Kensuke Nakaniwa

Kensuke Nakaniwa
Nakaniwa at the 2006 U.S. Figure Skating Campbell's Cup
Personal information
Native name
中庭 健介
Born (1981-10-15) October 15, 1981 (age 45)
Fukuoka, Japan
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Figure skating career
Country Japan
Skating clubPapio Fukuoka; Fukuoka University; Kashii Fukuoka
Began skating1990
Retired2011
Medal record
Men's figure skating
Representing  Japan
Asian Winter Games
Bronze medal – third place2007 ChangchunMen's singles

Kensuke Nakaniwa (中庭 健介, Nakaniwa Kensuke; born October 15, 1981) is a Japanese figure skating coach and former competitive singles skater. He is a two-time Ondrej Nepela Memorial champion, the 2003 Winter Universiade bronze medalist, the 2007 Asian Winter Games bronze medalist, and a three-time Japan national medalist. He finished in the top ten at three Four Continents Championships.

Early life

Nakaniwa was born on October 15, 1981, in Fukuoka, Japan.

Competitive career

Nakaniwa began skating around age 8, in his second year of elementary school, and started training seriously the next year. He also played softball, baseball, and soccer.

Around the first year of junior high school, he asked if he was quit, and he was told that he could do so once he qualified to the Japan Junior Championships. He did not accomplish this in his first junior season but did in his second; he finished 13th. However, at the Championships, he asked another skater how he could get a national team jersey and was told that if he placed at least 6th, he would be given one and would be allowed to compete in overseas events. Nakaniwa said that the conversation motivated him to continue training and improving rather than quitting as he had planned. The next year, in the 1996–1997 season, he placed 6th at the national junior championships.

In the 1999–2000 season, Nakaniwa won a bronze medal on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series and placed 13th at the 2000 World Junior Championships.

During the 2001–02 season, Nakaniwa made his Grand Prix debut at 2001 Skate America, where he landed his first quadruple jump in competition. The next season, he spent a month training in Canada, where he worked with choreographer David Wilson on improving his ability to understand music. He also won a bronze medal at the 2003 Winter Universiade and competed at his first senior ISU Championship, the 2003 Four Continents, where he finished 11th.

In the 2004–2005 season, he was the silver medalist at the Japan Championships, his best placement there during his career.

In February 2007, he competed at the 2007 Asian Winter Games, where he won the bronze medal. Later that year, at the 2007 Japan Championships, he placed 3rd in the short program but fell to fourth after the free skate. He missed earning a berth to the World Championships, at which he never competed, by less than a point. Nakaniwa later blamed himself for lacking drive, which he saw as holding him back from medaling at major competitions or winning berths to the World Championships or Winter Olympics.

Nakaniwa retired from competitive figure skating in January 2011, having spent his last season acting as an assistant coach and experimenting with training techniques for his future coaching career.

Coaching career

Following his competitive career, Nakaniwa became a figure skating coach. Initially, he coached at his hometown rink in Fukuoka before relocating to Chiba in 2021 when he became the head coach of the newly established MF Figure Skating Academy. Nakaniwa has described his coaching style as one of maintaining a conversation with his students rather than ordering them, after he spent his first year of coaching using a harsher approach, which he found was counterproductive. He also focuses on helping skaters improve their ability to practice independently when not in lessons.

Nakaniwa's current and former students include:

Programs

Season Short program Free skating Exhibition
2008–09
2007–08
2006–07
2005–06
  • Sarabande
    by George Frideric Handel
The Lord of the Rings:
2004–05
2003–04
  • Romeo and Juliet
  • The Lord of the Rings
    by Howard Shore
2002–03
  • The Four Seasons
    by Antonio Vivaldi
2001–02

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International
Event 96–97 97–98 98–99 99–00 00–01 01–02 02–03 03–04 04–05 05–06 06–07 07–08 08–09 09–10 10–11
Four Continents 11th8th6th8th12th
GP Bompard 7th
GP Cup of China 5th10th
GP Cup of Russia 8th10th
GP NHK Trophy 11th8th8th
GP Skate America 12th10th
Universiade 9th3rd4th
Asian Games 3rd
Golden Spin 7th
Merano Cup 7th
Nepela Memorial 1st1st
NRW Trophy 5th6th
International: Junior
Junior Worlds 13th
JGP Bulgaria 10th
JGP Canada 3rd
JGP China 10th
JGP Germany 13th
JGP Japan 8th
JGP Mexico 10th
JGP Norway 13th
National

