Masafumi Matsumoto is a BJJ brown belt from Japan who has been travelling the world, training, competing and working as a translator. ‘Masa’ is known for having a very good guard, especially his spider guard. He talked to BJJEE about his background, travel stories and how BJJ has given him an incentive to travel the world.
Masa, can you please introduce yourself to the BJJ community?
Hi everyone. My name is Masa. I’m a brown belt under Tatsuya Onose, who was part of Purebred and got his black belt from Enson Inoue. But, I started practicing BJJ in Hobart, Australia in 2002 rather than in Japan.
I’ve been traveling around some parts of the world on and off since 2012, with the focus on rolling with other BJJ enthusiasts around the world.
Tell us about the idea behind travelling around the world training and competing in BJJ
There can be a variety of reasons, actually.
The simplest one is because this is what I enjoy doing and how I want to live. So, I deliberately chose this path. For example, I’ve been working as a freelance translator and also in the process of shifting towards copywriting and marketing–this means that I can (and do) work online, which allows me to travel long-term.
Another big reason–I’m happy to share my skills and experiences with other BJJ folks who don’t have access to more experienced grapplers around them. I’m not a world champion class grappler, but I still happen to be more experienced than a lot of people. And I’m happy to give something back to the BJJ community this way.
Masa in Armenia at Rio Grappling Club Armenia
Where have you been so far during your numerous trips around the world?
I spent most of my time in 2012 and 2013 in South East Asia. I really liked Taiwan, and spent about 7-8 months there in 2014, I think. This year, I’ve visited a lot of new places after leaving Japan in the beginning of March.
I’m in Serbia at the time of writing this, and I’ve been to many of the countries you can find between Japan and Serbia. The only country I didn’t find a BJJ gym was Georgia. So, I did no-gi with MMA folks there. Apart from Georgia, I found BJJ folks everywhere, including places like India and Iran.
Masa in Thailand at Arete BJJ in Bangkok
What have you learned about BJJ and life during your trips?
This is a big question! For me, BJJ is a journey and you can learn from great life lessons from it if YOU are open-minded. The same goes for traveling… But then, you can learn from anything and everything, really.
Another thing I’ve been thinking about recently, which I believe came from experiencing different parts of the world, is that perhaps a greater part of who you are is heavily dependent of social conditioning–what kind of environment you grew up in, for example. You could have been a totally different person with totally different beliefs if you had grown up in a different environment than the one you actually grew up in.
The moral of the story is… I suppose you gotta try to be aware of where your beliefs are coming from (i.e. why do you believe what you believe?). I feel this is important if you want to be freer as a person than now.
I don’t know if this answers your question, but I suppose it does show you what kind of person I am.
Masa in Bosnia at Rio Grappling Club in Sarajevo
What are some interesting or crazy stories from your trips?
That I got drugged in Manila, Philippines in 2012, perhaps? It was done professionally by a group of seemingly harmless people, and I wasn’t naive either. Yet, they managed to knock me out with a drug, I believe, and to take money from my bank account, using my debit card. I’m happy I didn’t die.
But–is this crazy? I don’t know. Something unusual for sure.
I’m just a guy who goes to BJJ gyms and rolls around the world… except this may sound like a crazy thing to some people.
Masa in Serbia at Kimura Jiu-Jitsu Academy in Belgrade.
What are your thoughts on BJJ around the world?
People often ask me how their academy is, compared to other places I have been to. (I don’t know why they want to ask me this.)
I’ve only been to some parts of the world, though. I haven’t been to Brazil. I have been to the US, but not really to a lot of different gyms. I’m yet to visit some other European countries that I hear are competitive in BJJ, like Poland. So, it’s only from my own limited experiences…
But, so far, it seems to me that BJJ belts are pretty accurate when it comes to representing someone’s skill level, though there are exceptionally good people too.
Masa in Croatia at Black Dragon Academy in Zagreb
How is your trip in the Balkans going so far? How does BJJ in the Balkans compare with other cuntries?
It’s been great so far. People are friendly in general.
With BJJ–again, I’m only exposed to some BJJ folks here, and I don’t know if I can generalize about BJJ in the Balkans only from these people. But, from what I heard and experienced, people I rolled with were keen and friendly.
Please tell us about your style of Jiu-Jitsu? What are some BJJ players that you admire?
I’m primarily a guard player with emphasis on submission–especially triangle choke. I’ve had 60 matches or so when I was a purple belt, and when I thought about the ones I won–out of about 40 matches, I remember winning 35 by triangle.
The BJJ players I admire:
My earlier idols include Terere, Nino Schembri, Marcelo Garcia, Leo Vieira, and Baret Yoshida.
With more recent players, I like Michele Nicolini, Lucas Lepri, Leandro Lo, and Rodolfo Vieira. Ryan Hall’s triangle game influenced me a lot as well.
But, if I am to name one person who influenced my style most, that has to be my coach Tatsuya Onose.
Masa in Croatia at Black Drago Academy in Zagreb
What is next for you? Feel free to thank sponsors or friends
I’ll keep traveling–my immediate plan is to head to Romania and to stay in Bucharest for some time. After that, I don’t know. I want to compete at European, so I’ll be around the region for a few more months at least.
My travel has been made easier thanks to Kauai Kimonos–their light travel gi is a must if you are the kind of person who travels a lot.
