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Showing posts from 2016

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.

Poet's corner 1- Orlando

Upcoming videos

Upcoming youtube videos: -It gets better -Poet's Corner #1 (experimental segment) -What to do on the bottom(bjj discussion/theory crafting) That's update of what I'm working on. Yes all videos will be posted here on the blog upon their publication on youtube. Click an ad it helps more than you know.

AMAA Podcast

Two weeks ago I finished an interview with Jason Davis Founder the founder of AMAA(The Adaptive Martial Arts Association) for his podcast on Martial Arts and life with a disability. Links will be posted here and on all my other social media sites when it goes live.

The Mat vs The Paper

People always ask "What do you love more BJJ or writing?" My answer is "I love art." I've said in previous posts that BJJ is the only thing that feeds both the artistic and scientific parts of my brain, while quenching that thirst for competition that has driven me since I was young. Whereas writing is, for the lack of a better term, peaceful torment. Putting words to paper in a creative format forces you to run the gambit of emotions. They are really two sides of the same coin. They are both my therapeutic canvas, but for very different reasons. I can't live without both they are integral parts of the triangle that makes me whole. I've written poems about BJJ and many of novels include BJJ in some capacity. There have been many times where I've adjusted novels thanks to an idea that came to when I was trying to finish a submission. The mat is one of my favorite places to think; the mat and the bathroom work best for me. The shower is a thinking ma

Storytelling

People who know me know I'm very passionate about two things Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and storytelling. Storytelling is the reason I decided to take the leap into writing novels. It's also the reason I'm able to enjoy professional wrestling even though I'm older in spite of the fact that the writing in most American promotions is total shit right now(and one in particular has the wrong guy at the top of the card). The in-ring storytelling is still amazing. Watch the 30-min ironman match between Bailey and Sasha Banks from NXT Takeover: Brooklyn for proof of this. It can be found on WWE network for those interested.(Vince you're welcome) This is predominately a BJJ blog, so you're probably confused right now. You're probably asking, "What does storytelling have to do with BJJ?" Well let's break down a story then it'll make sense. Every good story has 5 parts- Exposition, Rising Action, Climax, Falling Action, and Denouncement. Any really good

Exposure

This was originally going to be a youtube video and i'll still do a video on this, it'll just be detailed version of this post. I'm still fooling around with editing(partially deciding if i want/need to or not) among other things. There was question posed by the late, Ian Matuszak almost a year ago now. It's a simple one, but the possible solutions make it interesting. The question was: How do we get more exposure for Para-grappling? Well the answer is simple we create people. No matter how many tournaments there are like GrapplersHeart none of them matter in the long run, because people are interested people. No one says "That girl who does armbars I really like her." Everyone says "I really like Ronda Rousey." Now it's true that some people don't, but that's not the point. The point is that second sentence has a name. I'll leave it at that for now the youtube video will discuss how we do that. Until next time. Click an ad to s

Announcement: Teaching Vets

So I've kept this post draft format until everything was setup. Maguilla BJJ is starting a program for disabled military veterans in partnership with Walter Reed medical center. I will the head instructor of the program. We are currently working on transportation for the veterans who have expressed interest. If anyone is interested feel free to get in touch with me through any of the links on the "Contact Me" tab.