He joined sumo in May 1968 at the age of just 14, competing under his own surname of Obori. He was considered a very promising prospect and after winning his first jūryō division championship in May 1973 he was given the shikona or fighting name Ōnishiki, after a great wrestler from his Dewanoumi stable, the 26th yokozuna Ōnishiki Uichirō. Just two tournaments later he became the first wrestler in sumo history to win all three sanshō or special prizes, for Fighting Spirit, Technique and Outstanding Performance, in his debut top division tournament. He was also runner–up in this basho and earned his first kinboshi or gold star by defeating yokozuna Kotozakura. He was promoted straight to komusubi, which was to be his highest rank, but he suffered a serious back injury and scored only 3–12. He never made the rank again. As well his back problem he also suffered from knee problems and diabetes, and spent the rest of his career moving up and down the ranks of the two salaried divisions. He was to win seven more kinboshi, but he was also demoted to jūryō on a number of occasions, where he picked up three more jūryō championships. He only fell to the third makushita division once during this period though. In this tournament in May 1979 at makushita 1 he posted a perfect 7-0 record, took the championship, and also handed Itai his first defeat in professional sumo, ending a consecutive winning streak from debut which was a record at that time. In September 1982 he became the first wrestler to immediately follow a win by default with a loss by default. He retired in January 1988 rather than face demotion to the makushita division again.
Retirement
Onishiki remained in sumo as a toshiyori or elder, and was known as Yamashina Oyakata. He worked as a coach at Dewanoumi stable and as a member of the Japan Sumo Association′s board of directors, holding the Special Executive position. He retired from the Sumo Association in September 2018 after turning 65 years of age.
Fighting style
Onishiki was a yotsu sumo specialist who favoured hidari yotsu, or a right hand outside, left hand inside grip on his opponent′s mawashi. His favourite kimarite or techniques were yori kiri and uwatenage.
