About Me

Update March 1, 2009 : I am a Blue Belt now and no longer train in Georgia, but in Florida at Combat Athletix. I am still a grappling fanatic and now, I can train as much as I want. I still think about and attempt to do something BJJ related everyday. 

 

I am Bakari Akil and I am a Jiu-Jitsu and submission grappling fanatic. I want to get better but my training facility only meets twice a week and its 30 miles away.  On my birthday, Nov. 15, 2007, I had a bright idea. Why don’t I devote the entire year (365 days) to training in Jiu-Jitsu and see what happens.  Imagine, 365 days. How good can I get? What can I achieve? What doors may open as a result? Yeah, I can’t go to class that often and I can’t train strenously everyday, but there has to be something I can do everyday.

This is my story….

Suggestions, Comments, Opinions and Insight are welcome….

Oh yeah, I am also an academic. So in my spare time I have been conducting research on grappling and MMA related topics. I will share that here too…..

But don’t worry, I am not going to write in an academic style on this website. I will save that for the people who employ me and their friends….

34 Responses

  1. The FightWorks Podcast, on December 7th, 2007 at 10:14 pm Said:

    Your site has been nominated as one of the best BJJ blogs of 2007! Just a heads up that you might want to let your readers know to come on over and vote at:

    http://thefightworkspodcast.com/2007/12/03/submit-your-vote-for-the-best-bjj-blogs-of-2007/

    Polling ends midnight on 12/30 here in California.

    Best of luck!

    Caleb

    Reply
  2. jiujitsu365, on December 8th, 2007 at 1:34 am Said:

    Thanks Caleb!

    I sure will let them know.

    It is an honor being nominated……

    Reply
  3. Adam Adshead, on January 19th, 2008 at 9:05 am Said:

    Hey Bakari,

    Really enjoying your journey of 365 days of BJJ, keep up with the quality blogging.

    All the best in training and life,

    Adam Adshead – ConceptualBJJ.wordpress.com

    Reply
  4. jiujitsu365, on January 19th, 2008 at 2:26 pm Said:

    Thanks Adam,

    I will try my best….

    Reply
  6. David Fermin, on March 17th, 2008 at 2:29 pm Said:

    Hey Bakari how are you doing! this is so nice that you have this blog is very interesting and thank you for the nice words you put together, I am still training to fight a little more but lets see what happen, I hope you are training hard and enjoying yourself in your new place but I never got where is were you are at. Write me back and let me know how are you doing I am subscribing to your blog now!!!
    Thank you again and good luck with your challenges, World Vibe!
    Dahveed

    Reply
  7. jiujitsu365, on March 18th, 2008 at 9:48 am Said:

    Hey Dahveed,

    Thanks. I am doing well and congratulations on your fights. I am actually living in Warner Robins, Georgia and training in Macon, GA. Warner Robins is a small city of about 50,000 people.

    I enjoy the place that I’m training in and a lot of the guys are really skilled and laid back.

    It’s funny how small the world can be.

    Regards,

    Bakari

    Reply
  8. angrygrappler, on April 2nd, 2008 at 1:45 pm Said:

    yo keep training all year and let me know how it goes and how the sidemount escapes go. sidemount is the hardest to get out of for any belt.

    Reply
  9. jiujitsu365, on April 2nd, 2008 at 5:46 pm Said:

    Will do Angrygrappler.

    So far I have made it through without any major blips….

    Reply
  10. John, on April 3rd, 2008 at 10:10 am Said:

    Hey man

    Live in jacksoville novice here with bjj but love to grapple looking for grappling partners to train with

    Reply
  11. jiujitsu365, on April 3rd, 2008 at 12:10 pm Said:

    John,

    Sorry I live in Georgia. However, there are many BJJ academies in Jacksonville. I’m sure there are many people to train with.

    Reply
  12. FuzzyDunlop, on April 28th, 2008 at 1:22 pm Said:

    Hey Bakari, can you shoot me an email? I want to ask you somme BJJ beginner’s-type of questions, but I can’t find an email address for you on the site. Thanks!

    Reply
  13. Smiley, on April 29th, 2008 at 3:29 pm Said:

    Hello Bakari, this is Smiley. I recemtly read your post about you coming to Jacksonville soon and you are considering training at my school. I am honored that you have even heard of us and I am even more grateful that you have us on your list of schools to train at. If you have any further questions about who we are and what we teach, please feel free to call to the gym (904)644-7571 or on my cell (904)861-7658. I am looking forward to talking to you soon. Peace.

    Reply
  14. jiujitsu365, on April 30th, 2008 at 3:25 pm Said:

    Thanks Smiley,

    Wow! This blog continues to surprise me.

    I have a lot of family down in Jacksonville, so in recent trips I have been pleased to find out about your training facility.

    I am a ‘peon’ in the scheme of things but I look forward to visiting in about a month or so.

    Bakari

    Reply
  15. jiujitsu365, on May 19th, 2008 at 4:15 pm Said:

    Hey FuzzyDunlop,

    I saw your request for an email but you didn’t leave an email address. No worries. I can be reached at jiujitsu365@hotmail.com….

