(NOAH) "I want you to see how obsessed I am to win", Ark's "strong man" Yoshiki Inamura's passion for fighting.

Sunday 29th July 2023

Wanibooks-Newscrunch

On August 6th 2023, Pro Wrestling Noah's strongest midsummer singles league "N-1 VICTORY" will begin at the Yokohama Budokan. When the participating wrestlers were announced at the event at Korakuen Hall on June 22nd, I had various thoughts about Noah's foremost power fighter, Yoshiki Inamura. 

Inamura entered Noah in 2017 and experienced a pre debut match at a Battle Royale at Korakuen Hall on August 5th 2018. After that, he made his formal debut in a match corresponding with Kumano (Hitoshi), a Noah Born wrestler. Recently, he has participated in many other promotions such as All Japan, and has left his mark in various places with a fighting style that has made use of his huge body. Last year, and the year before last, he couldn't participate, but this year he is fully prepared, and decided to take part. He commented, "Of course I want to win, I want to win all the matches without losing even once". He is going into this competition with a tremendous determination.

OVERCOMING WEAK AREAS AND PURSUING FURTHER STRENGTHS

In Noah these days, there are many young wrestlers with chiseled bodies and six packs, and among them, Inamura maintains a conspicuously large physique. From the standpoint of Showa wrestling fans, his appearance is nostalgic, but why did he aim for such a physique? 

"Simply put, I have the idea that "big people are strong." Ever since I was a child, I have had a fascination with big and powerful characters, not just in professional wrestling, but also in anime and live-action, rather than cool and fast. In terms of professional wrestlers, WWE's Brock Lesnar, and the legendary tag team, Road Warriors. In terms of anime, I liked the gorilla robot Convoy from "Beast Wars". Ever since I started judo and sumo in Junior High and High School, I have grown taller, and so I aimed for a big body to do martial arts. Ever since I started professional wrestling, I have been doing "strongman training", but the big guys who are doing the same training say, "A strongman doesn't need to have a six-pack, it's good to have one big belly (laughs)." 

Strongman training using large tires from trailers has become such a hot topic, that it has been picked up on a training site. It appears that he continues to work hard every day by incorporating a new practice menu for the N-1. 

"Until now, strongman training has focused on lifting tires and running with sandbags. I thought that if I could acquire the power of bodyweight and grip strength, I would become even more powerful. Recently, I've been doing training to strengthen my bodyweight and pull-ups to strengthen my grip strength. I started in early 2023 when I hurt my knee and couldn't do squats or lower body training. Bodyweight exercises involve pulling a 350kg on a rope. I was really bad at chin ups, but I have been doing them almost every day for the past few months, thinking "I can't run away from that". You can see his position of firmly facing his weak points. 

Overcoming the difficulty of daily training even in the intense heat.

According to his official profile, Inamura weighs 120kg. It seems that he plans to lose about 10 kilos for the N-1, where the singles matches will continue to be fierce in the intense heat, while maintaining his body size and scraping away the unnecessary parts while maintaining the size of his body to create a physique that is easy to move. It seems quite harsh to get through the midsummer matches while maintaining a huge body, even if you lose a little weight...

Inamura explains, "There is no air conditioning in the dojo, so when I was a trainee, I was unfamiliar with the tough practice, and I collapsed due to heat stroke once. But, if you practice in such a harsh environment, your body will get used to it, and you won't get so tired during matches. I think it's more efficient to practice in a gym or somewhere air conditioned, but I like doing dojo practice which is mostly open air." He also taught me how to get in shape for summer. "It's precisely because I'm pushing myself so hard that I can stay strong even in the hottest days. Basically, I take a lot of showers, but I go to the public baths once or twice a week. When I get out of the bath, it's hot inside and outside the public bath, and I hate it, but when I take a hot bath, I'm definitely in good condition."

"I want to use the frustration of being absent as a springboard to leave a result"

Inamura, who usually enjoys visiting zoos, has a match in Sapporo on August 19th and 20th (Saturday and Sunday), and in Sendai on August 26th (Saturday). He says that he is interested in zoos near the tour destinations. 

Inamura divulged that, "There is a zoo called "North Safari Sapporo" in Hokkaido, and I want to go there because you can get close to the animals and interact with them. However, I don't have much time during the N-1 period, so it seems impossible... When I went to Los Angeles this spring as Keiji Mutoh's attendant, there was a zoo about 10 minutes away by taxi, so I thought "Must go!". However, I couldn't go because I needed to make a reservation in advance...but when I become stronger and I have more time to spare for various things, I want to take my time to visit the zoos near the tour destinations. I can't go to the zoo, so I bring my own stuffed tapir as a travel companion on tour. I'm not used to making stuffed animals, so it takes a lot of time. After the N-1 is over, I want to make a lot of new ones and increase the number of my travelling companions (laughs)". Inamura showed a cute side of him, which is contrary to how he looks.

This N-1, which will be his second appearance in three years, will be a fight that Inamura, who is expected to be the hope of the next generation of Noah, cannot lose. "I wasn't able to participate last year or the year before, and I was very frustrated watching the matches as a second. For that reason, I saved a lot if energy during the period when I couldn't participate, and said, "I'm definitely going to the N-1 this year. As that's how I felt, I would like to erupt with the frustration from that time, and the joy of being able to participate in the league. Only a limited number of wrestlers participate in the N-1 every year, so I want to demonstrate my strengths. I've heard some fans say, that I am failing to seize chances, but I feel that strongly myself, so I want to get a big win here and make it the best summer ever." He concluded enthusiastically, "Watch Yoshiki Inamura, who is obsessed with winning!"

Translated from Wanibooks-Newscrunch

Picture credits: Wanibooks-Newscrunch