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How many ways to fail at the same kayak roll?

Yesterday sucked. It is undeniably the worse day of every year. Well at least the past 6 years. It is the end of Emma’s summer visitation with us. I took her to the airport and put her on her flight out east. I had decided prior to yesterday that going rolling would...

Roll of the day – Spine Roll

The Aariammillugu or spine roll has little to do with your spine. In fact the more literal translation of the original name is "touching the area between the shoulder blades". This more accurately reflects the position the paddle is in. When I started learning this...

Roll of the day – Reverse Sweep

The Kingumut Naatillugu, literally means "holding the paddle pointed/touching aft". Not only does this roll look really impressive, it also is very powerful. It is a sweep roll starting from behind and finishing forward. It was the first roll I learned where you roll...

Baby seals in training

Emma and Katelyn continued their kayak training this weekend. Both paddled a couple of miles with a Greenland paddle. This was their first attempt to go any distance using one. Katelyn is a convert, Emma is not sure. Emma is struggling with her form. Her hands are too...

Rolling with a Lumpy norsaq and a rock

I had some fun today trying out the new norsaq from Lumpy Paddles. The design makes no attempt to pretend to be a harpoon throwing stick. This is a thoroughbred rolling stick. It's design leads you to hold it at the narrow end with the large smooth rounded blade...

Instinct v thinking

Oh why oh why is it sometimes easy to get a roll to work and other times impossible? Every practice session is different. Last night, just before sunset, I took my Tahe out with the root beer paddle for some rolling practice. I decided to go for it. So I put the...

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Qajaq Rolls is dedicated to passing on the traditional art of Greenland kayaking. Greenland kayak rolling can be a relaxing, yoga-like exercise. Rolling is also a tremendously valuable self-rescue technique, and should be the go-to recovery for any serious kayaker. Greenland kayak rolls are steeped in the history of the Inuit people, whose very survival depended upon their ability to roll up and recover while hunting. But Greenland kayaking encompasses much more than just rolling, qajaq building, paddle carving, throwing the harpoon and rope gymnastics are just some of the many skills that make up this ancient subsistence culture. If you are interested in learning more about all aspects of Greenland kayaking consider supporting Qajaq USA and Qaannat Katuffiat:

Qajaq USA is a nonprofit membership organization that is officially recognized by Qaannat Kattuffiat (The Greenland Kayaking Association). Qajaq USA is committed to supporting Qaannat Kattuffiat and their efforts to preserve, study and promote the traditions and techniques of Greenland kayaking while seeking to further the appreciation and development of Greenland-style kayaking in the United States.
Please consider joining Qajaq USA and supporting the organizations efforts.

If you are looking to prepare yourself your equipment and then learn your first roll please follow this link to a series of articles put together to help people get started: Getting your first roll. Nothing beats in person training, especially one-on-one training. If you are looking for mentoring check out the Qajaq USA Events where you can become immersed in the culture of traditional paddling.

Free Guidebook and DVD

Rolling with Sticks® started as a project to document the progress I was making as I learned the different Greenland style kayak rolls. This work evolved into the water proof guidebook and DVD. The project has paid for the costs of production so I decided to make them freely available for download in English, español – Spanish and 中文 – Chinese. Please download and share them with your paddling friends, and help to promote the art of Greenland rolling.