4STRIPES COLLECTIVE

Felipe Pena is one of the most accomplished Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt competitors in the world. Felipe’s nickname “Preguiça”, which is Portuguese for lazy or sloth, was given to him by one his early coaches “Draculino” when he was a teenager. Despite being overweight when he first started jiu-jitsu, Felipe became motivated to train harder and eventually realize his dream of becoming a world-class professional athlete. Now, Preguiça represents the Gracie Barra academy and is widely regarded as one of the top jiu-jitsu competitors of his generation. He has solidified this status by becoming the 2017 ADCC Absolute Champion,an IBJJF No Gi champion, as well as winning the IBJJF World Championships in both 2018 and 2019.
We talk about how Felipe transformed his innate love of competition into the motivation that fuelled his rapid growth in the art of jiu-jitsu. We explore the early influences on his game and the moment he realised that he had a future as a professional athlete. We also discuss the evolution of his incredible work ethic, a far cry from the Preguiça of his youth, as well as his amazing training camp wars with fellow BJJ champions Marcus Almeida “Buchecha”, Romulo Barral and Leandro Lo. Finally, we look at what the future holds for Felipe, from unaccomplished goals, to super-fights as well as life after competition.

Dr. Kimberley Carder is a clinical psychologist, avid jiu-jitsu practitioner and retired professional MMA fighter. Having grown up in Hong Kong, Dr. Carder, or simply Kim to her friends, has a unique understanding on the mental health climate of international, fast-paced cities. As a human-centered clinician, she adapts her approach to the children, teenagers and adults she works with and draws on her clinical training in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction and Psychodynamic Analysis to help people overcome challenges they face.
We talk about growing up in Asia, her love of combat sports that led to her career as one of the first professional female MMA fighters in in Hong Kong. We discuss what it means to push one’s limits, developing mental and physical aptitudes, and the importance of the mind-body connection - as well as what it means to pursue and even choose between one’s dreams. Kim shares her very timely thoughts on maintaining positive mental health in the often chaotic world we live in and how to overcome the common challenges that almost all of us encounter at some point in our lives.

Master Carlson Gracie Jr. is the only son of the legendary Grand Master Carlson Gracie Sr. and grandson of the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Carlos Gracie. “Junior” as he is known to his family and friends, started jiu-jitsu at the tender age of three under the direction of his father. He now holds a 6th Degree Black Belt in BJJ, as well as a Black Belt in Judo, and is known throughout the jiu-jitsu community as one of the humblest and most genuine representations of the incredible legacy of Gracie jiu-jitsu. Although based out of his academy in Chicago, Junior also travels around the world hosting seminars that support the growth of jiu-jitsu, providing students everywhere the opportunity to learn from one of the most knowledgeable instructors in the history of the gentle art.
We talk about the singular experience of growing up in the Gracie family during the rough and tumble early days of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, including incredible stories of his famous father that highlight the unique character that was Carlson Gracie Sr.. We discuss what legacy personally means to him, why jiu-jitsu continues to have such an enduring impact, and what the future holds for the martial art as it expands into new communities around the world.

According to Cole Sirucek, you'll fall in love with jiu jitsu if you’re passionate about improving yourself. And you will most certainly will fall in love with Cole for his determination to change the world, and his pearls of wisdom on health, marriage, parenting and business.
Cole and his wife created DocDoc, a health-tech startup, after their infant daugther was suddenly diagnosed with a rare liver condition that required a transplant. Since that time DocDoc has grown into one of Asia’s largest doctor discovery and appointment reservation system, empowering thousands of patients to make data-driven healthcare decisions which are safe, transparent and fair.
In 2012, prior to DocDoc, MIT and Harvard graduated Cole and his partner founded Epic MMA Club in Hong Kong, which at the time was Asia’s largest mixed martial arts training center.
Cole has started his jiu jitsu journey since the mid 1990s. In this episode, he talks about his favourite memories along this journey, how to develop mental fortitude and deal with adversity, the challenges of building a martial arts brand in Asia, and his views on the most important values a parent can instil in their kids.