Akebono Taro

曙 太郎
Akebono Tarō /

Personal data
real name	Chad Haaheo Rowan
Born	May 8, 1969
place of birth	Hawaii, USA
size	2.04 m
Weight	230 kg
Career
Heya	Azumazeki
Career record	654-232-18
debut	March 1988
Highest rank	Yokozuna
Tournament victories	11
resignation	March 2001

Akebono Tarō ( Japanese曙 太郎; * May 8, 1969 as Chad Haaheo Rowan ) is a former sumo wrestler .

Akebono was born a U.S. citizen in Hawaii and was the first non-Japanese to achieve the rank of yokozuna . He came from the Azumazeki-beya wrestling stable of former Sekiwake Takamiyama, who was also of Hawaiian origin . The Japanese wrestler name Akebono means "dawn".

Career

Sumo wrestling

Rowan made his debut in March 1988 under the name Daikai ("big sea") at the same time as three other top stars of sumo, the brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana and the later Ōzeki Kaio . He got used to it quickly, got the ring name Akebono and worked his way up to the juryo division within two years . In 1992, now in the makuuchi department, he won a basho (tournament) for the first time , the Natsu Basho of Tokyo , 13-2. After that he became stronger and stronger and a short time later he was named Ōzeki. After winning the tournaments in November 1992 and January 1993, he was named the 64th yokozuna in sumo history. After a relatively short dominance, he was soon plagued with injuries, especially on his knees, which had to suffer a lot from a weight of 230 kg and a height of 2.04 m. When the young and talented Takanohana was named yokozuna, he fell into its shadow and found it difficult to keep up, especially since Takanohana enjoyed greater popularity as a Japanese.

After he had won his 9th tournament victory at the Natsu Basho in 1997, there was a long, partly injury-related dry spell. In 1998 he performed at the Winter Olympics in Nagano during the opening ceremony, the traditional honor ceremony, which takes place before each sumo tournament.

Another brief boom followed in 2000, when Akebono won the tournaments in Nagoya and Fukuoka . Shortly after the New Year's tournament in 2001, in which he could not compete due to injury, he resigned and remained the sumo sport until 2003 as a coach.

Akebono was considered a typical representative of the punch and push techniques. However, he was also able to win a fight with yorikiri ( carrying out or pushing an opponent with a grip on the mawashi ).

K-1 and wrestling

After his time as a trainer, Akebono tried, albeit with far less success, as a K1 fighter. He has since performed in wrestling , usually in Japan. At Wrestlemania 21 he successfully competed against Big Show . Akebono was a member of the now closed wrestling organization HUSTLE, where he was listed as Monster Bono / Bono-Chan and later as Bono-Kun . He is currently committed to All Japan Pro Wrestling .

Private

Akebono took on Japanese citizenship in 1996 and changed his name to Akebono Taro. He has been married to Christine Kalina since 1998 and has three children with her.

Akebono Tarō and his sumo colleagues Musashimaru Kōyō and Konishiki Yasokichi are sung about in Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's song "Tengoku Kara Kaminari (Gentle Giants)". The Japanese title translated means "thunder from heaven".

Web links

Commons : Akebono Tarō  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Akebono's wrestling career statistics

Japanese name: As is common in Japan, the family name comes before the first name in this article . Thus Akebono is the family name, Tarō the first name.