Two months ago, Poway resident Jeff Mata won the world championship in the purple belt master lightweight division at the 2016 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship in Long Beach.

The fact that Mata, 34, only took up the sport of Brazilian jiu-jitsu four years ago is impressive. But what makes Mata’s victory extraordinary is that he’s been completely blind for the past eight years and all of the men he competes against in the wrestling-style sport are sighted.

Mata said he simply visualizes his opponents’ torso, arms and legs and then uses his techniques, training and muscle memory to dominate his rivals after they’re on the ground.

“Once I get my grips on them, I just do what comes natural,” he said. “It’s second nature to me.”


Mata trains at the San Diego Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Academy in San Marcos, where owner/sensei Paulo Fernando works with about 400 sighted students.

Fernando is nationally certified in blind instruction, and Mata is only the third visually-impaired student he’s trained in 11 years. Of the three, Fernando said Mata has the most natural ability.

“Jeff walks in the gym like he can see it. He doesn’t act like he’s blind. He’s more of an athlete. He’s more gifted,” said Fernando, who was born and raised in Brazil and started lessons in jiu-jitsu at the age of 4.

Although Mata also competes in the visually impaired division at international judo competitions, Brazilian jiu-jitsu is his favorite sport. Because there aren’t that many adult competitors in his jiu-jitsu division, he’s never had the opportunity to compete against another blind athlete.


Unlike some other martial arts that involve striking the opponent with an arm or leg, Brazilian jiu-jitsu involves grappling on the ground with an opponent and administering joint locks and choke holds until one competitor gives up and taps out.

The matches begin with opponents standing facing each other without touching. Mata is such a well-known and tough competitor that his sighted opponents usually sneak attack him in the opening seconds of the match by grabbing his legs and pushing him to the ground.

“They get the advantage right from the start because they know I can’t see them,” Mata said. “Now we’re training to prepare for that. We try to overcome that initial minute of the fight to regain control.”

During sparring practice on Friday morning in the ice-cold gym, Mata and Fernando circled each other and alternately flipped each other to the ground. Each time Mata went down, he popped back up with a smile on his face. Fernando said it’s typical of Mata’s sunny nature and can-do spirit.


“Everyone here fell in love with him and opened their arms to him when he came,” Fernando said. “He inspires everyone he meets.”

Things weren’t always so sunny for Mata, who said he went through a dark period after losing his sight. Born and raised in Poway, Mata was a multi-sport athlete as a boy. He surfed, rode skateboards, did martial arts and wrestled varsity for four years at Poway High. In his senior year, he started amateur boxing and after graduating, he devoted himself to the sport full time, becoming successful enough to buy a home and several cars.

But his aggressive training took a toll on his health. When he was about 24, he suffered a detached retina in his left eye, as well as uveitis, an inflammatory disease that destroys the eye tissue. Then the same thing happened to his right eye. By 26, he was blind, unemployed and in despair.

“I fell into a deep depression and in trying to find myself I started drinking a lot and doing drugs. I thought my life was over,” he said.


To cope with his loss of sight, he took classes in Braille, device accessibility and independent living, first through the San Diego Center for the Blind and then the Junior Blind of America’s Davidson Program in Los Angeles. It was there that he sat in on a Bible study class and discovered a newfound faith.

“It caught me and I found my refuge and spirituality,” he said, admitting that it took him a few years and a few setbacks before he was fully committed to starting over.

He enrolled in community college and friends in the blind community directed him to Fernando’s gym, which he joined in October 2012.

At first, Mata would spend two-and-a-half hours on the bus commuting three days a week from his parents’ home in Poway to the gym on Rancheros Drive in San Marcos. Then, fellow jiu-jitsu student Dillon Trotter of Poway took Mata under his wing and began training with him in the gym and driving him to and from lessons.


Mata’s discipline and natural athleticism allowed him to advance quickly. In 2013, he won his first world championship as a white belt master lightweight. In 2014, he landed a sponsor, the gi (uniform) maker Shoyoroll, which provides gear and competition fees.

He now competes about once a month in jiu-jitsu tournaments that have taken him to Texas and Colorado and judo tournaments in Canada, South Korea and Hungary. His 2017 goal is to compete and win at the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation championship in Irvine.

Mata has been equally successful in the classroom. In August 2015, he transferred to Cal State San Marcos, where he’s studying business management and earning high grades. He plans to earn a graduate degree in marketing and start his own business helping other visually impaired people gain independence. He’s so adept at using his laptop and iPhone to get around, he was recently asked to speak to a group of Chinese accessibility advisers who visited Cal State San Marcos.

“He’s a really smart, pretty techy guy, and what’s striking about him is that he’s a genuinely nice young man. He’s not egotistical or boisterous, just a really low-key guy,” said John Segoria, director of disability support services at Cal State San Marcos. “He’s got everything I’m looking for in someone who will graduate and run his own business and he’s been a real pleasure to work with academically.”


Another benefit of attending college was meeting girlfriend Jenna Scott, a fellow student who offered to take notes for Mata in their math class a few years ago. They’ve been together for two years. Jenna’s father, Curtis Scott, is a big fan of Mata.

“He’a a great guy, super positive and can do things better than any guy I know except drive a car,” said Scott, who volunteers as Mata’s weight trainer. “He might not look it but he’s got the strength of 10 men.”

Although losing his vision was life-changing, Mata said in many ways it changed him for the good.

“When I was sighted I was successful in business, I had a house, cars, all that stuff and I thought it was so precious,” he said. “But now I have a different perspective on life. I have my faith, my family and my relationships and I know what really matters in life.”


pam.kragen@sduniontribune.com