Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from 2011

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.

From the big show to a wheelchair

As you all know giving is close to my heart and since this is the season for giving I figured I'd re-post this. This was originally posted on BJPENN.COM by Pedro Carrasco Three years ago WEC fighter Will Ribeiro’s life changed forever. From the hardened streets of Brazil, Ribeiro grew up poverty stricken but with the heart of a champion and was able to ascend through the sporting world with hard work and determination. A member of Brazil’s Olympic boxing team, he took to MMA in an attempt to make a better life for himself and his family. However, fresh off of a fight in the WEC against former champion Brian Bowles he was involved in a motorcycle accident that has left him crippled for life. While in Brazil, Ribeiro took to the streets on his motorcycle to deliver his fight gloves to a promised fan and on his way back from fulfilling his duties he was struck from behind by a speeding car and was ejected from his motorcycle headfirst into a curb. The accident crushed his skull, it cr

Wow

Ok I was gonna post a bunch of stuff about the day at NAGA but something amazing happened last night. So for those of you who still want the report here's the short version I lost 2-0. Now onto what happened last night. It was promotion night and I got promoted to Black Belt!!! Now to those of you who follow me on facebook and/or twitter this isn't news as I posted it to both sites last night. This post is not meant to brag or shove this fact down any reader's throat. In truth, my journey is just starting because now part 2 of my plan must begin. I've had 3 goals since I began Jiu-Jitsu get my black belt, win the World Title at black belt, and finally make sure all the kids who are stuck in therapy and in constant pain can use the martial arts as an outlet like I have if they choose to. Winning a world title will give me the resources to achieve my final goal and start my foundation for the kids, so now I must focus on that. This post is meant to do what every other pos

Time to catch up

Ok so I'm back folks No-Gi Worlds was a little over two weeks ago. However, we have to talk about the biggest No-Gi event in the world first ADCC which happened in late September. Andre Galvao dominated ADCC winning his weight class and the open division defeating Pablo Popovitch by toe hold in the open divison final. Vinny Magalhaes probably took top spot for moment of the weekend though, with an incredible armbar escape against Fabrico Werdum on his way to winning the heavyweight division of ADCC 2011. An escape you can check out on budovideos youtube page or better yet watch the stream replay on budovideos.com. To recap No-Gi Worlds here are the black belt finals results: Rooster-Winner: Brandon Mullins Light Feather-Winner: Caio Terra Feather-Winner: Cobrinha Lightweight-Winner: Lucas Lepri Middleweight-Winner: Victor Estima Medium Heavy-Winner: Rafael Lavoto, Jr Heavyweight-Winner: Lucas Leite Super Heavy-Winner: Marcus Vinicius Ultra Heavy-Winner: Cyborg Absolute-Winner:Marc

update

I'm back guys I didn't forget the NAGA results post just haven't got around to it I've been very with writing projects I have 3 going on as I type this and another tournament in December. The NAGA results will be the next post. ADCC has happened I'll give my thoughts. No-Gi Worlds is this weekend too so we have lots to talk about be back later folks.

US Grappling report

So I promised a report here it is: I weigh-in Friday night around 6:20pm I weighed in 135 pounds don't ask how because I still don't know. That puts me in US Grappling's Roosterweight class. I had elected earlier in the month to just do my weight division in the only. I didn't want to do too much because this was my first tournament since my surgery. (I usually compete in Featherweight not Roosterweight, their scales were REALLY REALLY nice) There was only one other guy in rooster a guy I used to train with when I first started at Maguilla's.(Really long story) We start on the knees, he gets lapel and cross sleeve grips and pulls closed guard. I immediately drop levels to go for the Tozi pass I get to half guard, gaining an advantage. He gets back to full guard we do this for about 3 minutes, though it felt much longer. Then he attacks a triangle as I fail to re-pummel I stack pass effectively getting the 3 points. I'm up 3-0 at this point with lots of advantage

Hips

it's now 1:30am i have thirty minutes before I can take my meds and go to sleep then up for 10am practice. I've been doing a lot of research on hip strength, hip flexibility, and hip explosion. After all, the hips are, along with the core the most important tools in movement. Not just grappling but general movement getting out of bed without using your hips is harder than you think. Try it then hit me up on twitter or leave a comment and tell me how it went and you can't log roll because that's way too easy. The thing is in BJJ your hips are EVERYTHING. Your hips give that explosion for your takedowns, that pop needed for your hip bump sweep and triangles from guard. Interesting thing is the hips themselves have nothing to do with any of those aforementioned actions. The muscles in the posterior chain do all the real work, those are the muscles that run alongside your through the buttocks and down the back of the knee including your abductors and hamstrings. When coach

Worlds Recap

Ok guys Worlds just ended we'll have a lot of memories from 2011. From Kron's fantasic comeback win in the semis of the lightweight division to Gilbert Burns crying after his championship victory over the arforementioned Kron and the very emotional speech that accompanied the tears, that admittedly almost made me cry. Not to mention Leitica Ribero's steriod speech. Here are your 2011 Men's Black Belt World Champions Rooster: Bruno Malfacine def. Caio Terra-pts Light Feather- Gui Mendes closed out with Ary Faris title given to Gui Feather- Rafael Mendes def. Augusto Mendes- advantages Light- Gilbert Burns def. Kron Gracie-pts Middle- Marcelo Garcia def Lucas Leite-pts Meduim Heavy- Sergio Moraes def Romulo Barral-pts Heavy- Rodolfo Vieira def Bernardo Faria-pts Super Heavy- Leonardo Noguera def. Marcus de Almeida(aka Marcus Vinicus)-advantages Ultra Heavy- Antonio Braga Neto def. Rodrigo Cavaca-pts Open Weight- Rodolfo Vieira def Bernardo Faria-pts Correct on 6 out 8 cha

