Romulo Barral is one of the top competitors of his generation, and has spent almost his entire life training for the highest levels of competition that Jiu-Jitsu has to offer. He is a five-time IBJJF world champion and an ADCC world champion, so he knows exactly what it takes to reach the top of the sport. His competitive career at black belt began all the way back in 2005 and he was still a regular face at major IBJJF and ADCC events until 2017. After that his career slowed down a little as Barral was 35, but he still took on superfights every now and then over the years that followed.
Romulo Barral recently appeared on an episode of The Fight Untold and talked about his dedication to Jiu-Jitsu and why he still trains hard even if the days of training for competition might be behind him:
“Man, you know like… I love this you know. I do this every single day of my life. Since I decide to do that; when I’m hurt, I’m here. If I’m sick, I’m here. If I don’t sleep, I’m here. If I just get back and travel, I’m here, you know what I mean?”
“It’s just like, training every day is making me alive. It’s making me young, you know? It’s very hard to actually put into words you know, because like, I finish training and I’m already thinking about the next day. I’m thinking about ‘How can I get better? How can I improve? How can I give it back to my students? How can I learn something new?'”
He also explained that he is always keeping up with the latest developments in the world of Jiu-Jitsu, even for his own benefit along with that of his students:
“If something changes, people doing more no gi now, trust (me) I’m doing more no gi. If I’m not good at something, let me try to improve. I have an addiction to something that’s actually good for you.”
Romulo Barral also highlighted what he feels training for competition actually did to him, and how it changed him as a person:
“A competition, it builds up a lot of pressure… You wanna be better, you wanna be better (than) the other people. You wanna be the best version of you every day. That builds (you)… also it can build a lot of toxins you know? Like you’re a different person… I’m a different person when I’m competing. It was actually very hard for me to be a competitor and be a father and be a husband. One of the main reasons I do less competitions is because when I have a competition my personality changes. I’m quieter, I don’t talk so much, I’m always thinking about competing, the fight, I always wanna do things for myself. It’s selfish, being a competitor is selfish.”
Many people idolise the life of a top competitor, usually because their level of technical ability is vastly above that of your average BJJ black belt. As Barral explains though, maybe there are some benefits to being a regular BJJ black belt who teaches and coaches their own students instead of a competitor:
“Obviously a world-class competitor, like technique-wise, physically, preparation(-wise) they will be much better than a regular black belt. But I think a regular black belt, is actually when it comes off like the Jiu-Jitsu lifestyle way more… Chill, relax, you’re always happy, always smiling. I’m talking about myself as a competitor and when I’m just teaching, I’m two different people.”
The full interview with Romulo Barral where he explains how he trains for competition and the difference between that and training as a hobby was uploaded to the official YouTube channel of Fight Untold:
