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My name is Steve Rowe and I have practiced martial arts for 50 years, I am Chief Instructor to Shi Kon Martial Arts International and have written books, articles for magazines and blogged for many years. There are about 400 … Continue reading Welcome To My Blog
Waiting For God I feel you looking out of my eyes,Listening through my ears,Tasting with my tongue,Smelling through my nose. But this vehicle won’t pass another MOT,The joints are rusty,Tissue is infected,It can barely run,It’s about ready for the knackers fire. It was elegant,A pleasure to drive,Would accelerate rapidly,Stop and turn on a sixpence,A reminder of classic times. Your consciousness permeates every cell,Always aware and alive,Observing yourself,When the body transmutes,The shape changes But consciousness is immortal. Continue reading Waiting For God
Yang style Tai Chi is a ‘standard’ form of Chinese Kung Fu. It is a distillation of other arts and the techniques and principles are clearly recognisable in both Chinese and Japanese arts. Every hand shape in the gold standard Yang Chen Fu form and the internal mechanisms that work them can be found in a good version of Tensho (Rokkishu) kata that also has its origins in White Crane Kung Fu. Every technique in the form can be effectively used through the ‘gates’ of the arms generally can be applied in locking, throwing, blocking, striking, strangling, choking, cavity pressing, … Continue reading Tai Chi Is A Martial Art
Shamanism in Tai Chi. We focus mainly on the snake, crane and tiger, these 3 animals are within every technique in a variety of ways. Snake is bound to the earth, our primalenergies and reptilian brain. It represents our qi energy, the way we move against the earth, the way we ‘coil’ bonelessly in movement, wrap around the opponent and escape grips and holds. It also represents the ‘spit’ and venom of a sudden attack. Tiger represents our mammalian energies, our powerful intention, qi projection, bone, tendon and muscular power, our structural integrity in framing our body, tearing techniques and … Continue reading Shamanism In Tai Chi
The expectation is often that people with depression aspire to be happy.Not always true.People with depression often see happy people as more depressed than them.Why?Because they see them as running away from reality.They can often see the darkness behind the smile because they know it’s name.People with depression need to balance and manage their emotions.Not mask them.They don’t always want to talk about their feelings, often those that want to help are the wrong ones to turn to.Because they haven’t been to those dark places, where ‘no life’ is a better option than ‘life’.They have to get to a place … Continue reading The Expectation Of Happiness
When you’re young you’re taught to have ‘greedy eyes’, to want more than you need.As you age, if you develop right view, you start to realise only what you need.Slowly you get rid of and let go of everything you don’t need.From material things, to people, to emotions.You stop looking back, you stop looking forward.You stop being greedy.You keep letting go, you stop wanting until time stands still.Instead of trying to grab and conquer life, you let it come to you.Until it doesn’t, and you loosen the last part. Continue reading Greedy Eyes
Why I choose a Dojo over a Gym. A Dojo is a community of mutual support. Respect and dignity are paramount. We learn how to discipline the mind, develop emotional intelligence, relate to each other and develop a vigorous health that’s fit for purpose as opposed to vanity. Martial Art training is a fun way to learn these skills rather than the ‘punishment’ we tend give to ourselves in a gym for not matching media expectation. They can be practiced anywhere without the need of expensive equipment. Classes are not random, grades and syllabus are specific so we always know … Continue reading Why I Choose A Dojo v Gym
Some people are like vampire spiders sitting in the middle of their web of misery waiting to capture any unwilling victims. They will manipulate situations and conversations that will trap you into their miserable unhappy life and you’re caught before you realise it. The first defence is to realise that they are out there, darkening a room when they enter and sucking the life out of it, the second is to develop your ‘spidey senses’ so that you don’t unwittingly walk into their web. They hate happy, well balanced people and environments and will do their utmost to to destroy … Continue reading Psychic Vampires…
There’s a time for everything.Be sensitive to it.It’s not what you want.It’s what is.Push at the wrong time, you fail.Rest at the wrong time you fail.When young, you have more than you need.When old, less needs to be more.Eventually you must learn to let go.Then let go of letting go.Until there is nothing left.Only then you can die in peace. Continue reading There’s A Time…
Sometimes you have to dig deep, like REALLY deep.Trying to stop the body going into shock with pain.Reducing one day at a time to one breath at a time.Controlling the adrenaline from fear.When you want to run or curl up, facing it as a warrior.When you feel so angry you want to burn your world down.Controlling reckless rage and the desire to kill or maim.When I see advice from those that have never been there, I almost wish it on them.Because until you’ve REALLY been there, you can never know.Trash your ‘feel good’ memes, your fake rose tinted spectacles, and … Continue reading Digging Deep…
There are always arguments about whether Tai Chi is for self cultivation/health or for self defence, but are they mutually exclusive? It’s often said that the highest levels of self cultivation cannot work together with dealing with violence but I … Continue reading Tai Chi For Health/Defence?
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