Skip to main content

About Me

My photo
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.

He's Got Legs

The title of this post, it's a phrase I hear a lot. Usually in the form of a question, "What do you do if he's got legs?" My response is usually something like "So what? He's got two extra limbs to attack." That is somewhat of a snarky answer, but it's true. Asking that question is the same as asking, "How do you shower?" However unlike, "How do you shower?" It's not a dumb question just a poorly phrased question. Ironically, both of these questions have the same answer.


What you must understand is BJJ and every other martial art for that matter, is bio-mechanically perfect. They're all perfect at what they are specifically designed to do. Defend oneself under some given circumstance. The point is you'll never create "new Jiu-Jitsu" you'll only modify it to fit your level of strength, flexibility, agility, speed, etc. Ever wonder why people considered "innovators" like Ryan Hall, the Mendes brothers and the Maiyo brothers all finish people with what amounts to an armbar, leglock or choke? It's because every human works the exact same way bio-mechanically. They simply use their physical attributes to obtain dominant position in an unorthodox manner. An armbar is always an armbar no matter what direction the arm is pulled. A further example of this mindset is the saying "An omoplata is, but a kimura as is an americana." That is to say that all three submissions are the same. They are shoulder locks.


Now what does this have to do with whether or not someone has legs? The answer is I'd do the same thing you would do. I'd pass his guard and/or sweep him and then submit him just as you would. It'd be insane of me to think he wouldn't use his legs out of "fairness." Frankly, the idea of that alone is insulting. The real question how do I do that; and the answer to that question is I have to make his legs non-factors by implementing the "5 points of control" rule. Everyone has 5 major points of control on their bodies if I control 3 out of 5 I win 100% of the time. Those are the head, left arm, right arm, left leg and right leg. Now there are intermediate points of control such the hip, knee, elbow, etc. These are actually the points of contact that allow to control an entire limb. It's very rare you'll actually push an opponent's leg down and lay on it smashing the whole limb(useless you've of began studying flat passes, but that's it's own seminar and won't be discussed here) I hope that answers this question at least some levels.


Until next time click an ad to support me.

P.S. YouTube videos will be back in the near future so look out for those

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

top vs. bottom

This is post that has been in my head since Georgette blogged her time at the Pan back in April over at her blog georgette's world . I don't quite remember the name of the post(just search her April posts) but in it she stated that sweep+submissions is better than takedown+pass therefore she implied unintentionally or not that playing the bottom is better than playing the top. Her reasoning being there are more options on the bottom which is completely true but thats only because you can transition to a different guard should the one you're using currently not be working not because the top player doesn't have submissions. Therefore, I must disagree with her statement. Firstly, if you pull guard and I knee-cut/step over into your half and flatten I get an advantage meaning all I have to do is stay there until time is up and I win. All leglocks can come from the top and in fact do especially the ankle lock. The toe hold and Heel Hook are the most common leg attacks from

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

Goals and Fights

Well one goal for 2010 has been accomplished, that's making purple belt. I got promoted Monday night. All that's left is publish Emotions Volume 2: Better Days, which is another blog post all it's own and win Mundials. Sadly, there's no way I can make the trip(medical bills+no sponsors=No Worlds). I'm having surgery soon(September) and I want to compete before I go under the knife for what has be 1,000th time. So I signed up for the GrapplersQuest US Nationals. I placed last year at this event taking 3rd place, having said that, last year was blue belt level, and purple is considered the lowest rank of the upper-class. A bishop with a black belt being king(for my chess players). What that means is this will be a whole different beast. I really wish I could compete on the IBJJF stage especially since I'm trying make a run for ADCC and ADCC Pro in 2011.(Someday I will) However, due to circumstances beyond my control GQ will have to be my IBJJF Worlds. I may do IBJ