‘Training Never Betrays You’ – Ryujin Nasukawa Reflects On Stunning ONE Debut Victory Over Thongpoon
The younger brother of kickboxing legend Tenshin Nasukawa recently walked into the ONE Championship ring and made a statement of his own.
Japanese phenom Ryujin “Shindo” Nasukawa enjoyed a successful promotional debut, as he knocked out Thai veteran Thongpoon PK Saenchai in the second round of their strawweight kickboxing tilt at The Inner Circle 23 last month.
Ryujin, an ISKA World Champion and RISE Champion, may have experienced some initial nerves at Bangkok’s Lumpinee Stadium, but he thrived under the bright lights when it counted most.
Thongpoon came out of the gates with aggressive intent in the opening stanza, but the Japanese prodigy steadied himself and waited for his moment. Ultimately, that moment arrived in the second round.
Ryujin landed a sharp right hook and followed it up with a damaging knee, which hurt the Thai veteran and instantly shifted the momentum of the contest. With Thongpoon on the ropes, the Chiba native poured on a succession of punches that left the referee with no choice but to step in and wave off the action.
For Ryujin, who turned professional in 2022, that promotional debut was everything he needed it to be.
He told onefc.com:
“For now, I’m relieved that I was able to win. I wasn’t nervous, but I was especially tense in the first round, and I could barely hear my corner. I became much more comfortable in the second round.”
A knee in the second frame that hurt Thongpoon and turned the tide of the contest was no accident. It was the product of deliberate, focused preparation, a technique that Ryujin and his coaches at Team Teppen had drilled repeatedly in the lead-up to this fight.
It was a moment that crystallized the relationship between preparation and performance, and one that Ryujin will carry with him into every camp that follows.
The 20-year-old said:
“I had hurt him with a knee. It was something I had been working on consistently in training, and seeing that work pay off showed me that training never betrays you.”
Ryujin Ready For The World’s Biggest Stages
Competing in ONE Championship for the first time is an experience unlike anything else in combat sports.
The scale of the production, the global fan base, and the magnitude of the event combine to create an environment that has tested far more experienced fighters than Ryujin Nasukawa.
However, the young Japanese star had a deliberate approach to managing all of it. Rather than allow the moment to rush him, the kickboxing sensation made a conscious decision to absorb his surroundings before committing to his performance.
Ryujin confessed:
“I had never stepped into a ONE ring before, so I first made sure to take in the atmosphere. I fought with the intention of not letting the occasion overwhelm me.”
With his first promotional appearance firmly in the books, Ryujin’s ambitions are already stretching toward new experiences, and he would love nothing more than to continue to visit other countries and fight internationally.
For instance, the Japanese striker knows that ONE and Visit Qatar recently renewed their landmark three-year partnership, and the first event from that collaboration is set for the Aspire Dome in Doha on Friday, March 26, 2027.
That, especially, has piqued Ryujin’s interest:
“Competing overseas is a very valuable experience. I also heard that ONE was talking about holding an event in Qatar, and I would like to compete on a stage like that as well.”
