Photos: Greg Truelove

Miami Burgess, a tattoo artist at Psycho Tattoo in Douglasville for 15 years, used to get his adrenaline rushes from hitting clubs like the Wreck Room and Club Anytime. But having his son, Brinton, changed that.

Now, he gets his adrenaline from everything from mixed martial arts to fabricating and custom painting. He’s also too busy to hang out much of anywhere!

How old were you when you became a dad?
I was 26 years old when I had Brinton!

How did it affect or change your life?
It changed my life completely. It definitely put the brakes on my lifestyle. Definitely a good thing. It was a wake-up call. I’m a dad now and it’s no longer just about me. I never knew you could love something so much. It’s very hard to explain until you have a child yourself.

You are not with your baby’s mama currently. Did you try the happy family routine? What happened?
Yes, I tried the happy family routine, but things sometimes just don’t work out. It sucked because all I wanted was to wake up with my son jumping on my bed with him saying, “Dad, wake up!” But on the flip side, it all worked out OK. His mother and I are very close friends and my son knows it. That’s what’s really important to me! She is also friends with my girlfriend so it couldn’t have turned out any better. Hell, she comes to concerts with us and comes to my fights, and she is an amazing mom, what else could I ask for?

How was your relationship with your son before and after the split?
He was so young when we split up so he didn’t really understand.

Tell me a bit about your martial arts skills/background.
I started mixed martial arts years ago. I actually started in some guy’s warehouse in Atlanta. We went to his house, he rolled out a mat and we started banging. It went from that to being thankful to train with some of the best trainers in Atlanta. I have won numerous tournaments with only one loss. That loss made me train even harder and I haven’t lost another!

When did you get your son into martial arts and how did it progress?
My son got into martial arts a few years ago, first doing [the technique] stand up and now he does both stand up and Jui-Jitsu.

What is his ranking and what are some of his achievements?
He is a senior brown belt and won first place at nationals in Birmingham.

How did training together affect your relationship with your son? How do you feel martial arts changed you both as people other than the butt-kicking aspect?
Training together has definitely brought us closer together. It’s cool because he did his very first tournament and placed third! The very next weekend, I had a tournament and he was in my corner. I went out and told him if you train hard you will win, but have fun! There was nothing better than seeing the proud look on his face that I was his dad and wore my medals all day! I will never forget that day. I entered another national tournament a month later — not to win a medal, but to see that look on my son’s face. Well, after the first tournament, he told his mother and I that there was a national tournament coming up in Alabama and he wanted to do it. Of course we said OK. And he went out and won it! Now I get to feel how he felt!

If you had to give yourself a belt ranking as a dad, what color would yours be?
If I had to rank myself, I would have to say blue. I’m not a white because I have learned the basics, I’m a blue because I’m still learning. The only difference between a white belt and a black belt is the black belt executes the basic moves right without mistakes! I have a long way to go before I’m a black belt!

What are some other things you and your son like to do? As a tattoo artist, have you gotten him into art and things art-related?
Well, my son and I do a lot of things together as far as four-wheeling to hunting. He loves to hunt! We love going to the drive-in and now he is into paintball. We like going Michael’s and picking out a craft to do. He is very artistic. Like father, like son!

What are some of your goals as a dad?
My goals as a dad right now are just to give my son the things I didn’t have!

Goals for your son?
I think his goals right now is to get to the next level in “Halo” or “Call of Duty” and just be a kid.

Any gripes or funny stories about being a heavily tattooed parent interacting with stereotypical, “Leave it to Beaver” families?
Well, he was telling me the other day he took a picture of me and him to school and one of the school bullies walked up to him and saw it and said, “Is that your dad?” And my son said, “Do you want me to bring him here?” And the kid said, “NO!” and Brinton just laughed.

Any words of wisdom for new dads or struggling dads?
I went through a lot being a dad. For a while, my son didn’t want to come to my house and I was like, what am I doing wrong? I asked several people if they went through that and they all told me he will grow out of it! All I could do is just be there and keep trying and never stop and eventually he started wanting to come to his dad’s and hang out with me! Thank God that stopped! All I can say is just stick it out and show them you love them and they will see it!