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00:00 This is Shogo Wozumi, a wrestler from Japan.
00:03 After competing at a national level back home,
00:06 he set his sights further afield.
00:08 He's now based in Senegal, and his mission
00:11 is to master Lam, a local wrestling style that's become
00:14 the country's national sport.
00:15 "I just finished practice today with the team
00:21 I'm practicing with right now.
00:24 Every time I practice, I feel myself getting stronger,
00:27 bit by bit, so I feel a lot of joy and growth."
00:34 Lam is anchored in ancestral war rituals
00:37 and blends physical combat and acrobatics.
00:40 Victory is declared when an opponent's back
00:42 touches the ground.
00:44 It's hugely popular throughout the country,
00:46 and Wozumi first discovered this kind of wrestling
00:48 during a trip to Senegal with Japan's aid agency in 2017.
00:53 Several years later, in 2022, he decided
00:56 to relocate to Senegal full-time and now lives
00:59 with a community of wrestlers in Cies.
01:01 "The reason I like Senegal is that the Senegalese people
01:07 have very warm hearts.
01:09 In Senegal, as in Japan, we have a culture of hospitality,
01:14 which in Japan is called omotenashi.
01:16 But in Senegal, it is called teranga.
01:19 When I came to Senegal, I was fascinated by this.
01:23 Senegalese people live together with their families,
01:26 and they all support each other in this way.
01:28 That's my kind of culture, so I fell in love with Senegal."
01:34 Since moving to Senegal, Wozumi has also set up an academy
01:38 to help around three dozen students prepare
01:40 for the next Youth Olympics.
01:42 They're due to take place in Dakar in 2026.