Kuniazuma Hajime

Kuniazuma Hajime - 国東 始 (born September 4, 1975) is a former Brazilian professional sumo wrestler from Santo Andre, Sao Paulo. He made his debut in September 1991 and wrestled for Tamanoi stable. He reached the juryo division in September 2000. His highest rank was juryo 4 and he retired in March 2004.

## **Early Life**

Vander Ramos was born in Santo Andre, Sao Paulo, and is of Italian descent. He began practicing judo at the age of eight before switching to sumo at the age of twelve. He also participated in basketball, volleyball, and swimming. He was persuaded to join Tamanoi stable in September 1991 by Giuliano Tussato's (future Azumakaze) father as he did not want his son to travel to Japan by himself. Ramos agreed and they joined the stable alongside two other Brazilians (Kitaazuma and Wakaazuma). He was given the shikona "Kuniazuma" (国東).

## **Career**

### **Early Career**

At the age of 15, Kuniazima already stood 1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) and weighing 145 kg (320 Ib), he was much bigger than many of his contemporaries. He produced a strong 6-1 record in his debut and participated in a playoff for the jonokuchi yusho, but lost to fellow Brazilian stablemate Kitaazuma in the last round. He continued to steadily climb the ranks and was promoted to sandanme in May 1992 at the age of 16 and makushita in March 1993 at the age of 17.

However, he suffered from back pain and sat out 5 straight tournaments which resulted in a fall back to jonokuchi. He returned with a perfect 7-0 record and won the Jonokuchi yusho. On his way back up to makushita he won the sandanme yusho as well. Nevertheless, injuries still plagued Kuniazuma and he sat out of four straight tournaments in 1998 which resulted in another fall back down to jonokuchi. He returned in January 1999 and won both jonokuchi and jonidan championships. In May 2000 he won the makushita yusho and was promoted to makushita 2 in July where he managed four wins. This earned him a promotion to juryo for the September 2000 tournament.

### **Juryo Career**

Kuniazuma produced a strong nine win record in his sekitori debut. However he sat out of the following tournament due to a dislocation on a joint in his left hand. In November 2001, he was promoted to a career-best juryo 4 and in this tournament he defeated makuuchi wrestler Aogiyama. However, he lost his last two matches and finished with a 7-8 record. In March 2002 he re-injured his back and subsequently withdrew on the second day. As a result he was demoted back down to makushita.

### **Later Career**

Kuniazuma was demoted back down to sandanme in September 2002. He immediately returned to makushita but continued to remain injury plagued which resulted in him falling back down to sandanme in September 2003.

## **Retirement from Sumo**

Kuniazima produced a 5-2 in March 2004, but still announced his retirement after the tournament due to his waist injury. He could train due to the severity of his injuries and he sat out a total of sixteen full tournaments due to injuries. After retirement he remained in Japan and currently lives in Shinjuku, where he works as an office worker.

## **Fighting Style**

Kuniazuma's favored techniques are migi-yotsu (a left hand outside, right hand inside grip on the opponent's mawashi), yori (forcing) and tsuki (thrusting). His most common winning kimarite are yorikiri (force out), oshidashi (push out), kotenage (armlock throw) and kimedashi (arm-barring force out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 276-183-146/455 (76 basho)
* **Juryo:** 52-53-45/102 (10 basho)
* **Makushita:** 115-95-28/210 (34 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 64-24-45/87 (19 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 25-10-28/35 (9 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 20-1/21 (3 basho)

### **Championships**

* 1 **Makushita** Championship (May 2000)
* 1 **Sandanme** Championship (September 1996)
* 1 **Jonidan** Championship (March 1999)
* 2 **Jonokuchi** Championships
	+ 1st (November 1995)
	+ 2nd (January 1999)

## **Shikona History**

* Kuniazuma Jiro (1991.09 - 1995.11)
* Kuniazuma Hajime (1996.01 - 2002.07)
* Kuniazuma Ryu (2002.09 - 2004.03)

## **Gallery**

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

Kuniazuma Hajime - 2000 (Retrieved from the JSA)Kuniazuma's tegata
### **Career Overview**

Kuniazuma gets the jonokuchi yusho (c. 1999)Kuniazuma after promotion to juryo (c. 2000)Kuniazuma during the juryo dohyo-iriKuniazuma (bottom left) makes a human pyramid with fellow rikishiKuniazuma before a matchKuniazuma serves as Tochiazuma's flag bearer (c. 2002)

## **Sources**

* Kuniazuma Hajime Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Kuniazuma Hajime Rikishi Information