    Reply
  16. Mr.So aka Charlie, on October 27th, 2008 at 8:58 am Said:

    Great idea with the 365 days. My idea is 730 days (2years) and I also know what the final goal is – to compete in Brazil
    http://www.metrobloggen.se/2brazil

    Reply
  17. jiujitsu365, on November 12th, 2008 at 5:22 pm Said:

    Thanks Charlie,

    I enjoyed visiting your blog and admire your stick-to-it-tiveness…

    Bakari

    Reply
  18. Grappling-With-Life, on November 24th, 2008 at 7:23 pm Said:

    Hey Bakari,

    Thanks for the nomination! I also nominated your work for Blog of the Year. There are a handful of others I read that I believe also deserve nominations but it seems as though most have already received them, I guess it all works out! Good luck, and thanks. Keep up the good stuff.

    -Jay

    Reply
  19. jiujitsu365, on November 25th, 2008 at 9:41 am Said:

    Thanks Jay,

    It is amazing how the that contest has exploded since last year.

    Good luck….

    Reply
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    Reply
  21. judofun, on December 17th, 2008 at 11:59 pm Said:

    jiu-jitsu 365 i live in warner robins area and would like to know where your jiu-jitsu dojo is located at. As i am interested in training. Right now im doing Judo in Macon.

    Reply
  22. jiujitsu365, on December 18th, 2008 at 12:23 am Said:

    I no longer live in Warner Robins. I moved in June. I used to train with Team Praxis in Macon. They trained in Macon and Griffin, GA. I just looked online and it looks like they only train in Griffin now. But I am not sure. Here is there website: http://www.praxisma.com/Default.aspx

    I trained with Cam….

    Reply
  23. Caleb, on December 21st, 2008 at 5:35 pm Said:

    Just a note to let you know that your blog made it to the finals in the 2008 BJJ Blog of the Year Contest.

    http://thefightworkspodcast.com/2008/12/21/bjj-blog-year-vote/

    Reply
  24. jiujitsu365, on December 21st, 2008 at 6:19 pm Said:

    Thanks Caleb!

    Once again, it’s an honor!

    Reply
  25. artofjits, on February 5th, 2009 at 4:06 pm Said:

    Awesome blog, I’m new to blogging but im getting some great inspiration here.

    Thanks

    Reply
  26. Jaf, on March 14th, 2009 at 10:42 pm Said:

    Congratulations on your blue! That’s quite an accomplishment! (Don’t worry about people disparaging how “long” it will take to get the black; the joy is in the journey, not the destination.)

    I used to try to roll a lot when I was in south FL and when I lived in Orlando. Hate the gi and was a fanatic about no gi grappling. Unfortunately, I stopped training when I moved to JAX 4 years ago and am now thinking about getting back into it, maybe. I even “got the bug” and went to the FL Grappling League tourney up in JAX a few weeks ago to show my support.

    I enjoy your blog and saw that you now “Twitter”; I was so intrigued that I almost joined just to keep up on your “tweets.” I need to keep checking in with your blog.

    Good luck with all your endeavours!

    Reply
  27. jiujitsu365, on March 15th, 2009 at 12:28 am Said:

    Thanks Jaf,

    You are right. The journey is definitely important.

    Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you enjoy your return to the mats as it seems as if you have already made the decision to do so.

    Reply
  28. Jaf, on March 16th, 2009 at 3:09 pm Said:

    I laughed when I read your reply because I’ve been “wrestling” with the decision (pun intended) to return to the mats for awhile. In fact, I’ve been accused of thinking myself out of doing it just the other day.

    If, as you say, I seem to have already made my decision to do so, then I just need to convince myself inwardly to match what it appears I’m projecting outworldly, at least.

    Now to find a school, etc………..

    Reply
  29. Brody Sanders, on May 24th, 2009 at 10:53 pm Said:

    Bakari,

    If you want to add Facebook or email sharing buttons to your blog posts, there’s a plugin that does it for you: http://tinyurl.com/sharebuttons

    Hope you find it helpful!

    Cheers,
    Brody

    Reply
  30. jiujitsu365, on May 25th, 2009 at 10:25 pm Said:

    Thanks for the tip Brody.

    Reply
  31. grappler, on July 1st, 2009 at 1:49 am Said:

    amazing blog! looks like a lot of hard work went into it!

    Reply
  32. jiujitsu365, on July 7th, 2009 at 1:11 pm Said:

    Thanks grappler,

    I spent a lot of time on it in the beginning, but now it is just a build up of many posts over time.

    I enjoy it though!

    Reply
  33. Jennifer Cecelia S., on August 26th, 2009 at 1:47 pm Said:

    Great site! Recently I have decided to look into self defense, being that I am thinking about majoring in Criminology. Congratulations on your accomplishments with Jiu Jitsu, sounds tough. Sorry to hear about the knockout- for what it’s worth, must have been some good workouts, I guess you had a good run. I will definitely read previous posts, maybe I will get some needed tips.

    Reply

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