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Felipe Costa

This week we bring you an interview with Black belt world champion Felipe Costa.  Not every world champion is relatable to the common grappler. Felipe shares his story, and I can guarantee that you will find many themes and feelings that you can relate to. With students being able to relate to him this has giving him a powerful teaching tool.

We talk about:

• He has been training since he was 12 years old
• He never won a major tournament until he became a black belt
• It took him 10 years to get to his black belt
• Being a black belt means much more than rolling like a black belt
• His favorite techniques and positions
• His early competition career
• Overcoming being nervous and self doubt
• Beating a competitor that is better than you
• BJJ camp 2014 Sept 5- Sept 15. in Cancun
• His current neck injury that has kept him off the mat for over 2 months
• He describes the level of pain he has with his injury

   

  

  Felipe Costa giving Ryan Hall his black belt

• Goals for a bjj student for their 1st year
• History of some of the rules in the IBJJF
• His current goals
• Advice for a BJJ students first tournament
• What he was like as a blue belt
• How the internet has changed BJJ training
• Learning basic techniques vs the fancy techniques
• Advice for making your own strategy
• What he does before he competes

Connect with Felipe Costa:

• Brazilianblackbelt.com
• BJJ Camp
• Felipe Costa on Facebook
• His facebook fanpage

Quote of the week: The Man in The Arena by Theodore Roosevelt “It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Thank you Wil Horneff, from Training Grounds Jiu-Jitsu & MMA for presenting the quote.

Article of the week: Have You Ever Seen Someone Humiliated Like This in Jiu Jitsu… By Coach John Connors.  Check out John Connors interview here

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The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we talk to Wil Horneff. This interview is packed full of great training advice and you can tell Wil has a passion for training and helping his students. Wil is a Black belt under Ralph Gracie, he owns a school in Westwood NJ called Training Grounds Jiu-Jitsu & MMA. At Training Grounds they teach BJJ, MMA, kickboxing, and have a kids program.

We talk about:

• How some movies eventually got Wil into BJJ
• What it is like running his school
• Books he recommends: Gold Medal Mental Workout for Combat Sports, and The Inner Game of Tennis
• Why he focuses on adding pressure to his game
• Training with some high level BJJ athletes
• The current rules for IBJJF and why they are set up the way they are
• BJJ and self-defense
• Some of the ways BJJ needs to be changed to help in a street fight
• How training in the Gi can help for self defense
• He gives advice for 1st year students
• The importance of drilling until you can't do the move wrong
• S-Training and how it helps develop skill
• Wil's current goals
• Why creating space is bad for BJJ
• Why you need to not drill moves in isolation
• Getting more confidence and being calm during competition
• Advice for your first time compeating
• What Wil was like as a blue belt
• Advice for developing your own game plan
• Developing a culture of learning and leadership in his gym
• Some traits that Wil looks for in a good student
• We talk about some of Wil's history in acting
• He played the bully in the movie "The Sandlot"
• He gives behind the scenes stories of "The Sandlot", "Born to Be Wild", and "The Shining"

Wil Horneff Contact info- Westwood NJ Training Grounds Jiu-Jitsu & MMA, His email wil@njtraininggrounds.com

Quote of the week: "Don't forget that i cannon see myself - that my role is limited to being the one who looks in the mirror." Jacques Rigaut

Article of the week:"To Wash or NOT to Wash Your Belt?" From: The Jiu Jitsu Transformation

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The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we talk about making changes to your BJJ and developing a game plan.  We break it down into 3 main steps: 1) Define the objectives 2) Get help 3) Do the work.  You are the only person how is ultimately in charge of your BJJ development take responsibility and make it happen.  To help you obtain your goal we strongly recommend that your write it down.

1) Define the objective- Make a realistic objective that is attainable but not too easy.  Your objective can be a new move or you can try to change your style.  You might decide to make one of your best moves (a brick) even better, or you could make a week area of your game stronger.  Your objective could also be to drop a few pounds or become more flexible. It is up to you what you want to work on, make sure it is something that will pay off in the long run. Try to avoid picking a fad.

2) Get help- Tell your coach what you are working on, that way you two are on the same page. Get a small group of training partners together that will be able to help you. Find someone who is good at the area you are working on. Find a book that covers what you are working on, or watch YouTube videos(if you have not seen this YouTube thing, it's pretty sweet).

3) Do the work- No one can do the work for you, and no one knows if you are working as hard as you can. The bottom line is you gotta work hard to make changes happen.  At first making changes will be difficult, it will feel like you took a step backwards.

Toward the end of the show Byron explains how he is doing this 3 step process.  He will be working on his back defense. He then goes through the 3 step process with his objective.

Quote of the week:“Do you listen, or do you just wait to talk?” Pulp Fiction

Article of the week: "Beware The Belt Chaser" Grapplearts.com

Sponsor: FujiSports.com check out the High Capacity Duffle Bag

The BjjBrick Podcast is in iTunes, and Stitcher radio

This week we talk to Nick Albin otherwise known as “Chewy”. He teaches and trains BJJ full time and is the head instructor at Derby City Mixed Martial Arts in Louisville, KY. Chewy is a Black Belt under Renato Tavares. He also has a website with lots of great information about BJJ here http://chewjitsu.net/ 

We talk about

• How your teammates help you shape your game
• Training with Renato Tavares
• The idea that you always need to be learning in BJJ
• Adding new techniques to your game
• Chewy's style of BJJ, he moves a lot and pushes the pace
• How his wrestling effects his BJJ
• Competing as a wrestler and advantages for BJJ
• His BJJ Blog chewjitsu.net
• How he got the name Chewy
• An article he wrote about chasing the next belt rank
• Managing expectations at each belt level
• How shorter time limits could effect grappling matches
• Using competition video for training
• Training with injuries
• Advice for people competing for the first time
• What he was like as a blue belt
• Developing your own game plan for BJJ

Quote of the week: "Given the choice between the experience of pain and nothing, I would choose pain." William Faulkner

Article of the week: 10 Reasons you’re still a white belt

Links:

• Check out Nick's blog chewjitsu.net
• Nicks email is chewjitsu@gmail.com
• Nicks facebook page

Check out our sponsor Fujisports.com