He has been a member of the top makuuchi division since November 2006 and has earned nine special prizes, seven for Technique, which is the most by any wrestler in any one category.
Another year in jūryō, ending with his first career yūshō or division championship after a three-way playoff with Kōryū and Tokusegawa, put him back in makuuchi for the second time in January 2010.
Taihō Kōki (大鵬幸喜, born Kōki Naya, Ukrainian: Іва́н Бори́шко Ivan Boryshko; May 29, 1940 – January 19, 2013) was the 48th Yokozuna in the Japanese sport of sumo wrestling.
This earned him immediate promotion to the top makuuchi division for the September 2011, only the third time since the six tournaments a year system was established in 1958 that a jūryō debutant has achieved this (the other two were Daikiko and Ichihara).