The Rock Warrior's Way: Mental Training For Climbers

follows “lines of weakness” in the rock, such as cracks or flakes, into which one places chocks or camming devices for protection. Trad routes often involve face climbing, and may or may not employ protection bolts, which will usually be more widely spaced than on sport routes. Some trad routes (for example, most crack routes) have plenty of available protection while others may require long runouts between protection points.

Reading List
    Books
    Blanton, W. Brad, Radical Honesty , New York, NY: Dell Publishing, 1994. Honesty is the cornerstone of the Accepting Responsibility process. Dr. Blanton digs deep into scrupulous honesty.
    Castaneda, Carlos, Tales of Power , New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1974. I’ve found all the Castaneda books fascinating and profound. This and the following two titles are richly filled with don Juan’s teachings.
    Castaneda, Carlos, The Fire from Within , New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1985.
    Castaneda, Carlos, The Power of Silence , New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 1987.
    Cho, Paul Yonggi, The Fourth Dimension , South Plainfield, NJ: Bridge Publishing, 1979. To go beyond our three-dimensional world we need to develop and refine the way we interact with that world. Dr. Cho gives insights into doing this.
    de Becker, Gavin, The Gift of Fear , New York, NY: Little Brown & Co, 1997. de Becker shows how intuition is our “gift” and why it’s so important to pay attention to it when we experience fear.
    Fields, Rick, The Code of the Warrior , New York, NY: HarperCollins Publishers, 1991. I’ve found this book helpful because it gives a history of sorts on the evolution of the warrior.
    Gallwey, W. Timothy, The Inner Game of Tennis , New York, NY: Random House, 1974. I’ve found the inner disciplines and strategies of tennis related by Mr. Gallwey to be very applicable to climbing.
    Hawkins, David, Power vs. Force , Carlsbad, CA: Hay House, 1995. This book gives tangible evidence of the link between our thoughts and our physical power.
    Hyams, Joe, Zen in the Martial Arts , New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1979. The martial arts are a metaphor for living life on purpose and with more awareness. Combine that with Zen and we achieve a better understanding for flowing with the challenges of life and climbing.
    Jampolsky, Gerald G., Love is Letting Go of Fear , New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1970. Build on love, don’t tear down fear. This book helps us understand how fear-based motivation can diminish as we develop our focus on what we love.
    Kabat-Zinn, Jon, Wherever You Go There You Are , New York, NY: Hyperion, 1994. The Journey process keeps our attention in the moment. This book helps us understand the importance of paying attention to what is happening NOW.
    Little, John, The Warrior Within: Bruce Lee , Chicago, IL: Contemporary Books, 1996. Bruce Lee is one of the all-time masters of martial art, meaning that he went well beyond the physical disciple of his art. The mental insights and Zen connections brought out in this book are very helpful.
    Lynch, Jerry & Chungliang Al Huang, Thinking Body, Dancing Mind , New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1992. Expectation, focusing, visualizing, fear, intuition—you name the mental discipline and this book addresses it. With a little of everything, this book gives a broad understanding of mental training.
    Mares, Théun, Return of the Warriors , Cape Town, South Africa: Lionheart Publishing, 1995. Don Juan’s teachings in the Castaneda books can be a bit difficult to assimilate and understand. This book presents the Toltec knowledge that don Juan teaches in a very straightforward and understandable way.
    Millman, Dan, Way of the Peaceful Warrior , Tiburon, CA: H.J. Kramer, 1984. This is one of the cornerstone books of the warriorship literature. It gives insights into all the warrior processes and is fun to read.
    Murphy, Michael, The Future of the Body , New York, NY: G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1992. To grow mentally we need to expand our perceptions. This book provides a wealth of information on various techniques and disciplines that help us do so.
    Murphy, Shane, The Achievement Zone , New York, NY: The Berkeley Publishing Co, 1996. We can learn a lot from sport psychologists and how they help Olympians perform their best. This book does just that.
    Musashi, Miyamoto, The Book of Five Rings , Boston, MA: Shambhala Publications, 1993. The samurai is the legendary Japanese warrior who faced death daily. To do this effectively he had to let go of