I was excited to watch Felipe Costa’s documentary The Path to Success because it promised to show how an average BJJ fighter could become an expert competitor. Through three sections, “Felipe’s Story”, “Old Mistakes”, and “Techniques”, The Path to Success offers a new take on jiu-jitsu documentaries by showing how three aspects of jiu-jitsu combine to make a great competitor. Unfortunately, the actual content left me wanting more.

The first section is a personal account of Costa’s journey to become a world champion. He narrates his life from the time he was a “little fat guy with no talent in the beginning” up until he becomes a two-time world champion. His narration accompanies a slideshow of pictures that together form a somewhat cohesive story of Costa’s life. There are also some clips of old tournament footage that offer humor to his story, such as the coach yelling, “Are you dead, Felipe?” in the background of his fight.

While this section seems to drag on too long at some points, it offers the most important aspect of this DVD: Felipe’s outlook on jiu-jitsu. His positive viewpoint on training hard to become the best is inspiring and motivational. He emphasizes the point that he was not talented in jiu-jitsu. He lost most every match growing up, but with persistence in training, focus, and confidence building, Costa was able to move up the ranks until he reached his goal of standing atop the medal podium at the Mundials.

While it does incorporate an incredible message about never giving up in a fight, I found a disconnect between Costa’s story-telling and his actual training regimen. As much as he said he received great coaching and sparring partners, viewers do not get a chance to see what kind of training makes a champion. The Path to Success lacks a very important connection between the type of training one must do to become a champion and the mindset of a champion. There is no doubt that Costa is correct in his philosophy about hard work paying off, but I am not so naive as to think that a champion mindset alone will create a world champion. It would be nice to see real footage of the type of training it takes to win competitions.

On another note, if you are looking for a documentary that shows the lifestyle one must lead to be a champion, this is not the one for you. You don’t get the same “lifestyle” feel that other DVDs, like Arte Suave, have created. This DVD is more focused on one man’s journey to become a world champion: the pressure from his family to be the best at whichever career he chooses, the long road to actual victory in competition, the benefits of becoming a world champion and the opportunities championship has afforded him. This section is best described as a video magazine interview rather than a documentary.

The second section, “Old Mistakes”, had great intentions. Costa’s friends, including Demian Maia and Michelle Matta, critique his old matches. The point of this section is to show viewers common mistakes and what can be done to avoid them. Unfortunately, this section is quite awkward with each of Costa’s friends watching his matches on computer screens and explaining what they see him doing wrong. Matta’s observation is in Portuguese, so English speakers are forced to read subtitles while Matta acts out what Costa should be doing. While she has great pointers, it is difficult to absorb the technique because of the distracting set up of this section. Altogether, the point of this section didn’t come through. It shows viewers some common mistakes Costa made at blue and purple belts, but I feel it lacks the actual depth to improve an outsider’s jiu-jitsu.

“Techniques”, the third section, shows Felipe Costa’s incredible ability to teach jiu-jitsu. He has great detail in his description of each technique and viewers also get to see him pull off each move in competition. Personally, I think this section should have been the focus of his DVD. He has such a gift for teaching, especially in English, but he only shows five techniques.

There is also an “Extras” section that could have been left out of the DVD altogether. If you did not get enough out of Felipe’s story the first time, you can watch his wife tell it all over again from her perspective. Meanwhile, her story cuts between a view of her speaking and her dog traipsing across the lawn (random!).

On a media level, the layout of this DVD is sufficient, but it could have done a lot more. The sections are split into three chapters, but viewers are forced to scan through each section if they want to return to a certain idea or technique. The menu is easy enough to follow, but it would have been nice to have more chapter options. The sound quality is not the best, as Costa’s narration echoes in the room he’s in, and the multimedia quality of the DVD was amateurish to say the least. However, there is a Portuguese subtitle option for non-English speakers that makes this DVD versatile.

