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my many faces
My name is Romeo Barnes. I'm an author and a BJJ black belt with cerebral palsy. This blog is about my life balancing existence in two worlds. My latest book, My World is now available Amazon.com. Glad you're here, enjoy the journey.

update

ok i've been away for a while I know. I've been working on my novel I should be able to release it within the next two to three years after the Emotions series is complete if all goes as planned. A lot has happened in the past two months the book sales are finally picking up and I'm working on a deal with a local store. I will let you all know when a deal is finalized please know the book will always be available on http://www.amazon.com/ and http://www.booksurge.com/. There is no exact date for the release of Emotions Vol. 2, I'm shooting for Spring 2010. I'm also saving up to start my own publishing company I'm aiming for my novel to be the company's first release we will also re-release the Emotions series.

In BJJ news as advertised I went to New Jersey June 27-28. I got there Saturday morning at around 8am we drove all night. Saturday I was not scheduled to compete so I stayed and watched the Pro submission fights even though I was going on literally no sleep I can honestly say that it was the most amazing thing I've EVER seen in my 22 years of life. Needless to say on Sunday it was my turn and I was pumped. A lack of refrees and divisions being run out of order made the day longer than it should've been. I was expecting to be there all day but I didnt fight until 3pm and had been there since 9am. Don't get me wrong GrapplersQuest is a great tournament especially for beginners and I'll compete again in Vegas. You just cannot pass up the rush that comes under the lights. I'm not complaining about GrapplersQuest I'm complaining about my lack of action. My advice register for as many division as you can. I took 3rd place in the blue bantamweight(139 and below) division and dropped out of open weight cuz i was sleepy I had been up since 4am.

I was the only member of my team Maguilla BJJ (http://www.bjjonline.com/) at the tournament so that sucked. Every team in the country was there, I'm talking all the best: Renzo Gracie, Royce Gracie, Balance, Pedro Sauer, Jungle Gym, Lloyd Irvin, Fifty/50 and many many more.
I saw my old instructor Lloyd Irvin thank God there was no akwardness. I just want let it be known I love Lloyd Irvin to death. I can't thank him enough for everything. He got me started and taught about having a gameplan so much more that goes beyond BJJ. He made me a better person. Thank you, Master Lloyd Irvin.

Pros of weekend:
-Watching the Pro Fights
-Seeing Lloyd Irvin w/ no akwardness
-The Rush
-Taking 3rd place
-Seeing Ryan Hall again(we both trained at Lloyd Irvin when we were starting out)

Cons of the weekend:
-Going alone
-Driving all night
-Being cold(the event was in a hockey arena)
-My lack of action

Make sure you guys check out Youtube some of the Pro fights are posted there just search GrapplersQuest All-Star Pro Challege 2009. Photos of the event should be up on http://www.grapplers.com/ by next week if they aren't up already.





I'm so glad to be back in the competitive world. This what I live for nothing can stop me now.
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