Scholar Athlete Bradley Chirino 2016 Update!

It's pretty impressive finding out what young, talented kids can juggle in their lives these days. We know some argue otherwise, but trust us when we say that there are young people today who are the furthest away from being lazy. Bradley Chirino is definitely one of those kids, to say the least.

He's currently a 15-year-old Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu green belt of the elite team AOJ academy, under the Mendes brothers (Rafael and Gui). He began training martial arts at the age of 5, from karate to judo, then BJJ in 2011. These days, he's also an extensively busy sophomore in high school, juggling his academics (he manages to maintain a 4.0 GPA) and being a part of his high school Varsity Wrestling team. Bradley says that wrestling was never his plan, but he wanted to join a sport within his school, so wrestling was the natural transition for him. He enjoys having multiple matches in their weekly tournaments, though he says wrestling is more of a "dog fight" than BJJ. These athletes grind from start to finish, while BJJ is more of a "thinking man game." Bradley enjoys the balance of both and believes these two together has helped him become stronger mentally and as an individual.

Sadly, Bradley has been plagued by a handful of injuries due to a recent, quick growth spurt that he's experienced (he grew 5 inches within a few months). Because of this issue, he competed less than before. He was at the NABJJF All Americans, IBJJF Kid's Pan Ams, and SoCal Jiu-Jitsu Championship. Still, Bradley managed to get gold in all of these tournaments in the featherweight division and also in the blue belt division at the SoCal Championship. But our young, scholar athlete is more than just that. Bradley also enjoys playing the piano and guitar, singing, and is also a part of his high school's chess team.

For the upcoming year, Bradley wants to focus more on training BJJ so that he will be well-prepared to fight in the Juvenile Blue Belt division throughout the next year. Although he is planning to become a black belt in the future, he doesn't plan on taking a break from getting his education because going to college will still be his top priority. It's rare to hear a young man know what he wants to gain in life. It's our greatest pleasure to represent such a well-brought-up young man!