In the end, everyone would have benefited more had Felipe Costa intertwined his story with actual teaching and event footage. Separating these aspects was a bold new idea for jiu-jitsu documentaries that just didn’t pay off in the end. Costa’s message as a whole is an important one that will inspire viewers to be the best they can be, but altogether, it does not offer actual advice to become an expert competitor, as promised.

So would I recommend this DVD? The Path to Success offers a first-hand account of what it took to go from so-called talentless to world champion. If you are looking for some motivation in your training, this DVD could supercharge your competition mentality and push you to the next level. However, if you are looking for an actual strategy and training regimen, this may not be the source for you. I would try Martin Rooney’s Training for Warriors, instead.

Happy Training!
Kevin

Recently I had a chance to pick up A Fighter’s Heart: One Man’s Journey Through the World of Fighting, by Sam Sheridan and I really could not put it down. At least for the first four or so chapters. In this unique text, Sheridan takes the reader along with him as he trains to become an MMA style fighter. He trains in absolutely everything and the reader is brought right along through Sheridan’s trials.

With this said, let’s get into the nitty-gritty of A Fighter’s Heart and how it stacks up to other similar titles. First of all, there really are not too many other titles that solely follow a fighter’s journey and training regimen. There are martial arts biographies like Funakoshi’s Karate-Do: My Way of Life and Judo Heart and Soul by Hayward Nishioka that capture a career in the martial arts and offer small glimpses into training in the martial arts, but both fail to capture the daily sacrifices that Sheridan’s work accomplishes. This book has a similar feel to the productions Day of the Zen and Smashing Machine in that it intelligently illustrated what it takes to fight and win. It is not as much of a lifestyle piece like the Arte Suave films as it is a book that shows you the difficulties and sacrifices that every fighter goes through. In terms of content, I have yet to see another title that accomplishes what Sheridan has in this future best seller.

Why did I get this? Well, I thumbed through it at the bookstore and I came across the section on the Brazilian Top Team, a favorite MMA/BJJ team of mine for quite some time. In this chapter, I read some fantastic training stories of what it is like to train at BTT and I really got a feel for what it is like to be a gringo training in Brazil at one of the top schools in the world. Later, I was further hooked as I read the chapters on Fairtex (a world famous Muay Thai training camp out of Thailand) and Miletich Fighting Systems. These three chapters gave me an inside look at these training camps that I have never seen before and provided me with a window into the private lives of some of my favorite fighters like: Minotauro, Sperry, and Miletich and company. It just felt like I was reading a documentary on what it takes to train at these places. To reiterate, sometimes you just cannot top a first hand account of how hard the training can be.

Would I get it again? I would purchase this again in a heartbeat, but aside from the aforementioned chapters of brilliance, there were some things that I was less than enthusiastic about that others may find more interesting. First of all, sometimes I was a little confused by Sheridan’s prose. Was he trying to sell the reader the idea that he was a fighter or was he simply behaving as a journalist and giving the readership an “inside perspective”. I realize that Sheridan himself plays around with this dichotomy, but at times I was left puzzled as to his intentions with this book. For most of the book it feels like Sheridan struggles with the insecurity of being labled a journalist, but in the end, most fighters carry many roles. Perhaps he could have done more to capture the intellectual depth of modern MMA fighters. Did Sheridan achieve the status of becoming a fighter? Definitely, but I just felt Sheridan could have accomplished more as a warrior poet than an author who struggles with his multiple roles.

In addition, I found some of the chapters a little slow. I was not particularly riveted by his Tai Chi or boxing training. Not as a slight to either art, it was just that they did not feel as fleshed out as his introduction in Fairtex or his personal relationship with Miletich in Iowa. Some may not be as interested in the chapter on dog fighting, but I found it to be an interesting albeit troubling (when viewing it through my own cultural lens) cultural survey that would make many anthroplogists proud. However, with this being said the other chapters are pure gold.

The book itself is relatively inexpensive for a new release hardcover and it should be a quick read for most. It is what it is, a deeply interesting and engaging story of what it takes to train with the best. Hopefully this will spawn furture training bios and we can all see the birth of a fantastic new genre.

Happy Training,
Kevin