JT Torres has passed through many changes in his life. From a kid in the Bronx to an aspiring competitor and later a full-time athlete, the uncertainty that came when he left Team Lloyd Irvin was settled when he relocated to California and Team Atos. But the story doesn't stop there.

PART IV
Andre Galvao welcomed JT Torres to Team Atos with open arms. 

Knowing Torres was tight on cash, Galvao arranged for him to stay with Leo D'avila, who was teaching the white belt classes at the time. Both Torres and Keenan Cornelius -- as well as a tough up-and-comer named Michael Perez -- stayed on D'avila's living-room floor and subsisted on $3 breakfast burritos to save money. 

Luckily for Torres, his hard work and dedication over the years had already started earning him a reputation in the jiu-jitsu community. When he reached out to Tatami for a sponsorship, they were thrilled to welcome him on the team. 

A couple months after moving to California, a couple months of eating breakfast burritos and sleeping on the living room floor, I was able to land a nice sponsorship with Tatami, which gave me a head start and some financial health. And, you know, they believed in me. They said, 'Listen, we know you're one of the best in the world, and we know you can be the best in the world. We're behind you 100 percent.'

Not one to just sit back and dwell on his good fortune, Torres continued hustling. He started working on his own clothing company Perseverantia, which recently put out a collaborative gi with Tatami.

Photo: Luis Lopez 

Torres and his girlfriend, Iolanda Scotto, became an instrumental part of the Atos academy. JT became the head kids instructor at Atos HQ, and Iolanda was hired as the academy's marketing and sales manager. 

Under Galvao's guidance, Torres went on to win gold at the IBJJF No Gi Worlds in 2013, silver at the Worlds in 2014, gold in the Pan and European Championships in 2015, and bronze at both the Pans and the Worlds this year. 

Even when Torres was forced to rest for six months following a knee surgery in 2015, he directed the competition classes while Galvao focused on preparing for his ADCC superfight against Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu. 



In addition to having access to some of the best instruction and training in the jiu-jitsu community, JT credits much of his success to the support system he had at home, namely Iolanda.

"I always tell her, and I always tell everyone, without Iolanda there I don't think I would have lasted that long in California," he said. "Just to have that support, to have someone who also believed in my dream along with me, it's amazing. I'm very lucky.

"Because when you fight in jiu-jitsu, it's just you and another person, right? But you need to have a whole team behind you. You can't do it by yourself. It's impossible, in my opinion. It played a huge role in my success, just having someone there for me every day, win or lose, bad day or good day, supporting me no matter what.

"It doesn't matter if you have gold medals, bronze medals, or no medals. If someone is still there for you, that's the real support that you need when following your dreams, because not everything plays out perfectly, not every day is a good day, and not every tournament is a great tournament. And if you find a person there to support you, no matter what, then that's a special person you should keep around you forever." 


Photo: Luis Lopez 

Three years on from following his father's sage advice to gain more experience, JT is finally ready to open his own academy on the East Coast with Iolanda as his partner. 

"Before I moved to California, my options were to either open my own academy or train at Marcelo Garcia's gym in New York City. My first plan was to open my own academy, so that's something that I've always wanted to do." 

I can honestly say that I love to teach, and I love to see other people succeed. ... The martial arts have done wonders for me. They've taken me to places I've never dreamed of going before. So knowing that I can pass that on to someone else, is gold for me.

After obtaining hands-on teaching and training experience at one of the premier competitive jiu-jitsu academies in the world, along with Iolanda's in-depth business experience, the couple set out to build their academy armed with the tools that few others are as fortunate to have. 

And so the next chapter of JT Torres' journey begins…