The Heart of Understanding

What does karate have to do with PTSD, and how does a veteran recover after military experience? How does karate help an aging karateka prepare for that very last dan exam? This book is the well-told story of a senior karateka's journey through fifty-one years of karate. Johnson Sensei tells us how karate became a tool to help him mend soul and psyche as a young man dealing with the aftermath of military experience. He also describes how karate became a way of living in his later years.

Weaving through the decades with stirring, provocative, and engrossing true stories, you will experience Johnson's journey through the earliest days of triggers and unidentified symptoms, memories, and the role that karate has played in transforming anger and suffering into acceptance and peace of mind. Karateka will appreciate the stories of earlier days in karate, learning from the masters, karate politics, and survival.

Michael Johnson, PhD, a veteran, a survivor of post traumatic stress disorder, a licensed psychotherapist, and a practitioner of karate for over fifty years, uses engaging personal stories that serve veterans of any age as well as new and experienced practitioners of karate.