Derek Wayne Miyamoto is a former English teacher, Photographer, and stay-at-home dad who is best known for competing on American Ninja Warrior and SASUKE Vietnam. Miyamoto is known as the Ninja Ambassador as he has traveled to many international Ninja Warrior competitions to compete and is passionate about sharing ninja culture with the world. He also founded "Ninjas Helping Ninjas", which is a program that collects used training equipment and donates it to ninjas in developing countries who couldn't otherwise afford it.
In his family life, Miyamoto is married to his wife Duyen and has one son named Lincoln, to whom he is a major role model to.
SASUKE Vietnam[]
SASUKE Vietnam 2[]
In his first ninja competition, Miyamoto cleared Stage One but failed Stage Two when he fell on the Salmon Ladder. In his interview, he said that this was his first encounter with the obstacle.
SASUKE Vietnam 3[]
Miyamoto returned to Vietnam for its third SASUKE season and once again cleared Stage One. On the updated Stage Two, he got redemption on the Salmon Ladder but failed the following obstacle, the Unstable Bridge.
SASUKE Vietnam 4[]
He returned to compete on SASUKE Vietnam 4 and wore number 836. He cleared the Stage 1B with 49.92 seconds left. However, he failed the Roulette Row when he jumped from the springboard to grab the first hoop.
SASUKE Vietnam 5[]
Miyamoto returned to Vietnam for its fourth season. Once again, he advanced to Stage Two when he cleared the Stage 1B with 1:31.25 left. After his three previous attempts ended up on Stage Two, he finally conquered it with 25.36 seconds left, and advanced to Stage Three for the first time in his career. On Stage Three, he failed on the Hang Climbing.
American Ninja Warrior[]
American Ninja Warrior 9[]
Miyamoto made his first appearance in American Ninja Warrior during season 9's Los Angeles qualifiers. During Los Angeles qualifying, despite clearing the Fly Wheels, he was one of the three competitors to take a hard impact on the first Fly Wheel, which made him bleed from his eyebrow for the remainder of his run. He later fell on the Battering Ram with a time that did not place him in the top 30, ending his season early.
American Ninja Warrior 10[]
Derek returned to compete in LA for American Ninja Warrior 10. In qualifying, his run was digested but it was shown that he fell on the Doorknob Drop, reaching the final doorknob and placing 17th overall, moving onto the city finals this time.
In city finals, he got revenge on the Doorknob Drop and proceeded to finish the entire city finals course as the second city finals finisher of the year. This was his first ANW buzzer and he automatically qualified for the national finals in Las Vegas. He placed 9th overall, having the slowest time out of the nine finishers on the Los Angeles finals course. His run on Stage One was cut, but it was revealed that he failed the Double Dipper.
American Ninja Warrior 11[]
He returned to compete in Los Angeles in American Ninja Warrior 11. Although his run was digested, he shockingly went out on the third obstacle, Spring Forward. He did not make the top 30 at the end of the qualifying round and didn't move on.
American Ninja Warrior 13[]
Derek was originally scheduled to compete in Los Angeles for ANW 12 but was postponed due to the ongoing pandemic. Likely to make up for this, he returned to compete in American Ninja Warrior 13 competition.
He competed in the second round of qualifying this season. His run was digested, but at Split Decision, he chose to attempt the Broken Bridge. However, he lost his balance and struggled for nearly two minutes, before his strength finally gave out and his season once again ended on the third obstacle.
Results[]
SASUKE Vietnam[]
| SASUKE Vietnam | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Failed Salmon Ladder (Stage 2) | ||
| 3 | Falled Unstable Bridge (Stage 2) | ||
| 4 | Failed Roulette Row (Stage 2) | ||
| 5 | Failed Hang Climbing (Stage 3) |
American Ninja Warrior[]
| ANW | # | Result | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| ANW10 | Failed Double Dipper (Stage One) | All Cut. |