Jakub Zajkowski

Jakub Zajkowski was born on April 9, 1997, in Poland and grew up in Białystok.

Jakub’s father was a big fan of cage-fighting and when seeing his son falling prey to a sedentary lifestyle during his pre-teens, he decided to enroll Zajkowski in a martial art, giving his son 3 options to chose from: Judo, Wrestling, or Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Jaku already had an unsavory judo experience as a child, and he did not fancy a return to the Japanese art of throwing, as such, Jiu-Jitsu was the chosen activity.

Marek Pietrzak from the Rosomak Jiu-Jitsu Academy (an affiliate of Copacabana BJJ in Bialystok), was Jakub’s first instructor and the man responsible for much of Zajkowski upbringing in the sport, coaching the young Polish prodigy from the age of 12 up to his 20th birthday.

The Copacabana BJJ association is one of Poland’s prime jiu-jitsu teams, with a long-standing bond with Gracie Barra’s legend, World and ADCC champion — Mr. Braulio Estima. In 2015, while doing one of his workshops at Copacabana, Estima rolled with Zajkowski and was impressed by the 18-year-old prospect, inviting Jakub to come and train with him at his gym in Birmingham, England. Zajkowski assumed Braulio was just being cordial, but after class, the Brazilian handed him his phone number and doubled down on his offer.

Early in 2016, Jakub traveled to England, spending a week training with Braulio, after which the (then) purple belt was told that, once he finished college, he was welcome to coach and compete under Estima’s banner in Birmingham. Stoked with the offer, in August 2017, after finishing his studies, now brown belt, Jakub Zajkowski moved to the United Kingdom to work on his BJJ skills on a full-time schedule, with Braulio.

After nearly two years of training and competing in the British and international jiu-jitsu circuits, on July 7, 2019, Jakub Zajkowski was promoted to black belt by Braulio Estima.