Duke Saraie is a walking specialist, who created the Duke’s Walk method to teach people how to walk correctly. Recently in Japan, walking has become popularly known as a healthy exercise and Japanese people have begun to realize the value of walking as a practical way to keep fit. “Walking correctly? This guy must be nuts!“ … was the general reaction of the people when he first introduced his method and ideas 15 years ago in Japan. However there is good reason and evidence of his work and is now fully recognized as one of the best methods for health by a large number of Doctors and Physicians. Duke Saraie often tells the press interviewers of his beloved mother, who was the initial reason of his work.
			“It was about 20 years ago when my mother was diagnosed with a serious liver illness. Under the doctor’s suggestion, she walked every day along the beach hoping for recovery, until one day, she hurt her knees, but she continued to walk. As a consequence, a few weeks later, she fell down some steps and was no longer able to walk. As soon as she ended up in a wheelchair, her lively spirits quickly disappeared and it wasn’t long before she passed away.
		To me it was unfair, absurd, ironic. She had walked because she wanted to live, not to die. My grief and anguish was made worse because she was unable to see my first child, who was born only 2 months later. Instead of weeping forever, I began to research furiously whether or not walking was truly good for the body. I 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 and a volunteer’s body, and allowed them to walk as they would usually. The outstanding results that came out showed 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. But 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 can’t normally use. These are muscles that are actually the most important in the human body. They aren’t commonly known because they are muscles that are hidden behind the outer muscles such as 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 finds themselves stood 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.