Worlds 2011 men's black belt

BJJ Worlds 2011 is playing out as I type this. It's 11:41am in Long Beach that means we still have blue belts on the mat and purple belts start in about a half hour. You can bet I'll be watching the purple belt featherweights very closely( its my division)once those videos hit youtube later this weekend. However, that's not what this post is about. I'm writing this to cover the adult male black division. So predictions here we go Rooster: Bruno Malfacine vs Ciao Terra-Winner- Bruno. Though Ciao did beat him at the Pan I feel Bruno is back on track after Brazilian Nationals and that momentum and flow will make all the difference. Ciao had surgery after the Pan so competition rust could be an issue. Watch out for Felipe Costa and Rafael De Freitas constant figures at this weight. There's also Brandon Mullins and Joseph Capizzi 2010 No-Gi Gold and Silver Medalist respectively as well as Josef Manuel looking to make waves. Manuel This weight class could steal the show

new outlook

I was training last night and made an astonishing discovery, I'm using not my body correctly and as a result I'm missing simple things and my game is suffering, especially my game on the bottom. The thing is in BJJ your hips are everything if they aren't chances are you are losing. When you have been dependant on your arms all your life as I have, you sometimes forget your hips are required to move in BJJ. My hips have gotten so tight over the years it's best to them as a unit and not individually. No instructor will tell you to sweep your opponent then hold him as you transition and settle in to top position, it goes against the point of sweeping as we know it the whole point of sweeping is to disrupt the opponent's balance and use the mometum from him falling to come up. However, that has never worked for me, but I guess that's the nature of sweeping from turtle when you don't have mobile hips, since I don't have the best hips I often end up on my bac

BJJ in MMA: UFC 129

While there was little offensive BJJ on the card bar the flying triangle by Pablo Garza everyone will talk about Monday at work(at least they should be, which I won't break down as it was a prelim fight, Pablo also broke it down in the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan the short of it is the one in, one out principle was followed perfectly). That was mainly due to time and missed oppurtunities Mark Bocek was the blatant offender of missed submission chances, he missed a guillotine because he missed the leg control and he used prime heel hook chances as sweeps instead of finishing the heel hook. While the leglock as a sweep principle is great for BJJ in MMA I say always finish the leglock. Here's why: In BJJ, when you complete a leglock that was used as a sweep you end up in passing position once on top 95% of the time meaning you basically have 5 points in your pocket if you get good at this concept(2 for the sweep and 3 for the pass). In MMA, there is no running score and h

Something on my mind

I try very hard to keep politics off this blog as politics bore the fuck out of me and this IS NOT AND NEVER will be a political blog. However, this is issue I must speak on as it affects me directly. That issue is Gay Marriage(on a side note I hate the term Gay it's so negative, SGL fits me better and it is what I perfer, but for the sake of this post I'll use the term gay) . Why is it that I have to wait on stupid suits in Annapolis(State level) and on Capital Hill(Federal/National level) to "approve" of my love for my partner. That's essentially what this signing will be considering this is not a safety act. Marriage is a civil right awarded by the simple fact that we live in America. "All Men Are Created Equal" remember that it means we're all entitled to the same thing. It's a shame that as it stands now if my partner and I adopt children and something happens to one of us the kids get nothing and if my partner gets sick I can't be his

Back in Action

I got to train for the first time since september on saturday morning. I was just so happy to be able to do what I love again, I took it slow so I didn't stress out my body. A lot of people don't know from september 10th(3 days after my intial surgery) to december 20th(the date of my pump removal) I was completely immobile due to pain from an infection. Moving hurt so much I just stopped. In between all this my wound wouldn't stay closed so there were multiple ER visits to restitch it followed by a wound washout surgery to prevent infection. It was during the wound washout procedure that my infection was discovered. The washout didn't work as the infection migrated back toward my spine so the pump had to come out. So I actually had three surgeries not just one. So as I said, I was just happy to be there, actively practicing BJJ was a blessing all its own. My goal is the same as always: A black belt world title the purple and brown are icing on the cake. Don't get me

Love poem medley by Rudy Francisco @ Mira Costa College

Posted in honor of Valentine's Day.

Return

2/1/11 is my return to training!!! I went the doctor on the 12th and was told once my stitches fall out everything's good. I'm very excited, I'm talking kid in a candy store for the first time excited. I was planning on hitting all of grand slam tournaments this year. (Grand Slam of BJJ=European Championship, Pan Championship, World Championship, Brazilian National Championship) However that has become impossible due to my recent trails. The Europeans are the 26th and 27th of this month and the Pan Championship is in late March and I just wont be in competition shape. Since I will miss those two events I'll probably hit the New York Open in April just so I can work off my rust before the Worlds in June. These plans are strictly tentative we shall see what 2011 holds for me I'm just happy to be able to get back on the mats again.