Duke Saraie specializes in the health of the human body and soul, through a particular field of exercise - walking. His original method, Duke's Walk, has revolutionized the act of walking as a transport median or a leisure into a healthy fitness regime to generate happiness in people's lives as well as helping you keep your ideal body shape. His concepts and the odd body movements of his method weren't received very well 20 years ago when he first began to open his classes in Japan. However many researchers, doctors and physicians have analyzed the effects of his regime and has now become widely recognized as a prominent way to be fit. It all began when his mother was diagnosed with an illness and, under the doctor's strong suggestion, she took a daily walk along the beach as a form of treatment. Even when her elderly body gave out a cry of pain in her knees and back, she continued to walk. As a consequence, she fell down a staircase and ended up in a wheelchair. From then, it wasn't long till her lively spirits diminished and she passed away. "To me it was, above all, ironic. My mother had walked to live, not to die. It felt even worse because she was unable to see her long-awaited grand-daughter, who was due in a month." repeats Duke sorrowfully even after all these years. Instead he put all his anger towards research. He wanted to find out whether or not walking was truly good for the body. He read numerous books and studied physiological theories and different types of training methods from various cultures: Yoga, Martial Arts, Qi, Ballet, Pilates, Respiratory techniques and so on. "As I examined these, I began to form a method of my own, by mixing and matching the best combinations and appropriate methods together, I created a whole new method, which I call ‘Duke’s Walk’.” So what is it that makes Duke’s Walk unique from others? A TV show assembled a project and carried out an experiment to find this out. They attached dozens of measuring instruments to his body and a volunteer’s body, and asked them to walk as they would normally. The outstanding results were that, the way Duke walked had less pressure on his knees by two thirds, from the way the volunteer walked. This proves that, by doing his exercises and thus walking correctly, there is less burden of our body weight on our knees, and even if you don’t realize the short-term results of this, it will be immensely beneficial to you in five, ten or twenty year’s time. Another great advantage of Duke’s Walk is effective dieting with immediate results. Usually, fat only starts to burn inside our body after about 20 minutes of exercise. But they also discovered that with Duke’s Walk, it only takes 5 minutes! So you can easily include that 5 minutes in your everyday routine. This is why, in Japan, Duke Saraie was, at first, renowned for diet. However, nowadays, many physicians and doctors have highly approved of his method as a health measure. All these things are possible because his exercises are made to use your ‘inner’ muscles that you don't usually use. These are muscles that are actually the most important in the human body but they aren’t commonly known because they are muscles that are hidden behind the outer muscles. An example is the Psoas major muscles, which are the main muscles required for spinal support. These muscles are more efficient and therefore improve metabolic reactions such as blood circulation and the lymph system, which is why using them, keeps us healthy. Today, Duke Saraie is the founder of the Duke’s Walk Institute in Japan. There, he has 200 professors, called Stylists, who have been trained by Duke himself to teach people his method and ideology. There are about 300 classes taught by these Stylists, spread across all of Japan from Hokkaido in the North, to Kyushu in the South. To add to this, Duke has his own exclusive lessons where only his top students and the Stylists are allowed to attend, in order to keep up to date with Duke’s latest exercises and ideas. Duke Saraie also flies all over Japan to forums, schools and companies to perform on stage a ‘Talk Show’ where he explains his method and their worth in an amusing session, where the audience find themselves standing up and doing the exercise with him by the end of the show. Due to the extreme popularity of the advantageous sessions of Duke, there are currently up to 50 000 people who have attended one of his classes or shows. Although his classes and sessions are mainly taught among the general public, his exercises have been highly approved by many professional sport players and models who have asked Duke for private lessons. In one of his talking sessions, he likes to share his ultimate goal with the audience: “Today, I have a dream... Of one day creating a place where anyone, no matter how old or in what condition, can come and go whenever they require support for health, called Walking Paradise. Located in every city so that as many people can access it conveniently at any time, any place. So that we can give advice on any little problem. So that as many people can live without suffering as my mother did. So that people can walk on their own feet until the very end of their lives.“ Discography: At present, there are 17 books and 10 videos and DVDs produced by Duke. His ultimate bestseller, “1 Meter Walking Diet” which was published in 2003, sold 500 000. In 2007, a Nintendo DS software was created, where you can enjoy his exercises in a convenient way. Please go to DISCOGRAPHY page for more information. Duke Saraie also has a contract with ASICS as their official advertiser. Profile: Born in 1954, Duke Saraie grew up in the Wakayama prefecture and later moved to Osaka and Tokyo. He now lives in the Principality of Monaco, and travels back and forth to Japan.