Yamato Go

Yamato Go - 大和 剛 (born December 17, 1969) is a former American professional sumo wrestler from Waimanalo, Oahu, Hawaii. He made his debut in November 1990 and last wrestled for Magaki stable. He reached the makuuchi division in January 1997. His highest rank was maegashira 12 and he retired in September 1998.

## **Early Life**

George Haywood Kalima was born and raised in the city of Waimanalo located on the island of Oahu in Hawaii. His childhood friend was Chad Rowan, who later became the first foreign-born yokozuna, and they attended the same elementary school. George was a standout football player at Kaiser High School. After high school, he got job at a shipping company in the continental United States, but inspired by Akebono's success in Japan, he decided to join professional sumo.

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

George decided to not join Azumazeki stable which is a popular destination for American rikishi, because his childhood friend Akebono trained at the stable. Due to the strict hierarchical system in sumo, Akebono recommended that George join a different stable in order to not strain their relationship. As a result, George joined Magaki stable and made his debut in November 1990.

He was given the shikona "Yamato" (大和). He won the jonokuchi yusho in his first tournament after producing a 6-1 record and defeating two opponents in a playoff. He was promoted to sandanme in January 1992 and makushita in July 1992. After a 6-1 record at the rank of makushita 4 in January 1995, he was promoted to juryo in the following March tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Yamato initially struggled in juryo and he could only manage six wins in his debut. As a result he was demoted back down to makushita. He returned after one tournament in makushita, but again could only retain his juryo rank for one tournament and was demoted back to makushita again in September 1995. From July to November 1996, he went on a strong run where he produced 10-5, 10-5, and an 11-4 record which earned him a promotion to makuuchi in January 1997.

### **Makuuchi Career**

He was the first wrestler from his stable to reach makuuchi since it was re-established in 1983. He chalked up a winning record of 8–7 in his debut and was ranked there for seven tournaments. He reached a career-best maegashira 12 in March 1997 which meant he never rose high enough in the rankings to face Akebono.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

He was forced to sit out the March 1998 tournament with a life-threatening bout of pneumonia which sent him down to juryo. Still not fully recovered in May, he turned in a disastrous 1–14 record and fell to the unsalaried makushita division. Just before the July tournament he was hit by a car and was forced to withdraw once again. This sent him down to the bottom of makushita. After a 5–2 score in September he decided to retire rather than face another long struggle back up the rankings, and started up his own restaurant, Kama'aina's, in Tokyo's Roppongi district.

## **Personal Life**

Although Yamato never rose high enough in the rankings to face a yokozuna in tournament competition, he once defeated Takanohana eight times in a row in training.

### **Family**

His brother Glenn, one year younger than George, also joined Magaki stable two months after Yamato, competing under the shikona of Onami 男波 (later Wakachikara 若力). He was the same height as Yamato but considerably lighter at around 110 to 126 kg. In May 1993 he was ranked higher than his elder brother at Makushita 26, but was injured in the September 1993 tournament and dropped significantly in rank. He retired in November 1994, a few months before Yamato's juryo debut.

A third Kalima brother, Kalani, was also interested in joining sumo but was unable to find a stable and instead became a practitioner of Hawaiian martial arts.

Yamato is married to a Japanese woman named Naoko.

## **Fighting Style**

Yamato specialized in pushing and thrusting techniques, rarely fighting on the mawashi, and his two favorite kimarite were tsukidashi, or thrust out, and oshidashi, or push out.

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 251-198-24/449 (48 basho)
* **Makuuchi:** 42-48-15/90 (7 basho)
* **Juryo:** 86-79/165 (11 basho)
* **Makushita:** 58-33-7/91 (14 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 38-25/63 (9 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 21-12-2/33 (5 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Jonokuchi** Championship (January 1991)

## **Gallery**

### **JSA Profile Pictures and Tegata**

Yamato Go - 1997 (Retrieved from the JSA)Yamato's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Yamato's career in high school footballYamato in Maezumo (c. 1990)Yamato's early career in the unsalaried ranksYamato after promotion to Makuuchi (c. 1997)Yamato battles Daihisho (c. 1997)Yamato prepares for his upcoming match (c. 1997)Yamato falls to the unsalaried ranks (c. 1998)Yamato announces his retirement (c. 1998)Yamato's retirement ceremony (c. 1998)

## **Sources**

* Yamato Go Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Yamato Go Rikishi Information