Month: August 2018

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The Fork In The Martial Road

Steve Rowe

The Fork In The Martial Road We start training in the martial arts to improve ourselves. We get fitter, healthier, better at technique and go up in our own and other’s estimation, often taking responsibility to teach and having others look up to us. This brings us to an important fork in the road of our martial arts training. We may have been weak, greedy for money, lust driven to manipulate others, bullied or a bully and/or a narcissist. Martial arts training SHOULD then reduce those weaknesses and make us a more disciplined, empathic, compassionate, tolerant and helpful person, but … Continue reading The Fork In The Martial Road

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Dealing With Obesity

Steve Rowe

No-one will understand the agony of obesity unless you’ve suffered from it. I posted a while back wondering how everyone had become ‘obese’ according the government. In my day you were ‘obese’ if your stomach was bigger than your chest; You were ‘fat’ if your belly hung over your trousers; Otherwise you were ‘normal’; Unless you were cadaverous and then you were ‘skinny’. People that have never had weight problems don’t understand the pain their comments cause. Overweight people know they have a problem every time they look in the mirror or try to buy clothes. They don’t need constant … Continue reading Dealing With Obesity

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Finding Myself….

Steve Rowe

  Thought I’d better find myself… Where am I? Not in my head; Could see my thoughts but they weren’t me. I think therefore I am? Nah, I am therefore I think more like; In my body? Not there either. My body breathes; Heart pumps; Organs function; Not me doing any of that. My name? Parents gave it to me; Work, hobbies? Just things I do. Sits still, scratches head; Then who the bloody hell am I? Looks into the dogs eyes…. Ah…. there I am… Everywhere but where I thought…. Continue reading Finding Myself….

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Breathing With Your Body

Steve Rowe

This morning’s neigong: Don’t eat breakfast; Drink a pint of iced water; Find your place to stand; Then find your balance. Find your natural breathing rhythm; Don’t breathe in until you would have to stop yourself; Don’t breathe out until you would have stop yourself; Let your body, not your mind deepen and control the breath. Use your entire dantien to breathe; Stomach sides and back draw the diaphragm down; Filling the lungs with air; Calming you down, making your mind aware and focused. In Tai Chi the joints and fascia act together as a pump; Expand them naturally as … Continue reading Breathing With Your Body

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The Tao Through Yin & Yang

Steve Rowe

Today’s Neigong In the beginning you use physical strength to hold the 5 standing positions, With time you feel the energy; The yin energy in the yin postures; And the yang energy in the yang postures. After a while ‘neutral’ is balanced between the yin and yang; Then you feel the balance in the other postures; The yin in the yang; And the yang in the yin. Every posture has an energetic ‘stasis’; Each energy balancing its opposite; The muscular force is at a minimum; As the energetic takes over. Then you search for the stasis in every posture in … Continue reading The Tao Through Yin & Yang

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Neigong Balance

Steve Rowe

  As the wheel of the year turns; There is a different kind of balance; The air is not dry and warm: And the earth is chilled and moist. Balance brings me to the Tao; The line down the middle of yin and yang: The harmonies in the body: Allow me to find the door. Left and right in the joints: Upper and lower connections; Front and back of the body; Inner to outer of limbs and body. Inner is yin, outer is yang; Front is yin, back is yang; Focus on one and the other is the small circle … Continue reading Neigong Balance

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Seeing Your Soul

Steve Rowe

Seeing Your Soul, this morning’s neigong… When you meditate does your soul come to the front? Like closing all the windows on your computer; The background becomes the whole screen; It was always there, you just didn’t see it before. Your soul is connected to the source; It is connected to all things; It sees itself in the eyes others; It is the uncarved block. With practice, when you begin Tai Chi; All the other ‘windows’ close; And your soul comes to the front; It is your place of perspective. It knows the sound of silence; It is your place … Continue reading Seeing Your Soul

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Old Man Martial Arts

Steve Rowe

  This morning’s neigong; An old man has to be mindful; He cannot move without thinking about it first; Legs have to be balanced; Care has to be taken with arthritic joints. Every step is measured; Every push is done with care; Pain gives a measurement; ‘Training’ involves a higher percentage of mind. BUT this is a good thing; The young don’t have to think; Their perception and perspective is flawed; Their hormones and naïveté control them. Many old MAists try to be young; Making them feel old before their time; “I can still do it” sounds so sad; Like … Continue reading Old Man Martial Arts

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I Alone Am Still….

Steve Rowe

This morning’s neigong: Once again the air is different; Every day it changes as the wheel of the year turns; Every day the smell and taste has a difference; Nobody else seems to notice. I alone am still; I feel the stasis of the universe; I am as I am because everything else is as it is; As everything else is moving; I alone am still. People rushing to work; Taking kids to school; Birds flying, trees and plants growing; I feel the earth turning; Everything balancing everything else. But I alone am still. Continue reading I Alone Am Still….