Yoshinaga Katsumi

Yoshinaga Katsumi (吉永 克己) is an elementary school teacher and the original SASUKE Sensei. He first competed in SASUKE 2, failing the Maruta Kudari in an all-cut performance.

In SASUKE 5, competing as a senior in the Nippon Sports Science University, he was the first person to ever clear the Soritatsu Kabe and only the second person to make it to that obstacle at the time. However, it took him two attempts to scale the wall and had about 10 seconds left after clearing it. Because of this, he might have been rushing the Rope Climb, as he fell as the klaxon sounded, hitting the water just before time expired.

He returned in SASUKE 6 as SASUKE Sensei, wearing #7. There, he was again the first one to beat the Soritatsu Kabe in the tournament. However, like last time, it took him two attempts to scale the wall and he once again failed on the Rope Climb. This time he was able to attempt it with enough time than last tournament and didn't fell into the water. He timed out with less than 4 seconds of clearing.

Because of his two near misses on the First Stage, Yoshinaga was given a very high number in SASUKE 7, #88. There, he was finally able to clear the First Stage in time, clearing with 4.2 seconds left. However, in the Second Stage, Yoshinaga lost his grip after the first chain on the Chain Reaction and fell there.

Around this time, Asaoka Hiroyuki was also starting to be called SASUKE Sensei as he was also an elementary school teacher. To decide who would get the nickname, the two competed on Kinniku Banzuke's Quick Muscle event. Asaoka finished with 191 push-ups while Yoshinaga could only do 146, and Asaoka was given the nickname.

Yoshinaga competed two more times in SASUKE 8 and SASUKE 9, failing the Jump Hang both times.

After approximately 16 years of absence, Yoshinaga would make an appearance on SASUKE 35. Sadly, his run was all cut from broadcast and he was known to failed the TIE Fighter in the tournament.

Trivia

 * Yoshinaga would have one of the longest hiatus for a competitor in SASUKE, currently tying the record with Tatayama Masaaki with 26 tournaments.
 * It is also known that one competitor, Mishima Ryuhei, would have a longer hiatus compared to the two, with him competing in a SASUKE competition in 2000 and would compete in SASUKE 37 in 2019. It is unknown whether he competed in SASUKE 5 or SASUKE 6 but it is known that he returned to SASUKE after 19 years of absence.
 * He is the only known competitor to fail the Rope Climb without timing out.

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吉永克己