Tomozuna stable
In his childhood, Sugano had no interest at all in football, as all his friends did and didn't even bother to watch games on TV. He was more interested in grappling sports, such as judo, which he practiced for a time. When he was sixteen a friend of his father's suggested that his already large size would be very suitable for sumo. He began pursuing sumo and went on to win the all Brazil amateur sumo competition championship in the free weight category. At this time he believed that, at least in Brazilian amateur sumo, all one needed was size and power to win, and decided to travel to Japan to try out sumo. He was introduced to Tomozuna stable through an acquaintance and joined the stable in 2006. The stable was already home to another Brazilian wrestler, Kaishin. He was given the "shikona" or ring name of Kaisei Ichirō. Ichirō was the name of Kaisei's late grandfather, who was Japanese.