A NEW BLACK BELT IS BORN........

                                                                 

                             

I arrived in Newark to a warm sunny day , the flight had been long and tyring all i wanted to do was head to the hotel take a shower and hit the mats to train in hopes it would shake off the jet lag.

 lately i had been feeling both spiritually and physically dehydrated and when this happens threes only one thing to do , head back to the river , the source, where my extended family and Friends were. 

I stepped out of the airport and the humidity hit me the smell of the streets , the sirens , the new york city skyline, wow i thought I'm home....

After a quick shower i headed down to the academy and was greeted by my Friends it was such an amazing feeling to be in a place away from the world where i could just be.

 Training was intense as the worlds are only one week away the academy was packed and after the warm up my kimono could have been wrung out it was drenched , we went through competition techniques and then came the sparring purple brown and black belts , 2 hrs later i left the academy drenched sore and feeling great , the next few days were the same, then Sunday arrived.

There was a sense of unity and urgency within the academy as over 30 reps were present from all over the world, USA , Israel , Brazil , and London i hadn't seen that many black belts in one room since visiting Brazil. 

Royler and David arrived and we were greeted by roylers huge smile and Davids hug, the meeting got underway and  the Rgda vision for the next year looks very promising thats all i am saying , then came the promotions  a brown and purple belt, then four black belts,  david turns to us and says "those of you who didn't get promoted don't worry your turn will come" and explained that we needed a little more time and understanding of the art  etc etc.

 Royler says black belts are not gifts to be awarded, a black belt is showing maturity, understanding of the art,dedication and various other attributes. Royler then turns to Dave and Dave says "i almost forgot i have one more black belt to award he paused for a second his eyes looking up and down the room and said "Eddie Kone " i was stunned for a few seconds and walked over to where they were standing, Royler takes of my  brown belt and ties the black belt around me shakes my hand, hugs me and says" well done good job you deserve this " dave does the same and says well done bro you earned it" the rest was a blurr......

After the promotions me and oz headed to new york and partied hard, i don't remember much just that we ended up in hooters bar, a few Irish bars where people were chanting "were not that drunk"over and over,  times square, fifth avenue, and various other places.

Having spent the past few days in new jersey training , hanging out, catching up with Friends both new and old  and just trying to refocus on myself find a little peace of mind and figure out where i will be heading and what i will be doing for the rest of the year both in BJJ and in my personal life this was the icing on the cake, so where do i go from here, ? what do i do now, ?

 let me tell you.....

This is just the begining my bjj starts here, if i can be half the people /teachers/ inspiration's  royler and david are and can inspire teach and carry on the gracie legacy through bjj i have one regret,

that i only have one life to do it in......

Thanks to all who have supported and stuck through both the good, bad ,hard, and easy times with me, RGDA UK , RGDA ROMANIA  you are and will always be special we are not a team we are family  .... 

i haven't achieved much in my life, but i dedicate this achievement to the person i miss most everyday in my life, the person who told me to never give up on my dreams ( my grandmother) this is for you (sometimes dreams do come true , thank you ). 

To everyone else, see you on the mats .

E.K