Emmanuela Oliveira 
Commitment is the word that best describes Raphael Pesce, Bruno Frazatto’s yellow-belt, one of the members from Atos Atlanta youth team in the United States. Now 13 years old, Raphael discovered Jiu-Jitsu recently, just a year and a half ago, but the sport has already taken up a large part of his routine.
Pesce has already won some impressive titles in the sport on his resume as a competitor. He was the Euros, Con Kids and American Nationals champion and has won 11 gold medals in Opens, an impeccable performance in all of these IBJJF competitions. To train with Bruno Frazatto, Raphael, who lives in South Carolina, relies on the support of his family to show up in class. It is a three-hour drive, round trip, five to six times a week.
“It is a privilege to train under Professor Frazatto from Atos Atlanta. He was a world class competitor and is now one of the best instructors on the planet. The biggest challenge is getting to Atos. It’s not around the corner from our house in SC. My mom drives me, my brother, and sister about three hours to Atos, in Atlanta.”.
Raphael is an example of discipline, always maintaining an intense training routine to improve
Raphael discovered his aptitude for competition early on, right after he started Jiu-Jitsu. According to him, one characteristic that motivates him to go further is his competitive spirit, as the athlete describes himself as someone who hates the feeling of defeat. To avoid this as much as possible and deal with a setback, Raphael maintains a disciplined training routine.
“I think I just hate to lose and don’t give up. I know I haven’t trained very long when compared to my competitors but I’m on the mats as often as I can be. My wins are really because of my team. The ATOS team has and is helping me improve. We work really hard and support each other. I do my best to represent our team whenever I step on the comp mat and definitely don’t want to let them down.”.
He trains 5 to 6 times a week at Atos, a academy located three hours away from the athlete’s home.
When asked about the main challenges of staying active as a competitor, Raphael Pesce told the VF Comunica team that flexible online study is one of the obligations that he can handle, without any problems. The biggest challenge is the distance from the gym, an obstacle he has been overcoming without discouragement, with the support of his family and teammates.
“I train 5-6 nights a week at ATOS and workout, lifting and calisthenics, in the morning. I love the wins but remember the losses. I think if you don’t get the gold you hold on to that feeling, maybe sometimes too long, but it seems to help us dial it in and train harder.”.
