Baraki Genki

Baraki Genki - 爆羅騎 源氣 (born May 10, 1994) is a Japanese professional sumo wrestler from Tokorozawa, Saitama. He made his debut in January 2013 and currently wrestles for Shikihide stable. His highest rank as of 2023 is makushita 58.

## **Early Life**

Baraki Ito was born in Tokorozawa, Saitama, on May 10, 1994, to a Filipino mother and a Japanese father. He started sumo wrestling in the third grade at a local sumo club. When he was in his fourth year of elementary school, he watched sumo live at the Ryogoku Kokugikan and met maegashira Kitazakura who invited him to visit his stable. In addition to sumo, Ito also practiced judo for four years up until his third year of junior high school. He went on to attend Kibogaoka High School in Fukuoka and in his third year of high school, Ito made it to the top 16 at the Kokutai National Sumo Tournament. On December 22, 2013, he joined Shikihide stable which recently retired Kitazakura had inherited.

## **Career**

He made his professional debut in January 2013 and unusually wrestled under his given name "Baraki" (爆羅騎). Prior to making his debut, Baraki received a lot of press due to his short stature and unique name. His name is derived from a Charles Bronson mafia film his father liked, The Valachi papers, or "Baraki" in Japanese. He finished with an impressive 6-1 record in his first tournament. He followed with a 5-2 record in May 2013 and was promoted to sandanme in July 2013. In November 2013, Baraki finished with a perfect 7-0 record, but missed out on the sandanme yusho after losing to former maegashira Hochiyama in the playoff. Nevertheless, he was promoted to makushita for the following January 2013 tournament, after only a year in sumo. However, he finished with a winless 0-7 record in his makushita debut and his progression has since stalled.

Baraki returned to makushita in May 2018 after a 25 tournament absence, but he finished with a 3-4 record and was demoted back down to sandanme. In 2020 and 2021, Baraki had multiple spells in jonidan, but has mainly established himself as a sandanme regular.

## **Personal Life**

* His given name and shikona, Baraki, is derived from a Charles Bronson mafia film his father liked, The Valachi papers, or "Baraki" in Japanese.
* His older brother, Rao, was also a professional sumo wrestler and wrestled in Tatsunami stable.
* Prior to his physical exam to enter professional sumo, Baraki stood at only 1.60 m (5 ft 3 in) which was short of the minimum requirement of 1.67 m (5 ft 6 in). In order to pass the physical exam, Baraki grew out his hair for 3 months and had it stiffened with extra binzuke oil. In addition he got a massage from his oyakata which supposedly gave him an extra 3 cm. He also slept 13 hours the day prior and laid down in the car ride from his stable to the Kokugikan to maintain his "height." Moreover, when he was getting measured, Baraki stood on the tip of his toes, which was largely purposely ignored by the oyakata.
* On October 7, 2017, Baraki was briefly put in charge of performing comic sumo displays (初っ切り, shokkiri) on regional tours and exhibition tournaments. His partner in the performances was Akua of the Tatsunami stable.
* Baraki's favorite food are steamed pork buns and his hobbies are jigsaw puzzles and gateball.

## **Fighting Style**

Baraki is proficient in both yotsu-sumo (grappling) and oshi-sumo (pushing and thrusting) techniques. His most often used winning kimarite is yorikiri (force out), followed by oshidashi (push out).

## **Record**

### **Division Results**

* **Total:** 220-228/448 (65 basho)
* **Makushita:** 3-11/14 (2 basho)
* **Sandanme:** 175-196/371 (53 basho)
* **Jonidan:** 36-20/56 (8 basho)
* **Jonokuchi:** 6-1/7 (1 basho)

## **Gallery**

Baraki gets measured upon joining sumo (c. 2012)Baraki with his stable master, Shikihide Oyakata (c. 2012)Baraki joins alongside Ishiura and Onosho (c. 2013)Baraki pushes out his opponent in Maezumo (c. 2013)Baraki throws and defeats Shineiyama (c. 2013)Baraki prepares for his upcoming match (c. 2017)

## **Sources**

* Baraki Genki Japanese Wikipedia Article
* Baraki Genki Rikishi Information