Hayward Nishioka is a Japanese-American community college physical education instructor [1] and former judo competitor. [2]
Nishioka was born in 1942, and lived some of his early years in the Manzanar internment camp. [2] [3] He started to learn judo at age 13 from his step father Dan Oka. [4]
Nishioka competed in Kata in the 1962 All-Japan National Championship. Nishioka won a gold medal for judo at the 1967 Pan American Games. He won five consecutive national championships from 1965 to 1970. [2] He ranked 5th in the world in 1965 and 1967. He is a former world team member and world team coach for judo. [5] He is known for his gripping skills and techniques. [5]
Nishioka currently teaches Judo at Los Angeles City College. [6] On January 13, 1987, Rorion, Royler and Rickson Gracie came to Nishioka's judo school. [7] Nishioka, at the age of 44, demonstrated to Rickson Gracie (age 28) a number of judo throws. [8]
One of his students was Yuji Okumoto, who is known as Chozen Toguchi in The Karate Kid Part II and Cobra Kai. [9]
Nishioka earned a black belt in Karate under trainer Tsutomu Oshima. [10] He is a two-time Black Belt Hall of Fame member. [4] He is a 10th degree black belt (as of April 2024) in judo. [11] Nishioka is a Class A-rated International Judo Federation referee. [12]
In the movie, Best of the Best 2 , Nishioka played the Korean, Sae-jin Kwon. He also appeared in the movie Ulterior Motives. [13] He interviewed celebrities and author articles for Black Belt Magazine including Russia's controversial judoka. [14] Nishioka is the author books including Training for Competition: Judo – Coaching, Strategy and the Science for Success, The Judo Textbook and Judo Heart and Soul. [4] He made 38 instructional tapes on judo. [10]
Brazilian jiu-jitsu is a self-defence martial art and combat sport based on grappling, ground fighting, and submission holds. BJJ focuses on taking ones opponent down to the ground, gaining a dominant position, and using a number of techniques to force them into submission via joint locks or chokeholds.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to martial arts:
Masahiko Kimura was a Japanese judoka and professional wrestler who is widely considered the greatest judoka of all time. He won the All-Japan Judo Championships three times in a row for the first time in history and had never lost a judo match from 1936 to 1950. In submission grappling, the reverse ude-garami arm lock is often called the "Kimura", due to his famous victory over Gracie jiu-jitsu co-founder Hélio Gracie. In the Japanese professional wrestling world, he is known for being one of Japan's earliest stars and the controversial match he had with Rikidōzan.
Royce Gracie is a Brazilian retired professional mixed martial artist. Gracie gained fame for his success in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a member of the Gracie jiu-jitsu family, a UFC Hall of Famer, and is considered to be one of the most influential figures in the history of mixed martial arts (MMA). He also competed in PRIDE Fighting Championships, K-1's MMA events, and Bellator.
The Kodokan Judo Institute (公益財団法人講道館), or Kōdōkan (講道館), is the headquarters of the worldwide judo community. The kōdōkan was founded in 1882 by Kanō Jigorō, the founder of judo, and is now an eight-story building in Tokyo.
Marco Antônio de Lima Ruas is a Brazilian former mixed martial arts fighter, submission wrestler, kickboxer and instructor. Ruas was the UFC 7 Tournament Champion, and also competed for the World Vale Tudo Championship (WVC), PRIDE Fighting Championships and the International Fight League, where he head-coached the Southern California Condors.
Hélio Gracie was a Brazilian martial artist who together with his brothers Oswaldo, Gastao Jr, George and Carlos Gracie founded and developed the self-defense martial art system of Gracie jiu-jitsu, also known as Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ).
A triangle choke, or sankaku-jime (三角絞) in judo, is a type of figure-four chokehold that encircles the opponent's neck and one arm with the legs in a configuration similar to the shape of a triangle. Applying pressure using both legs and the opponent's own shoulder, the technique is a type of lateral vascular restraint that constricts the blood flow from the carotid arteries to the brain, potentially resulting in loss of consciousness in seconds when applied correctly. Recent studies have shown that the triangle choke takes an average of 9.5 seconds to render an opponent unconscious from the moment it is properly applied.
Naoya Ogawa is a Japanese Olympic and world champion judoka, retired professional wrestler, and mixed martial artist. He won a total of seven medals at the All-Japan Judo Championships, and set a record of seven medals at the World Judo Championships. Ogawa won the silver medal in the +95 kg judo weight class at the 1992 Summer Olympics.
The Gracie Challenge was an open invitation challenge match issued by members of the Gracie family, representing their self-defense system of Gracie Jiu-Jitsu against challengers of other martial art systems in a vale tudo match, or "anything goes" competition.
James Steven Bregman was a member of the first American team to compete in judo at the Summer Olympics. A founding member and President of the United States Judo Federation, in his competitive career he was a bronze Olympic medalist (1964), a World Championships bronze medalist (1965), a Pan American Championships gold medalist, and a Maccabiah Games gold medalist (1965).
Ivan Gene "Judo" LeBell was an American judoka, stunt performer, actor, and professional wrestler. Nicknamed "The Godfather of Grappling", he popularized grappling in professional fighting circles, serving as a precursor to modern mixed martial arts. He worked on over 1,000 films and TV shows and authored 12 books.
Yuji Don Okumoto is an American actor of Japanese descent. He is best known for his role as Chozen Toguchi in The Karate Kid franchise. He has also appeared in such films as Better Off Dead,Real Genius, True Believer (1989), American Yakuza (1993), Contact (1997), The Truman Show (1998), Pearl Harbor (2001), Only the Brave (2006), Inception (2010) and Driven (2018).
The Brazilian jiu-jitsu ranking system signifies a practitioner's increasing level of technical knowledge and practical skill within the art. Colored belts worn as part of the uniform are awarded to the practitioner. The ranking system shares its origins with the judo belt-rank system, but the Brazilian system incorporates some minor differences from Judo such as a division between youths and adults and the issuance of stripes and degrees. Some differences have become synonymous with the art, such as a marked informality in promotional criteria, a focus on competitive demonstration of skill, and conservative promotion.
Yoshimi Ōsawa was a Japanese judoka. Before his death, he was the only living Kodokan 10th dan, having been promoted at the New Year Kagami Biraki Ceremony, 8 January 2006 along with Toshiro Daigo and Ichiro Abe.
Rolls Gracie was a Brazilian martial artist. He was a prominent member of the Gracie family known for their founding of Brazilian jiu-jitsu and considered by some the family's best ever fighter. He was teacher of Rickson Gracie, Carlos Gracie Jr., Royler Gracie, Maurício "Maurição" Motta Gomes, Márcio "Macarrão" Stambowsky, Rigan Machado and Romero "Jacare" Cavalcanti. He died in a hang-gliding accident in 1982. He is the father of Rolles Gracie and Igor Gracie.
Kastriot "Georges" Mehdi was a French-born Brazilian judoka, considered one of the most prominent practitioners of judo in Brazil.
The Gracie jiu-jitsu ranking system is a method of signifying competency and moral character of a jiu-jitsu practitioner, developed by founders Carlos and Hélio Gracie, and utilized by members of the Gracie family.