‘Inheriting The Warrior Spirit’ – The Ancient Rituals And Sacred Beliefs Driving Yuya Wakamatsu’s MMA Career
Mixed martial arts is often reduced to a binary world of wins and losses, but former ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Yuya “Little Piranha” Wakamatsu refuses to view his craft through such a narrow lens.
To the Japanese knockout artist, combat is far more than a physical trade. It represents an act of divine communion where victory belongs to the warrior whose soul is wholly consecrated for battle.
Ahead of his flyweight MMA co-main event with Willie “White Lion” van Rooyen at ONE SAMURAI 3 on Saturday, September 12, at Yokohama Buntai, Wakamatsu pulled back the curtain on the spiritual foundation that powers everything he does.
Drawing The Line In The Sand
Where most professional fighters obsess over game plans and final sparring sessions, Wakamatsu follows a different pre-fight ritual. In those decisive final hours, he seeks refuge before sacred temple fires.
“Little Piranha” makes his pilgrimage to Naritasan Shinshoji Temple, a historic 10th-century sanctuary, to perform the Goma fire ritual. Amid the rising smoke and chants, wooden prayer tablets are consumed in blazing flame before Fudo Myoo, a fierce guardian deity believed to carry those burning devotions to the heavens.
He said:
“I go to Naritasan and do fire rituals because I truly believe in the unseen world. Deities like the Dragon God or Fudo Myoo — the ancient warriors and samurai worshiped them. In modern times, people are drifting away from that kind of spirituality.
“When I was younger, I didn’t realize how important the unseen world was. But now I realize that half of this game is exactly that — unseen power, divine protection. I deeply value it.”
That deliberate practice extends to Tokyo’s Chiyoda ward, where solitary visits to historic shrines draw a firm boundary between physical preparation and spiritual surrender.
Rather than petitioning for victory, the sacred grounds mark the point where his physical labor ends and absolute trust takes over.
The Tribe Tokyo MMA representative said:
“Before fights, I do the fire ritual, or visit Yasukuni Shrine. It’s a way for me to draw a line in the sand.
“It’s a way of saying, ‘I’ve done everything I possibly can in the physical realm, now give me the strength for the final battle.’ It’s not so much about making wishes. It’s about inheriting the warrior spirit of the past.”
Where Body And Spirit Collide
Outside the sanctuary walls, that same discipline drives him straight into the wilderness. Rooted in Shugendo, an ancient ascetic tradition forged by Yamabushi mountain warriors, Wakamatsu pairs punishing alpine runs with Takigyo, the practice of freezing waterfall meditation.
Sacred fire sharpens his spirit, while the crushing cold clears away everything else.
The Kagoshima native said:
“Another thing I do is a ritual called Gomagyo, where I go to a temple and perform a fire ceremony to ward off bad luck and remove impurities.
“I also do waterfall training before starting my fight camp, to purify myself before training begins. Those rituals are important to me.”
For Wakamatsu, these elemental extremes are not tests of endurance, but tools of quiet calibration. The clarity they forge exists beyond the reach of conventional training camps.
He said:
“Standing under a freezing waterfall — it’s beyond just cold. Your mind goes completely blank. It gets to a point where you surrender and think.
“Running up mountains is the same. It builds your resolve. It makes you realize how insignificant you are in the grand scheme of things.”
Guided By Something Greater
At the center of it all stands Fudo Myoo, the fierce Buddhist Wisdom King whose name means “the immovable one.”
The connection was never chosen. Wakamatsu’s devout grandfather was born under the deity’s zodiac year, passing down an ancestral bond that was never spoken but felt.
The former champion said:
“The temple I’ve been visiting since my amateur days is also dedicated to Fudo Myoo. For whatever reason, I have an incredibly deep connection to it. I naturally gravitate towards Fudo Myoo.”
In classical Buddhist iconography, Fudo Myoo brandishes a sword to sever worldly desires and a rope to bind delusion.
For Wakamatsu, that imagery mirrors his martial philosophy with uncanny precision. To the 31-year-old, the most formidable opponent has never been the one standing across from him.
He said:
“That mantra totally embodies exactly what I’m going through. I feel a deep connection to it. There’s always a side of me battling worldly desires.
“Legendary warlords like Takeda Shingen worshiped Fudo Myoo too. The embodiment of conquering your own weakness, maybe that’s deeply rooted in my subconscious. And maybe I’m being guided by it.”
Unshackled In A Connected World
Fudo Myoo’s central teaching of severing worldly attachments ultimately revealed itself most powerfully in the aftermath of Wakamatsu’s stunning title loss to now-reigning ONE Flyweight MMA World Champion Avazbek “Ninzya” Kholmirzaev.
In the weeks that followed, he quietly stepped back from social media entirely — not in despair, but with absolute purpose.
The Japanese superstar said:
“I realized that social media is just another thing that tethered me down. I don’t need to force it. But at the end of the day, social media is just seeking validation. It’s just another worldly desire.”
In an era where fighters chase algorithmic visibility, Wakamatsu chose authenticity over empty applause.
Unburdened by outside noise, the modern-day samurai enters his next battle anchored to his own voice and the ancient fire within.
He concluded:
“I know there’s this unwritten rule that fighters have to post, but I didn’t want to be trapped by it. I am who I am. Of course, I know there are fans looking forward to updates. But at the end of the day, I have to be me.”
