Nine-year-old Killian Heffernan’s brown eyes flashed quickly upward, taking stock of the man mountain who was beckoning him.

Unflinchingly he made his way into the presence of retired sumo star Konishiki, who towered over him by 16 inches and outweighed him by nearly 300 pounds.

Then he focused intently on the words as Konishiki grabbed the white beltlike “mawashi” wrapped around the youngster’s midsection and patiently gave some pointers on interior defense.

Was he scared?

“No, (Konishiki) was a great champion in sumo, so it was an honor to meet him,” Killian said, still reveling in the experience a half-hour later.

Even for someone who was born a decade after Konishiki retired from a record-setting career that included more than 1,200 ring appearances, the name and deeds still resonate, and the words come with import.

“He taught me how to get an opponent’s hand off my belt,” said Killian, a budding third-generation practitioner of the sport here. “He taught me some things that I didn’t know about.”

A 90-minute session with Konishiki in a makeshift sumo “dohyo” in the octagon of the UFC Gym in Kakaako on Sunday has been the pinch-me highlight of pre-trip preparation for a six-member youth amateur team that leaves next week for Japan and competition in the international Hakuho Cup.

The Consulate General of Japan is scheduled to hold a send-off for the team today.

The tournament appearance will be the first by a Hawaii team, which will also represent the United States, in the 7-year-old competition held in the headquarters of sumo, the Kokugikan, in Tokyo following the conclusion of the pros’ New Year’s Tournament.

The multinational event is hosted by yokozuna Hakuho, who is donating hotel expenses, entry fee and mawashi for the Hawaii team. Japan Airlines is covering the airfare.

The youngsters will have a practice session in the Miyagino stable in Tokyo, where Hakuho trains, and will join him for a traditional post-workout meal of “chankonabe” (a stew).

The club, composed of 9- to 14-year-olds, represents one of the last organized footholds of sumo in Hawaii, where the sport has existed for more than 130 years, since the plantation days.

In taking up the sport and its traditions, Killian is following in the wide footprints of his father, Kena Heffernan, 43, the team’s coach, and grandfather Roger, 64, who also helps out.

Both competed in the days when each island had teams competing for a state title, colleges in Japan would send their clubs here to train and sumo stars put on exhibitions at the Civic Auditorium and Blaisdell Center.

It was during a college tour in the 1960s that Jesse Kuhaulua was “discovered,” beginning a nearly 40-year period in which sumotori from Hawaii had a presence at the sport’s highest level in Japan.

Heffernan, a math teacher and athletic director at the Pacific Buddhist Academy, is a past U.S. and North American amateur sumo champion who took part in collegiate wrestling and football at Yale.

When Heffernan was competing in the International Sumo Championships in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, last summer, he was told an invitation for the Hakuho Cup was a possibility. Hakuho, a native of Mongolia, offered to help underwrite the venture.

“That was too good of an opportunity to pass up,” Kena said. “It is a chance to start growing sumo again here with a younger generation.”

He then enlisted Konishiki to offer tips and inspiration. “I told him, ‘I’ll be there, whatever you need,’” Konishiki said.

After offering pointers and encouragement to the youngsters, Konishiki exchanged high-fives and said, “You always want to give back to the sport, and it is good to see these kids involved in trying to keep sumo alive here.”

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@staradvertiser.com or 529-4820.