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About Me

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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.

Why

A question I get a lot is: "Why do you compete against guys that can use their legs?" I answer simply "Because I can beat them." Asking organizations to create divisions just for guys like me(with limited lower body use) seems selfish and goes against the whole reason compete. Don't get me wrong I want the titles and fame that comes along with being among the best in the world. Black Belt World Champion is my ultimate goal in competitive BJJ. However, the real reason I compete is to show others like me that they can do the same.

In truth, I started BJJ because was bored of being home everyday with nothing to do I felt stuck in place as I stopped going to physical therapy because it hurt so much and was boring as fuck. Needless to say i fell in love with the sport and I figured I could make a difference I know there are thousands of kids who are just like I was bored and in pain for their daily lives and physical therapy just makes it worse.

Comments

  1. Awesome. And why you would need any reason or explanation at all is beyond me. Mountains get climbed because they're there. If you ever get to the point where you can't beat your opponents you should still keep on trying. :) (That's what keeps ME going :))

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Why Physical Therapy sucks

Years ago, maybe 2010 I don't actually remember, I posted a short post here called "Why." That post was about why I prefer to fight able-bodied opponents as opposed to fighting opponents with disabilities. To sum the post up, I do it to prove a point. In that post I mentioned that Physical Therapy(which will be referenced as PT for this post) sucks. This post will explain why. Let me preface by saying PT isn't bad and is in fact a necessary medical service as it's great for pre-surgery, post-surgery, and injury situations. That doesn't change the fact that PT is grossly misused. That's because PTs attempt to make your body work "normally"; what they should do is enhance the way your body already functions. Let's assume you're a cerebral palsy patient who has never walked on your own power and you use a wheelchair for mobility. Instead of putting you in a walker or on crutches and "going walking" around the room. They should p

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