James Johnson is a Karate B.C. past president and World Karate Federation executive committee member. Johnson represented Canada in three world championships and was the first person to win four national senior men’s open titles, including one in 1983 when he was 39 years old.
He is a nationally carded referee and played a key role in women’s inclusion in kumite, or sparring. Johnson was inducted into the National Karate Association Hall of Fame in 1991 and was first honoured for his outstanding contribution to the sport in Canada in ’88.
He founded the Burnaby Karate Club at Cameron centre in 1981 and has been its chief instructor since.