Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi

Tochinoshin Tsuyoshi (栃ノ心 剛史) is a former Georgian professional sumo wrestler from Mtskheta.

He continued his comeback in fine style by winning two consecutive jūryō championships, the first after a playoff win over Ichinojō and the second with a perfect 15–0 score (only the third time since the six tournaments a year system began in 1958 that the latter had occurred).

The stable had not had a foreigner since the Taiwanese wrestler Tochinohana retired in 1988, but agreed to take on Gorgadze just as his tourist visa was about to expire.

He competed in amateur sumo at the World Junior Championships in 2004, held in Osaka, Japan and at the World Championships in 2005.

He trained at the prestigious Nichidai sumo club at Nihon University and it was a member of that club who encouraged him to turn professional.

In his early days in Japan he suffered from homesickness and had to deal with his grandmother being killed and his father seriously injured in an accident.

Having no knowledge of the Japanese language, he was helped by the wife of his stablemaster who contacted an interpreter from the Georgian embassy, as well as by fellow Georgian Gagamaru from the nearby Kise stable, and by a junior member of his own stable, Munakata, who taught him traditional Japanese greetings.

He was a member of the Kasugano stable and made his professional debut in March 2006.

At the beginning of 2006 he was recruited by the former sekiwake Tochinowaka of Kasugano stable.

He reached the top makuuchi division just two years later in May 2008.

After eleven straight kachi-koshi or winning scores he gained sekitori status in January 2008 upon promotion to the jūryō division and immediately took the yūshō or championship in that division with a 12–3 record.

He took his first ever make-koshi or losing score in his top division debut in May 2008, but still won enough bouts to remain in the division.

He reached maegashira 4 in November 2008, but facing the highest ranking men for the first time he could only record three wins against twelve losses.

However, in July 2009 he produced a good score of 9–6 at maegashira 5, and was promoted to the rank of maegashira 1 in the September tournament.

He could manage only four wins there, but he performed much better in November, finishing runner-up to Hakuhō at 12–3 and winning his first special prize, Fighting Spirit.

However, his defeat to Hokutōriki on the final day cost him a chance of making his debut in the titled san'yaku ranks in January 2010.

In the May 2010 tournament he defeated four ōzeki in a row from Days 2 to 5 (becoming only the second man below sekiwake to achieve this, following Masurao in March 1987) and won his second Fighting Spirit prize (shared with Aran).

He was rewarded with promotion to komusubi for the first time in the July 2010 tournament.

He fell short with a 6–9 record, but returned to komusubi in November.

In May 2011 he equalled his best ever top division performance, once again finishing runner-up to Hakuho on 12–3 and winning another Fighting Spirit prize.

This saw him return to the komusubi rank for the July 2011 tournament.

His poor performance in November, scoring only 2–13, could be attributed to the fact that he was banned from training before the tournament by his stablemaster as punishment for breaking heya rules on curfew and wearing Western style clothes in public.

Tochinoshin was one of three wrestlers at the stable who were beaten with a golf club during this incident, for which his stablemaster was given a warning by the Japan Sumo Association.

He made komusubi for the fourth time in September 2012.

Tochinoshin suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury in the July 2013 tournament, resulting in him missing the next three tournaments and falling from the maegashira ranks to the unsalaried makushita division.

After a long hiatus due to injury, he began his comeback from the rank of makushita 55 in March 2014, logging four championships in a row in lower divisions on his way back to the top division in November 2014.

In March 2014, fighting from makushita 55, he bounced back with a 7–0 perfect championship.

He followed this in the very next tournament in May with a consecutive 7–0 championship in at makushita 6, thereby guaranteeing his re-promotion to the salaried ranks of jūryō.

Returning to the top division in November 2014, he scored 11–4 and picked up his fourth Fighting Spirit Award.

In 2015 he won six times in January but in March his eight victories included a win over the yokozuna Harumafuji, earning him his first kinboshi.

Winning records in May and July at maegashira 1 saw him promoted to komusubi for the September tournament for the first time in three years.

Having fought his way back to san'yaku from makushita 55, Tochinoshin was in first place for the lowest rank fallen before a successful return to the komusubi rank since World War II, but has subsequently lost that distinction to Terunofuji.

In September 2015 he maintained his rank with a 10–5 record and received his fifth Fighting Spirit prize.

In January 2018 he took his first and only top-division championship.

In May 2018, after finishing as runner-up with a 13–2 record and a total of 37 wins in his last three tournaments, he was promoted to ōzeki.

He received eleven special prizes, six for Fighting Spirit, three for Technique, and two for Outstanding Performance, as well as two kinboshi for defeating yokozuna.

Tochinoshin was demoted to sekiwake after posting losing records in the first two tournaments of 2019, but returned to ōzeki after winning ten matches at the May 2019 tournament.

He lost the ōzeki rank again after the September 2019 tournament, and lost his top division status after he was sidelined with a shoulder injury during the January 2023 tournament.

He retired from sumo on 19 May 2023.

As a teenager Gorgadze practiced judo and sambo.