Journey: On Mastering Ukemi Paperback - 2011

Mr. Linden continues his enigmatic and powerful instruction with an allegorical tale of test and triumph in the high Himalayan Mountains in Nepal. Journey - On Mastering Ukemi is for everyone who has ever fallen down. Those of us who train at Aikido know it as taking ukemi, but it is still falling. The country song goes, 'Funny how falling feels like flying - for a little while...' and taking ukemi is just like that. Until you land. This book is about the landing and all the rest of it, from the initial attack until we are back on our feet. The Journey we all take from birth to death can be exciting, powerful, enriching and engaging or it can be one of quiet desperation. The choice is yours. Journey is a tale of one young man's attempt to engage that kind of life and his teacher's attempts to show him the way. Mr. Linden demonstrates a sense of humor, self-deprecation, and humility almost unique in the world of martial art masters and Aikido teachers especially. His worldly views and occasional sea stories makes this one of the most enriching and wonderful books about martial arts and personal triumph ever written. It has been compared to THE PEACEFUL WARRIOR and in many ways has the same intense one-on-one teacher/student exchange so many found touching and powerful in that classic. Chris is ready for something new and powerful in his life and his Aikido teacher shows him the way out the door. A door that once opened changes the traveler forever. You can never go back home again feeling the same way after hiking across the backbone of the world for forty days. You will never see people the same again after experiencing the wisdom and kindness of those we find along the road. Journey- On Mastering Ukemi will take you there and show you the door.