Today we’d like to introduce you to Adam Bradley.
Adam, let’s start with your story. We’d love to hear how you got started and how the journey has been so far.
I like to go by the name, Trab, I’m currently 23 years old living in San Diego, CA
I grew up in Epsom, NH on a small farm and a low-income, toxic household with little guidance. Entering high school, I had few friends and was failing all my classes and doomed to dropping out of school until a history teacher who also ran detention (where we got to know each other) invited me to try out the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ) club he ran after school. I tried one class and fell in love with it. The teacher told me if I wanted to continue training with them I would have to start passing my classes. Within a week, I turned in all of my missing work and got my grades up and started training. I knew back when I was 12 that I had wanted to be a martial artist and someday fight for the UFC. So, when I joined the BJJ Club at 14, I knew that was the start of my dream of being a fighter.
I went on to graduate school and decided to take up training full time towards my goals. I pursued training with a recommended instructor in my area. I started training with him full time, I was 17 years old training 6 hours a day, sleeping in my car between sessions and surviving off scraps while other kids partied all summer, I trained under this instructor as his star pupil for almost two years until one day he sat me down and told me this:
“You should go to school or learn a trade. You won’t be a Jiu-Jitsu Rock-Star, you aren’t very good, you aren’t athletic and just don’t have what it takes to be a champion.”
It was bad enough that my parents & my girlfriend at the time told me I was making a mistake with focusing on BJJ, but when a person I looked up to and respected had told me all my hard work was for nothing, that I just wasn’t capable of reaching my seemingly unrealistic goals, it really got to me. This is when I decided I needed to make a change if I was going to prove them wrong and succeed, I started to plan my move to San Diego, CA to train with the top team in the world where all my favorite competitors trained. (Atos Jiu-Jitsu)
I became very unhappy and I soon after left and joined a nearby MMA gym. That team was very supportive of me and recognized my skill and dedication to the art at my age and, in turn, I had started to do better in competition with that support system. I spent about a year there before moving out to San Diego.
I was 19 working full time in landscaping to save money to move across the country on my own. I set the date May 26th on my calendar and decided that was the day, no matter what. When the day came, I only had $900, no job waiting for me and no friends.
The only plan I had made prior to my arrival to the West Coast was a roommate setup on Roommates.com.
I had found a room for the crazy low price of $375 a month, $500 deposit with a 38-year-old roommate who trained BJJ as well. When I had arrived at his place, I was surprised to see that the description was inaccurate. Looking back, I should have known better but I was young and inexperienced with these things. He turned out to be a 56-year-old man in a 1 bedroom apartment with two cats. He was definitely showing signs of being into younger men. I was offered his room or the couch, and it was either I stay with him or I’d be sleeping outside with all my things until I found a different place. I ended up staying on the couch. That was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of my life as I was always alone with this old creepy guy trying to drop hints on me. Although, he would treat me nicely, taking me out to buffets, buying me gifts. etc. With all my money gone from the rent and deposit, I found a $10 bicycle and the next morning, I biked around the city, collecting about 40 applications. All except three were ignored and I took a job at the nearby Jamba Juice.
It took me a month of work to save up enough money to start my membership at Atos. It was an hour bike ride mostly uphill to begin training there, getting smashed by the top guys every day. I slept on the mat between classes and really embraced the grind. Four months later, I was able to move out of the creepy guy’s place and in with some teammates from Atos.
Even though I now trained with the best in the world, I still struggled with confidence due to my former instructor telling me I wasn’t good enough to achieve my goals. I brought this up to Professor Andre Galvao, the owner of Atos Jiu-Jitsu and considered a legend in our sport, he said this:
“Don’t listen to him, your jiu-jitsu is beautiful and you’re going to be the best.”
I decided to listen to the jiu-jitsu legend & multi-world champion over the no-name instructor in NH.
I then went on to win my first international competition gold medal in Lss Vegas and gained so much confidence that I then went on to win a bronze medal in the BJJ World Championships. This was the start of my new mindset, that I was very capable of being a world champion despite what many people had told me in the past.
Since then, I have won a World Title in 2016 and have made it to the podium at every major tournament I’ve entered, I am now ranked #8 in the world in my division and recently became an instructor at Atos Jiu-Jitsu.
I now travel all over, competing, teaching seminars and even speaking to high school classes about the importance of having a dream and sticking to it. I plan to start my own school program to help kids get into Jiu-Jitsu in hopes of giving them an outlet to succeed and find a passion as I did, I have come a long way but still have very far to go to reach my ultimate goals.
Sorry this wasn’t very brief but my story holds a lot of content between the struggle of growing up in a poor, difficult family, turning my education around through BJJ, overcoming self-doubt instilled by others who try to put my dreams down, and the experience of making it in SD alone with no money or connections. Then, becoming a world-class athlete and instructor well on his way to make his contribution to the world through his passion.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the Atos Jiu-Jitsu story. Tell us more about the business.
I am an instructor at the world famous Atos Jiu-Jitsu and I take a lot of pride in that. I also manage an online business named Electrum Performance which is an online Strength & Conditioning programming service. Electrum really sets the bar in how our highly educated & experienced coaches work with high-level athletes to improve their performance along with just helping every day people live healthier lifestyles.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I had always felt plagued by bad luck until I decided to take luck into my own hands and make changes that positively impacted my life. I had always felt doomed to mediocrity because mediocre people told me so. Now, I feel very lucky to be where I’m at and be around like-minded individuals like myself. Our business is very lucky to have access to such high-level athletes and our dedication to premium service has served us well. I believe its easy for people to fall victim to their circumstances and brand themselves unlucky. Overall I believe luck can only come into play when you work hard enough to be in a position to take advantage of it.
Pricing:
- Electrum Performance Membership $14.99 per month
- Jiu-Jitsu Private Lessons currently $200 per hour
Contact Info:
- Website: train.electrumperformance.com
- Instagram: @trab_bjj
Image Credit:
Lisa Lisa Pics, Atos Jiu-Jitsu, Passando Laguardia
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