Henry Akins is an American jiu-jitsu black belt under Rickson Gracie and head coach at Dynamix MMA in Los Angeles. He is known for teaching what he calls "hidden jiu-jitsu": small adjustments in weight distribution, leverage and momentum that are hard to see. His Instagram shares those concepts.
Background
Akins grew up in Oklahoma and started in Tae Kwon Do. BJJ Heroes says he turned to grappling after watching wrestler friends overpower bigger opponents in street fights. In the early 1990s, after seeing a VHS tape of Rickson Gracie fighting vale tudo, he moved to California. He trained at Rickson's Pico Boulevard academy and worked there as the gym's secretary, sometimes up to 70 hours a week. There he met Luis Heredia.
Teaching career
- 1997: assistant instructor at Heredia's gym in Pacific Palisades.
- 2000: instructor at Rickson's Wilshire Boulevard academy, later becoming head instructor.
- 2004: Rickson awarded him a black belt after a training session at Rickson's home. He was Rickson's third American black belt.
- 2008: stepped down after a back injury. Evolve MMA notes that he taught Kron Gracie during Kron's coloured-belt years.
- 2010: returned as head coach of Dynamix MMA in Santa Monica, with his student Antoni Hardonk.
Evolve MMA describes him as a third-degree black belt. Evolve MMA, which hosted him for a seminar in August 2024, says he has trained hundreds of black belts.
Hidden jiu-jitsu
Akins uses "hidden jiu-jitsu" for what Rickson calls invisible jiu-jitsu. These are adjustments in leverage, weight distribution, momentum and transitions that a student learns by feel rather than by sight. He teaches fundamentals through concepts and connections rather than lists of techniques. He also recommends training with strikes at least once a week to keep the self-defence side of the art. BJJ Heroes notes his criticism of sport jiu-jitsu.
Related pages
His teaching links to our base and balance, posture, side control escape and closed guard pages. Follower counts are curated snapshots, not live data.