The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training for Climbers

Rating:
Summary: Personal Success & Growth
Review: Arno provides the opportunity for advancing your climbing, your business and personal life. The opportunity to resolve challenges in climbing and life are addressed in this book. Arno offers a vision for improvement and understanding in the warrior's way. This book and Arno's training afforded me unparalleled advancement in my climbing and my personal life. As an individual who owns my own business and participates in many sports such as climbing, tennis, golf, snow skiing, and scuba diving to mention a few; the mental process of all these is sometimes overlooked in the application of physical ability. Arno understands the importance of involving and training the mental element in climbing to catapult your performance in life.

I have taken classes from Arno as well as taken his Warrior Training course. His training and guiding are mirrored here in this book. I highly recommend this book and the application of this book in the rewarding experience of taking his classes also.


Rating:
Summary: Seminal Mind Training
Review: As a casual acquaintance of Arno's over the years, I was gratified and pleased by how good his book turned out to be. It stands as a high water mark in the human potential genre. Well written and clear, Arno and Achey bring high theory down to earth (or the high cliffs as it were). As most people can imagine the challenge that hard rock climbing is, the lessons in this book could well be applied to help one deal with any challenge. In other words, you don't have to be a climber to get allot out of this book.

Regarding the falling issue mentioned a few reviews back, I have to defend Arno and make it very clear that he does not advocate taking falls willy nilly. What he does advocate is taking responsibility for one's willingness or unwillingness to fall and making that choice based on the best possible information at hand, unfettered by an irrational fear of falling that prooccupies attention and leads to the dreaded 'overgrip'. His fall drills are designed to lesson that kind of fear by making falling a known experience rather than a boogie man that robs one's attention and strength.

Where a climber likes to be on the safety - risk continuum is unavoidably a personal decision. Better to come to that decision with as much skill and information as one can gather. Nevertheless, regardless of how much you know and how strong you are, if you are challenging yourself at the edge of your abilities, you will still have to make your move and shove off into the unknown. That's the beauty of climbing.

Rating:
Summary: Seminal Mind Training
Review: As a casual acquaintance of Arno's over the years, I was gratified and pleased by how good his book turned out to be. It stands as a high water mark in the human potential genre. Well written and clear, Arno and Achey bring high theory down to earth (or the high cliffs as it were). As most people can imagine the challenge that hard rock climbing is, the lessons in this book could well be applied to help one deal with any challenge. In other words, you don't have to be a climber to get allot out of this book.

Regarding the falling issue mentioned a few reviews back, I have to defend Arno and make it very clear that he does not advocate taking falls willy nilly. What he does advocate is taking responsibility for one's willingness or unwillingness to fall and making that choice based on the best possible information at hand, unfettered by an irrational fear of falling that prooccupies attention and leads to the dreaded 'overgrip'. His fall drills are designed to lesson that kind of fear by making falling a known experience rather than a boogie man that robs one's attention and strength.

Where a climber likes to be on the safety - risk continuum is unavoidably a personal decision. Better to come to that decision with as much skill and information as one can gather. Nevertheless, regardless of how much you know and how strong you are, if you are challenging yourself at the edge of your abilities, you will still have to make your move and shove off into the unknown. That's the beauty of climbing.

Rating:
Summary: Gripped Magazine - Sonnie Trotter
Review: Climbers all know the feeling: being in the zone. No matter the activity, it is the state that we live for, and when we find it, bliss follows. However, the zone can be elusive and fleeting - most times we are somewhere in a partial-bliss state. Or worse.
Based on techniques Ilgner developed as a climber and a coach, The Rock Warrior's Way strives to help climbers understand how to consistently achieve a mental state of power. The pragmatist and idealist alike will find useful tools to immediately improve their climbing performance and, more importantly, their enjoyment.
The most useful ideas in the book center on controlling debilitating fear. While the methods will help a cellar-dwelling Brit send his next gritstone horror-show, the rest of us mortals will glean plenty of good info about facing the nagging anxiety handed out by seemingly mundane routes. We have all been there: above the gear or bolt, imagining the worst, launch sequence engaged. Ilgner advises us to "find comfort in the chaos." Luckily, he couples such cryptic statements with real techniques to quell the inner voice that tries to convince the mind that death is imminent. For me, even a slight improvement in the battle with fear is manna.
The practical reader will have to sit through a bit of philosophy, but will be rewarded with flowing prose, real-world examples, and hands-on techniques. Much of what Ilgner suggests reminds us what we already know: climbing well takes a clear head; we perform better when we are in the moment; and "trying hard" can be either effective or futile, depending on how you try. These reminders helped me reevaluate my goals for better performance. I combed through my habits for "power leaks" and improved my focus. The best results? After 15 years at the crags, my love for climbing is reenergized thanks to my new "warrior" attitude. --Chris Kalous, Climbing magazine

Rating:
Summary: Gripped Magazine - Sonnie Trotter
Review: Since the day I started climbing I always felt there was a strong mental aspect to our sport. It became obvious to me when I started following Eric Hörst's mental tips and found jumps in my ability. I felt more powerful even though my muscles had not grown any stronger.

After breaking through small barriers, I realized there was another world of mental training, but I had no idea where to turn. There were authors putting out psychological books for other sports, but climbing has always been more complicated. Arno Ilgner has filled this gap with his new book, The Rock Warrior's Way.

Don't let the cover fool you. When I first picked it up, my impression was that this book was dedicated to old school trad methods. This could not have been further from the truth. This book is for all climbers. Some of his themes are self observation and the importance of separating our identity from our experiences and responding to them with patience and intelliegence.

Ilgner finds a way to make order of chaos. He's found a way to express our mental habits that everyone can understand and he's created simple and effective ways to address our problems. Whatever your level of climbing, you will walk away from this book with valuable lessons.
--Sonnie Trotter, Gripped magazine

Rating:
Summary: Rock and Ice Magazine - Rob Dillon
Review: Twenty years ago, Arno Ilgner and his buddy Steve Petro were working a hard route, Morning Sickness (5.11d) in Fremont Canyon, Wyoming, that was reachy for both. Petro, while an excellent climber, complained daily about being too short for the initial move. Finally, Ilgner blew up, and told him to just accept his height: "You aren't going to grow any taller and the roof isn't getting any shorter!" Petro, briefly taken aback, decided to work with what was--instead of wasn't--available, and sent the route next visit.

Ilgner, a hard Southern climber and runout guru of 30 years, has learned much along the way, compiling a program of mental training for climbers that he has now condensed into The Rock Warrior's Way. While drawing from his own experience, Ilgner also sought concepts through a wide range of sources, from Carlos Castaneda to the Russian spiritualist George Gurdjieff.

Considering the many books dedicated to climbing training, little writing hitherto has addressed the climber's mind in-depth. Ilgner's self-published book is short on frills--the design is basic and the black-and-white photos unspectacular--but long on "warrior" beta, containing thoughtful information worth every penny of the price. Ilgner has managed to convey his experience into a chewy, yet readable and effective, guide to attaining the focused power of the martial-arts student. The book offers a process for a climber--say, facing a runout or a hard route--to prepare for challenges, assess the difficulties ahead, and transition into action.
--Rob Dillon, Rock and Ice magazine