Road to Black Belt: Rob Wark

It was October 2012. My wife and I were enjoying an Italian dinner at a cozy restaurant outside

of Denver, CO. Earlier that year, through the miracle of modern science, we had celebrated the

birth of our third child, a healthy boy nicknamed “Bubba”. We happened to be back in Denver to

try for another child, praying for another little girl. You see Denver just happens to be a great

place to make babies…….. the mountain air, the ambience, and the fact that it’s home to The

Colorado Center for Reproductive Medicine.

So back to the dinner. Our conversation with the waitstaff turned morbid. Earlier that year, a

deranged sicko entered a theater in the nearby suburb of Aurora and proceeded to open fire on

the patrons who were there watching “The Dark Knight Rises”. The local community was

devastated by this tragedy, and rightly so. 12 innocent lives ended, with another 70 wounded.

Our waitress was in tears as she talked about the impact to the area, and how fearful she was

going forward.

My wife and I were devastated too. Did we know any of the victims? No. But we did know the

incredible pain of loss that the families of the victims must have felt. In 2009, our beautiful little

girl Katie died in a tragic drowning accident. Her life was cut short just shy of 3 years old. The

pain of losing a child is beyond description. Your soul vomits.

So, I sat there in that Italian restaurant, wiping away tears, reliving our family’s pain, reflecting on

the grief-stricken community and feeling the fear gripping me. You can’t even go to a fucking

movie theater now without a lunatic shooting up the place???? That was my moment. Anger

replaced fear. I decided then and there that neither I, nor my loved ones, would end up being a

victim. Not on my watch. No way.

I took my first level one class at KMD on Tuesday, November 13th , 2012. Halfway through Lisa’s

class, I knew “this is the way”. Thus began my journey. I’ve spent the past 12 years of my life

trying to weaponize my body. The goal is simple. If someone attempts to harm me or my loved

ones, I want to visit upon them an overwhelming amount of violence. Check mate. I get to go

home and cuddle with my family and tuck my kids to bed. The bad guy lays in an ICU, perhaps

a morgue. Hey – he brought it on himself…

I approach the challenge of the Black Belt test with gratitude. Thank you to Pawel and all the

amazing instructors who pushed and challenged me. Lots of love to the many exceptional

training partners along the way. Kayla and Mike – I love you guys. Thank you, God, for all of the

blessings and miracles in my life. And most importantly, I thank my beautiful wife Linh for the

many years of support, and my babies Ryan, Bubba, Emma, and Katie.

On November 16th, the prologue to my Krav journey will end. To quote Winston Churchill – “This

is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is perhaps the end of the beginning.”

Kida

-Rob Wark