Month: August 2024

ArticlesLeave a comment

The Art Of ‘Preframing’

Steve Rowe

Running a successful martial arts club. It’s important to understand the art of ‘preframing’ on all is levels. Recruiting lots of people with inaccurate adverts ‘because they work’ will give you high recruitment but also high attrition levels, by explaining exactly what you teach and what the outcomes are is important to filter your potential students and so you don’t have to waste both your time and theirs. More importantly it will reach the potential students you want who might be put off by your ‘catch all’ advertising. It seems that most club owners haven’t thought out exactly who and … Continue reading The Art Of ‘Preframing’

ArticlesLeave a comment

How To Know You’ve Grown Old

Steve Rowe

How to know you’ve grown old while watching TV:You don’t know if you’ve seen the series beforeYou can’t remember what happened in the last episodeYou have your phone open to ‘cast’ so you can find what else the actor’s been inYou cringe at all kinds of explicit sex scenes even when you’re on your ownYou cringe at tampon adverts about the ‘flow’ exclaiming “I don’t need to know that!”You cringe at adverts for ED medicationsYou say “Christ, he/she’s got old!” When you see an actor you recognise, forgetting that you have as wellYou put on something you want to watch … Continue reading How To Know You’ve Grown Old

ArticlesLeave a comment

The Top Of The Mountain

Steve Rowe

Anyone training in the martial arts needs to educate and alchemise their body, mind and emotions. There are only so many ways they can effectively do this. If they train to fight, they have to train the body and also their health, including the emotions and mind. If they train for health or skill the same also applies, so whatever the reason, to reach the top of the mountain. the route has to contain the same basics. The mountain can have many paths, soft, hard, internal, external, different arts and styles, but when they reach the top, they have to … Continue reading The Top Of The Mountain

ArticlesLeave a comment

Stimulate Store & Release Qi In Taiji

Steve Rowe

In Tai Chi we often talk about the 3 bows, the arms legs and spine (some separate them and call them the 5 bows), it’s good terminology as bows store and release energy. The more you study you realise that there are actually hundreds of bows throughout the body, every joint acts as a bow from fingers, toes, palms, arches, shoulders, hips chest and so on. As we connect and coordinate all these bows, we need to develop the ability to release all excessive tension so they can function effectively. We then stimulate the energy using the mind and emotions, … Continue reading Stimulate Store & Release Qi In Taiji

PoemsLeave a comment

Freedom!

Steve Rowe

Life is based on desireThe desire to have or not haveWhen we free ourself from desireWe are enlightened from itNo one can control usTemptation is goneAdverts and media pressureHave no effectWe walk a solitary pathBecause others can’t understandWe don’t fear lifeBecause it is as it isWe don’t fear deathBecause we don’t desire lifeThere is no pressureNo anxietyNo fearWe’ve found peaceAnd acceptanceA deeper happiness arisesBecause we weren’t trying. Continue reading Freedom!

Articles1 Comment

Emotional Alchemy

Steve Rowe

REALLY IMPORTANT if you work with qi/chi/ki in your technique is to understand how the energy is coloured by areas of the body and how this affects areas of your life. The ‘alchemy’ is the study and journey of how your emotions affect you and therefore to be able to understand them and develop emotional intelligence. I’ve stripped away any ‘spiritual’ dogma to show how useful they are to practical martial artists. I’ve used my keywords for each chakra here to help you see how practical this study is to help you become a more balanced martial artist. Root Chakra … Continue reading Emotional Alchemy

Articles, Interviews & People1 Comment

Feedback From Aaron

Steve Rowe

I often get asked why I started learning Tai Chi”. The truth is, there were many reasons, but primarily it was the opportunity to train under Sensei Steve Rowe and the allure of a deeper, more spiritual path to martial mastery than I’d found in other styles. What I discovered far exceeded my expectations. Tai Chi has transformed me in countless ways. It taught me meditation, breathing techniques, and a profound understanding of the body. It revealed the intricacies of energy manipulation, both defensively and offensively. I delved into the philosophies of Yi and Chi, cultivating emotional intelligence, and mastering … Continue reading Feedback From Aaron

ArticlesLeave a comment

My Security Work

Steve Rowe

I was laying in bed last night trying to remember all the security work I’d done and couldn’t do dates or even in order but this is what I could remember after I left the Fire Brigade in ‘71: Group 4 had just arrived in the U.K. and I went from ‘beat officer’ to staff sergeant in charge of all Cash In Transit at the time also getting my HGV to drive the big ‘dustcart’ type wagons and had some near misses as ‘blagging’ cash vans was very common at the time. Woolworths doing plainclothes and undercover fraud work also … Continue reading My Security Work