Clearing Away Clouds: Nine Lessons For Life From The Martial Arts [Paperback]

Stephen Fabian (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1999

In this personal account, Stephen Fabian presents lessons for mastering life and self. While each lesson is gleaned from a distinct phase Fabian's life experience or martial arts career, taken together they form a step-by-step programme for personal mastery and success in life.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 160 pages
• Publisher: Weatherhill; 1st edition (May 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0834804689
• ISBN-13: 978-0834804685
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,278,865 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A westerner's walk with eastern ways., August 29, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Clearing Away Clouds: Nine Lessons For Life From The Martial Arts (Paperback)

Clearing Away Clouds tells the story of a western martial artist who has opened himself to the wisdom of the east to a degree that is truly uncommon. We meet a man walking his Way with integrity and humility, and in the process we receive sensitive guidance for our own journeys. A very fine book which will be of great assistance to many.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mesmerizing account of everyday life and martial arts., June 3, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Clearing Away Clouds: Nine Lessons For Life From The Martial Arts (Paperback)

Fabian takes 9 tenents from various martial arts and illustrates how they shaped his own life, whether in the United States, Brazil, or Japan when he was both with and without a master under whom to study. He demystifies the mind/body connection within Eastern philosophies without losing the magic that focused attention to any activity can bring. I read it from cover to cover, stopping only to fix dinner. A must read!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Guidelines for the Way, March 7, 2002

By 

Brett Denison (Aurora, Colorado USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Clearing Away Clouds: Nine Lessons For Life From The Martial Arts (Paperback)

The book "Clearing Away Clouds: Nine Lessons for
Life From the Martial Arts," by Stephen Fabian, is
written as an autobiography of Fabien sensei's
training and development as a martial artist. The
Fabian sensei takes the reader from his initial
exposure and introduction to the martial arts,
through his development to a point when the student
then becomes the teacher. Along the way you Fabian
sensei shares the trails and challenges of a young
college student, on learning to living on your own,
on the hectic, sometimes daunting demands placed on
a graduate student, to learning to function in a
foreign country.

Though the book is not necessarily meant to be
instructional, at least not in a traditional sense,
Fabian sensei provides a set of nine "lessons" or
guidelines to help the aspiring martial artist
through the travels along the Way.

These lessons are presented in a defined order, each
building on the previous lesson. The lessons are
presented in an abstract way, supported by
developmental stories from the author's life, which
force the reader to think about and internalize the
information.

This is not a "become a martial artist in nine easy
steps" type of book; this book provides real life
experiences of someone that have used the martial
arts to help shape their life, and become a better
person for it.

It several subtle ways, the author helps to
differentiate between the fast-food type of martial
art school whose primary objective is the
development of "martial athletes" and the more
traditional dojo's (dojang in Korean) that cultivate
true "martial artists".

As a practitioner of Japanese martial arts, I found
the chapters of the book related to the challenges
of living in Japan particularly interesting.

The book is very well written, and has a good
structure and flow to it. I highly recommend this
book to anyone that is interested in the martial
arts, particularly those that truly embrace their
training as a path along the Way.