Japan 9th5th4th3rd6th2nd3rd5th4th6th12th9th
Japan Junior 6th 5th 2nd2nd3rd
J. = Junior level

References

  1. 1 2 "Kensuke NAKANIWA: 2008/2009". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on November 6, 2009.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Fujitsuka, Daisuke (May 8, 2023). "【中庭健介〈上〉】渡辺倫果の躍進引き出した指導の原点 4回転が人生を変えた" [(Nakaniwa Kensuke Part 1) The Origins of the Coaching That Fueled Rinka Watanabe’s Breakthrough: The Quad Jump Changed His Life]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  3. ↑ "Canadian Junior International". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved October 26, 2016.
  4. ↑ "World Junior Figure Skating Championships 2000". deu.de. March 12, 2000. Archived from the original on April 25, 2001.
  5. ↑ "21. Winter Universiade Tarvisio 2003: Figure Skating" (PDF). FISU. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 22, 2012.
  6. ↑ "2003 Four Continents Championships - Men". 2003 Four Continents Championships. February 15, 2003. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Fujitsuka, Daisuke (May 15, 2023). "【中庭健介〈中〉】「憧れ強すぎた」本田武史と「ほんとにいい人」高橋大輔の存在" [(Nakaniwa Kensuke, Part 2) The presence of Takeshi Honda, whom he "admired intensely", and Daisuke Takahashi, "a truly good person."]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  8. ↑ "2007 Asian Winter Games". Tracings. Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  9. ↑ "先生紹介" [About Our Coaches]. MF Figure Skating Academy (in Japanese). Archived from the original on July 6, 2022. Retrieved January 11, 2024.
  10. ↑ Chen, Siyi (January 28, 2024). "Kensuke Nakaniwa: "My approach involves accepting skaters for who they are"". Absolute Skating. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  11. ↑ Fujitsuka, Daisuke (May 22, 2023). "【中庭健介〈下〉】渡辺倫果へ唱え続けた言葉と世界選手権であふれた涙" [(Nakaniwa Kensuke, Part 3) The words he kept repeating to Watanabe Rinka and the tears that flowed at the World Championships.]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved October 3, 2026.
  12. ↑ "青木 祐奈 Yuna AOKI". Fuji TV (in Japanese). Retrieved August 13, 2023.
  13. ↑ "Hana BATH-AUS". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on January 17, 2026. Retrieved January 26, 2026.
  14. ↑ "江川 マリア Maria EGAWA". Fuji TV (in Japanese). Fuji TV. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  15. ↑ "Sei Kawahara: 2016/17". International Skating Union. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  16. ↑ "宮崎花凜、82.16点で全日本ノービスＢ優勝「気持ち切り替えてジャンプ」" [Karin Miyazaki wins All Japan Novice B title with 82.16 points: "I reset my mindset and focused on my jumps."]. Nikkan Sports (in Japanese). Retrieved November 23, 2024.
  17. ↑ "第93回　全日本ジュニア選手権（11/15-17）" [93rd All-Japan Junior Championships (11/15–17)] (PDF). Fuji TV (in Japanese). Retrieved November 20, 2024.
  18. ↑ "Ami Nakai: 2022/23". International Skating Union. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  19. ↑ "Rio Nakata: 2022/23". International Skating Union. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  20. ↑ "Jia SHIN: 2023/24". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  21. ↑ "Tsuboi Suto: 2022/23". International Skating Union. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  22. ↑ "Yo TAKAGI: 2023/24". International Skating Union. International Skating Union. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  23. ↑ "Rinka Watanabe: 2022/23". International Skating Union. Retrieved July 7, 2023.
  24. ↑ "Kensuke NAKANIWA: 2007/2008". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 8, 2008.
  25. ↑ "Kensuke NAKANIWA: 2006/2007". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 15, 2007.
  26. ↑ "Kensuke NAKANIWA: 2005/2006". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 15, 2006.
  27. ↑ "Kensuke NAKANIWA: 2004/2005". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 4, 2005.
  28. ↑ "Kensuke NAKANIWA: 2003/2004". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on June 24, 2004.
  29. ↑ "Kensuke NAKANIWA: 2002/2003". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on August 4, 2003.
  30. ↑ "Kensuke NAKANIWA: 2001/2002". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 13, 2002.
  31. 1 2 "Competition Results: Kensuke NAKANIWA". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 21, 2014.
  32. ↑ 中庭 健介 [NAKANIWA Kensuke] (in Japanese). Japan Skating Federation. Archived from the original on January 7, 2011.

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