Joko Ninomiya

Quick Facts

Date of Birth1/27/1954

Country of OriginJapan

Biography

Joko Ninomiya is a Japanese karateka, winner of the 1978 All-Japan Tournament and founder of the Enshin Karate style. He was born on 27 January 1954 in the village of Hizuchi on the island of Shikoku.

From the age of 12 he trained judo and earned his first dan by the end of eighth grade. While practising judo in a police station gym, he met Hideyuki Ashihara, under whom he trained Kyokushin karate from 1969. Ashihara also taught him sabaki, circular movements that use the opponent's momentum, which according to English-language sources were forbidden in Kyokushin. In 1973 he was selected, with five other students, to train in the Kyokushin dojo in New York.

In October 1975 he lost the semifinal of the first All-World Tournament to Katsuaki Sato after three extensions and finished third; he also appeared in the documentary about that tournament, Fighting Black Kings (1976). In 1976 he lost the final of the Japanese championship to Toshikazu Sato. In 1977 he opened his own dojo in Denver. In 1978 he won the All-Japan Tournament, defeating Keiji Sanpei in the final, and ended his competitive career.

When Ashihara left Kyokushin in 1980 and founded Ashihara Karate, Ninomiya headed its US region; later that year, according to an English-language source, he left Ashihara Karate as well. In May 1988 he founded the Enshin Karate style in Denver, in which he holds the title of kancho, and since 1989 he has organised the Sabaki Challenge tournament. With Ed Zorensky he wrote the books Sabaki Method: Karate in the Inner Circle (1998) and My Journey in Karate: The Sabaki Way (2000).

Teachers, students and family

Associated Martial Arts

Organisations

• SABASabaki ChallengeFounder · 1989

Achievements and honours

• All-World TournamentMajor tournament · 3rd place · 1975
• All-Japan TournamentNational Championships · 1st place · 1978