Good News: Moving to the Big City

I was offered and accepted a position at a college in Jacksonville, FL. Those who were readers of my previous blog know that I am an assistant professor at a small rural college in Georgia. The college where I teach is in a town that has a population of 5000 residents. The college has 3400 students. In order to [...]

Joined a Gym

Last week after contemplating my struggles with Big Man in class, I really thought about the use of strength and conditioning in BJJ. Since I am the smallest of the Big Men in class I suffer from what my instructor termed the “law of diminishing returns.” He stated that if I were smaller and wiry [...]

My Thoughts on “Iron Ring” (BET)

Check out my new books, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Grappling and Grappling for Newbies on Amazon.com! I watched the premiere of BET’s Iron Ring last week and have mixed feelings. I watched two episodes back to back and out of both shows they had one fight that lasted about one minute. It was like watching a teaser [...]

Jiu-Jitsu Dream – Dana White and Purple Belts

I had a dream Saturday night that I was sleeping in a Japanese style dojo. I wake suddenly (in the dream) and  hear voices in the next room talking about promoting someone to purple belt. All of a sudden Dana White bursts into my room holding a white gi and a blue belt. He barks [...]

Spring Break & Minor Shoulder Woes

I spent last week enjoying my spring break from the college. I also nursed a shoulder injury that I suffered a week before from wrestling with Big Man. I think that it was just a case of my shoulder being slightly out of alignment caused from me accidently hitting the wall in one of our sparring sessions. I [...]

Chuck Liddell: IceMan’s book was a page turner.

When I first saw the Iceman book I didn’t know what to think. A lot of these books can be either really good or the complete opposite. This turned out to be a very good book. Chuck Liddell does a good job of letting the reader get into his psyche and describing what made him [...]

Class Again: Takedowns and Tournament Prep

Last night I found out that the team is going to a tournament next weekend. On the 22nd of March. I don’t know if I am going to go to this one since I am preparing to go to one on the 12th of April. However, it is very tempting. Last night we worked on [...]

Tuesday’s Class: Big Man Returned

I drove to regular training this week and had a good time. Big Man (6’6 280) was back. I was glad to see him because I wanted to see if I had improved enough, technically, to counter his weight and strength advantage. Not…. When we were going through drills I had to readjust to working with someone [...]

Do Most Fights Go to the Ground? (Research I conducted)

Check out my grappling books on Amazon: Tapmonster: Ideas about Grappling for BJJ and Submission Wrestlers, Grappling for Newbies, 20 Ways to Increase Grappling Skills off the Mat, The Lazy Man’s Guide to Grappling and much more. You can also check out my writings and research at Psychology Today: Communication Central By Bakari Akil II, Ph.D.    People who have been [...]

No Luck with New BJJ Class

I had no luck in trying to attend class at the new place in my city. When I arrived Friday night, they had a sign on the door that stated they were at a BJJ seminar in another city. The sign also said that it would resume classes on Saturday. Saturday morning I arrived at [...]