Cardio, Grit, and a VHS Tape

Before jiu-jitsu, Rodrigo Freitas was a kid of soccer, swimming, music, and travel. He started training at 13 in Brazil amid harsh sessions, hazing, and thin instruction — learning partly from VHS tapes. He’ll be the first to tell you he wasn’t naturally skillful. What he had was cardio and persistence, and it turned out that was enough.

In this conversation with host Pete Deeley, Freitas frames competition as optional but worth doing at least once — pointing to a student whose first tournament reshaped his discipline, health, and lifestyle. He names a memorable loss to Leandro Lo, decided by an advantage, as strangely confidence-building, and describes jiu-jitsu as stress inoculation, therapy, and moving meditation with real spiritual benefits. He shares the story of a child who improved socially and got off his medication, invites everyone to Inspirit Jiu Jitsu Academy in Redondo Beach, and jokes that his superhero name would be Spiderman — on account of the spiderguard.