Rikako Yuasa

Rikako Yuasa's journey into Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu began not with competitive ambition, but with a straightforward desire to get in shape. At 17, she joined a gym to lose weight and noticed the athletic condition of the women training in the BJJ classes. That observation sparked her curiosity, and under the instruction of Makoto Ikuta, she stepped onto the mats for the first time — and her enthusiasm for the sport proved immediate and undeniable.

Her technical foundation took shape under the guidance of Ichiro Kaneko at Pogona Club Gym, where her skills developed at a rapid pace. What began as a casual experiment evolved into a serious athletic pursuit, and Yuasa quickly established herself as a prominent name within the Japanese grappling scene — a remarkable trajectory for an athlete who had entered a gym with no martial arts ambitions whatsoever.

After making her mark domestically, Rikako Yuasa extended her competitive reach to the international IBJJF circuit, where she demonstrated that her abilities could hold up at the sport's highest levels. In 2012, competing as a purple belt, she claimed gold at the IBJJF European Open and delivered one of her most dominant performances at the IBJJF Asian Open, capturing both the weight and absolute divisions. That same year, she reached the podium at the IBJJF Pan American Championship, earning silver in her weight class and bronze in the absolute — a testament to her growing competitive consistency across multiple formats.

Her colored belt career culminated in a defining moment at the IBJJF World Championship in 2014, where she claimed the brown belt world title in California. That victory announced her arrival as a genuine contender at the elite level and set the stage for the next chapter of her career.

The most pivotal partnership of Rikako Yuasa's career began when she joined Paraestra as a brown belt under the mentorship of Yukinori Sasa. Sasa carries a global reputation for his open guard game — a sophisticated, nuanced system respected throughout the jiu-jitsu world — and his technical influence had a profound impact on Yuasa's development. His coaching sharpened her precision and elevated the quality of her guard work to a level that proved decisive on the competition floor.

The fruits of that collaboration became clear at the 2014 IBJJF World Championship, where Yuasa claimed the brown belt world title. One week after returning from California, on June 7, 2014, Yukinori Sasa awarded her the black belt in a ceremony that marked both a formal recognition of her achievement and the deepening of their student-teacher bond. The nickname she carries — "Lady Sasa" — speaks directly to the influence her mentor has had on her identity as a martial artist.

At black belt, Rikako Yuasa established herself as one of the most formidable competitors in the Light Featherweight division (53.5kg / 118lbs). Beginning in 2015, she embarked on an extraordinary run at the IBJJF World Championship, claiming four consecutive world titles through 2018 — a streak that placed her among the most decorated Japanese BJJ competitors in the history of the sport. Each title reinforced her standing as the benchmark of excellence in her division, and her ability to perform under pressure year after year set her apart from the field.

In 2019, she returned to the World Championship podium with a silver medal, demonstrating that her elite-level output had not diminished over time. Across her black belt career, Yuasa's sustained consistency on the world stage stands as the defining characteristic of her legacy — cementing her place as a dominant force in international jiu-jitsu competition.