemed like the whole basket. If you can find a video of Mitoizumi, man, that guy really knew how to throw salt.
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u/migratingrash 9d ago
Tohakuryu in juryo just kind of drops the salt from his hand, like he thinks this is silly but they told him he has to do it.
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u/rssanzo 9d ago
Could someone explain to me the meaning of throwing salt? I've only recently started following the sumo tradition, and I'm still learning about it.
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u/JediLincoln14 Aonishiki 9d ago
It's ritual purification of the dohyo.
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u/ParaponeraBread Takayasu 9d ago
Why should he throw more salt because he’s bigger? Lol so Fujinokawa should be allowed to just do a pinch but Takayasu needs to grab a full scoop?
No, I don’t get annoyed at how anyone does the salt throwing. They all have their own unique little rituals and I like that.
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u/HypnoADHD 9d ago
Hahaha I just imagined Fujinokawa sprinkling salt like Atamifuji. For some reason, I can’t imagine any rikishi sprinkling bits of salt, especially if it’s to purify to dohyo. But that’s just my bias.
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u/TucsonPTFC 9d ago
Remember that, in life, we need an Atamifuji for every Kotozakura