Never Give Up: Felipe Costa
What happens if you’re just no good at the thing you love? Felipe Costa loved jiu-jitsu, but his terrible results in competition would leave him demoralised and depressed. Instead of walking away he refused to quit, went back to the drawing board and became a black belt world champion.
In this video, Felipe – a member of the Brasa team and a roosterweight competitor (58kg) – talks about the obstacles he had to overcome and the methods he used to rise to the top. He describes the sports psychology tricks he applied to win tournaments, which he developed himself through trial and error.
He also explains how he approaches his training as a smaller jiu-jitsu player. Jiu-jitsu is often sold as the answer to smaller guys’ problems, but the first few months (and sometimes, years) of a smaller player’s time on the mat is spent getting crushed by every bigger guy in the academy. Felipe talks about the pros and cons of training with bigger guys, and we get to see some rolling footage from his ‘light guys only’ training sessions, get-togethers exclusively reserved for jiu-jitsu players under 73kg.
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Carlo
Awesome interview, and great insight about the psychological side of jiujitsu. Good job!!!
Jun 14, 2012 @ 00:02:15Mike
Look at that gi!!! How do you wear out just the collar like that?
Jul 29, 2012 @ 17:40:36adam
I’ve been following Felipe since I frist watched Thirty + , on his youtube channel. He truly is cool as a lemon pie. Thanks for posting these interviews – conda
Sep 04, 2012 @ 21:15:36Cliff Burns
My son is currently training at the de la Riva Academy in Rio so I was thrilled to get a chance to see, long distance, where he’s getting his butt kicked.
He also knows Felipe, of course, and speaks highly of him as a fighter and a man.
I think acquiring a fighter’s mentality will be key to Liam’s future success and he has always approached ju-jitsu with reverence, always seeking to grow and learn. I’m starting to understand why…Felipe is a warrior and if Liam returns to Canada with his “never give up” mentality, he will be well-served in the decades to come.
Oct 05, 2012 @ 13:59:11James
Felipe Costa is one of the best guys to model your game if you are a smaller guy, Great documentary!
Dec 28, 2012 @ 05:56:46