Never Heel Up

About the book

Devastating events can lead a person many different directions, some good and some not so good. Scars can last a long time. We have to find the right medicine to treat the wounds properly.

Tragedy misshaped the author’s young family, leaving it in shambles. But after several years of emotional homelessness, the author finally walked into the right place, at the right time. Needing something to pull himself out of that emotional turbulence, in 1978 he stepped up onto the dojo floor of a little red-brick building and entered another world.

Six years later, he found himself stepping onto another dojo floor. This time it was his first class at the JKA Ebisu Honbu (HQ) dojo in March of 1985 (taught by Tanaka Sensei) on a one-month “vacation” from his job at GM in Flint, Michigan. He trained daily with Nakayama Sensei and Kawawada Sensei at the Hoitsugan, along with many other instructors at the Honbu dojo.

Realizing that this medicine was powerful and effective, Michael eventually quit his job and relocated to Japan a couple years later. This is the story leading up to that decision.

Read an excerpt from Chapter 28