The Renzo Gracie Academy lost one of its most beloved members today. Mr Anthony Bourdain was an enthusiastic student of the art and loved by all for his kind and quiet demeanor that made it a joy and privilege to share the mats with him. He was a gentle soul and traveler who traversed borders and generations bringing the gift of conversation and story telling – gift wrapped in cuisine – but whose real effect was to make listeners from every strata of society, from the greatest to the least, reflect upon themselves in ways that when the talk ended, you knew yourself a little better and felt a little wiser. In a harsh, competitive and divided world he was a spokesman for the power of simple joys to bring people together, initially at the table, but ultimately at the mind. Food was just the medium – not the message – the deeper lesson was always harmony based around the insight that the pleasures of the dinner table are the same for one and all, and thus that division can be broken down by the simple joys of life that can make us see what is the same in all of us instead of what is different. Peace to the departed and strength to those who remain…
