People often justify the success of others by claiming they have advantages that others supposedly lack. This diminishes the achievements of others. However, people frequently belittle the accomplishments of their peers, simply due to envy, lack of ability, and lack of desire to achieve certain objectives. This occurs not just in jiu-jitsu but in all aspects of life.
How often have you heard someone say an elite athlete renowned as a champion is not that good, inventing false reasons to explain their success:
“They only train jiu-jitsu, they don’t do anything else…”
“They’re so skilled because they lucked into being born with natural gifts…”
“They use performance-enhancing drugs…”
“With their money, anyone would thrive…”
“I want to see how they perform when they reach my age…”
These arguments only demonstrate one’s own weakness, not physically, but spiritually, and lack of humility and appreciation for those who pursue goals and achieve success.
Many believe successful individuals were born with innate talent or attained championships through some miraculous circumstance rather than their own efforts, which represents a grave misunderstanding. All elite jiu-jitsu competitors today fought diligently to reach the pinnacle.
Rodolfo Vieira and Julio Cesar Pereira are undoubtedly the GF Team’s most renowned names, respected figures in jiu-jitsu history. Julio as a former competitor, leader, and instructor built this powerful program, while Rodolfo emerged as one of the sport’s greatest athletes.
Do you think before reaching this level Julio and Rodolfo always benefited from unlimited support and resources? No. They struggled tremendously and overcame immense challenges to rise to where they are today as pillars of our sport.
Rodolfo grew up in Rio de Janeiro’s low-income Campo Grande neighborhood. At age 13, he began training at the now-defunct Gama Filho academy led by Julio. Training occurred within the college with some support for Julio’s development.
Working diligently with students, Julio’s program flourished. However, political issues led the college to cancel jiu-jitsu classes, ending Julio’s arrangement. He lost the space and backing but retained dedicated students assisting the new Gracie Fight Team’s inception.
Facing a cramped new location, Julio often improvised maximally utilizing talent. Rodolfo endured 80km daily commutes by bus and subway for training. Through Julio’s teaching and their perseverance, success manifested from overcoming innumerable obstacles without privilege through dedicated toil.
In 2009, the world met brown belt Rodolfo, Julio’s most committed student, shocking all by winning the Abu Dhabi Pro absolute competing against black belts. Returning to Brazil, Rodolfo earned his black belt at the airport, then dominated the elite division exemplifying what unrelenting labor, commitment and willpower can achieve.
Today, Julio and Rodolfo stand as jiu-jitsu icons. Their decades of dedication earned worldwide recognition for transforming struggles into triumph.
