Honu Sumo

Who Is HONU Sumo?

Our
Team

Join the Keiko or watch us Keiko every Saturday at 11am PST in City Heights or online.

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@honusumo

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YouTube

HONU Maximum Effort Studios

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Head of operations

Jj
Jones

JJ has been grappling for years. He is a Black Belt in Judo and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. JJ started Sumo in 2016, but wanted to start back in 2007. JJ was unable to find a school to learn, in 2016 he drove from San Diego to LA to train with LA Sumo club, the rest is history and future.

Head Of community Engagement

Christina
Griffin-Jones

Christina Griffin-Jones uses she/her pronouns and was introduced to sumo by her partner, Jj and started participating in practice in 2017. She has been competing since 2020. Christina has medaled in both heavyweight as 2nd Place and middleweight as 2nd Place. In 2022, Christina and Jj represented the United States at the World Games, an Olympic event, making them the first Black couple to represent the US at the World Games in Sumo. In Christina’s free time, she shows up for San Diego’s Black Queer community and for people who have been harmed and killed by police. According to Christina, practicing Sumo has helped her see herself as strong and like no fight is too big for her and her teammates.

Head of Research and Development

Mengkin
Ragan

Mengkin grew up in Japan and was exposed to sumo at a young age as his father enjoyed watching sumo. His first tournament was at the 2018 Akita International Sumo Tournament in Akita, Japan. He started training in LA on and off when he moved to San Diego in July of 2018. His first official tournament was the 2020 US Open where he met JJ and Christina which led to the founding of Honu Sumo and the rise of the Jones’.
Mengkin currently lives in Nagano Prefecture, Japan where he trains with a local high school when possible. He is hoping to compete in the 2023 US Nationals.