[Author Edit: Although I thought that I was reusing the original header image from a legitimate source, John Gunning informed me that it was actually an image taken by him and reused without his permission. I have removed my original header image by his request, and will replace it when I have the time to do so.]

Like Musashikuni and Wakaichirō, NorthAmericanSumo.com has a page dedicated to the match history of Homarenishiki Yasokichi, also known as Brodi Henderson. In this post, I continue the trend of backing up some of these videos in gif form, which I also hope draws traffic to the original YouTube videos. The gifs below are Brodi’s mae-zumo matches in the Natsu Basho 2015. While Brodi was brand new to Japanese professional sumo, he had already beat Byamba to win the openweight division at the U.S. Sumo Open. So, he wasn’t entirely naive to the sport of sumo.

Before continuing, I want to make three notes about NorthAmericanSumo.com:

1.) I am sometimes asked about the history of Brodi Henderson – particularly his rise in North American Sumo and his exit from Japanese sumo. One day I hope to write this post. Brodi’s dad has even offered to give an interview about the topic, and I will certainly take him up on his offer one day.

2.) I added several new events to the upcoming events page. Please check it out! There is so much going on in North American sumo in 2019.

3.) I just participated in Welcome Mat Sumo’s New Orleans Sumo Camp, and it was so much fun! I learned so much about the technique of sumo, and it was one of the best sporting experiences that I have ever had. Everyone was so friendly, and André Coleman and Cody Stout were true professionals. I was extremely impressed at how well they ran everything, and I highly recommend attending any of their future camps. Next week’s post will be a recap of last week’s camp, once I get pictures and videos from others.

As always, please email me at NorthAmericanSumo@Gmail.com if you want to see anything particular on the website.

Brodi Henderson Match 1 Gif – Natsu Basho 2015

Chiyonosora Soma (Mae-zumo ; 0-5) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=55&v=sTGyIfUklio

Brodi Henderson Match 2 Gif – Natsu Basho 2015

Chiyonoumi Meitaro (Mae-zumo ; 3-0) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsDNUdlynIc

Brodi Henderson Match 3 Gif – Natsu Basho 2015

Urutora Taro (Mae-zumo ; 3-4) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=180&v=r2sDrfbOXdg

Brodi Henderson Match 4 Gif – Natsu Basho 2015

Miyazaki Taiki (Mae-zumo ; 3-2) – https://youtu.be/0h36xaHU0k4?t=1m20s

Early in his career, Brodi’s biggest asset was his size. The size difference in his third match is almost comical, and his size led him to his other early victories. Brodi also had sumo skills, however. His tachiai isn’t bad for someone in mae-zumo, especially considering how difficult it is for such a large person to stay low. He also did a great job continuously trying to apply pressure on his opponent. Even in his loss, he was trying different moves and trying to keep his opponent on his toes.

Brodi would somewhat struggle in his next Basho, but would still pull out a kachi-koshi with a 4-3 record. It wasn’t until Brodi’s jonidan matches where he would find his sumo style. In these later matches, he would begin to line up an entire foot or more behind the shikiri-sen (white lines in middle of dohyo), and he would intentionally create space between him and his opponent. Taking a page from Akebono’s playbook, Brodi would begin to “stiff arm” his opponents and slap their chest and head. This would push his opponents out while keeping them unable to get underneath his large frame. Brodi learned to adapt his style for the competitive world of Japanese professional sumo, and I would love to seen how far he could have gone with his size, skill, and smarts.