Author: Steve Rowe

Martial artist, philosopher, author, writer,
Articles1 Comment

How To Ruin Your Child’s Training

Steve Rowe

Children just love to train.  Most normal children will accept grades and rewards as and when they arrive and are not too concerned by them, their love is to be a part of a club, move their bodies and learn. Wise parents give them the gift of putting them into a good club and letting them experience that unhindered, damaged parents push their children to fulfil their own ambitions and pass that damage onto their children. A good Instructor will only grade when the child is ready, irrespective of a pushy parent and this puts pressure on to the child, … Continue reading How To Ruin Your Child’s Training

ArticlesLeave a comment

Compassion And The Martial Arts

Steve Rowe

In my youth I was arrogant and violent before I discovered the Martial Arts – and as a result of that discovery I also went on to study Buddhism, Zen and Taoism.  It was through these studies that I found compassion.  In hindsight I think that my excitability, arrogance and violence was a result of being ’empathic’ and not knowing how to deal with it.  As an empathic child in a non empathic family and culture where ‘give him a slap’ was the answer to everything in a relationship and as I attended the roughest school in South London where … Continue reading Compassion And The Martial Arts

PoemsLeave a comment

A Golden Cage Is Still A Cage

Steve Rowe

A Golden cage is still a cage… If you are an adult, And someone else tells you what you can and can’t do, What you can and can’t wear, Where you can go and who with, You are a prisoner. If you have to ask their ‘permission’ to do anything, When I hear ‘I’d love to go/do/wear that, but my wife/husband/partner won’t let me’, Or ‘I’ll have to ask the ‘boss’, All I hear is ‘I am a prisoner and am too scared to free myself’. There are no bars on their cage and yet their fear is their prison. … Continue reading A Golden Cage Is Still A Cage

PoemsLeave a comment

The Softest Touch

Steve Rowe

  I am a ghost, a wraith; Passing through life with the softest touch. I own nothing and no-one; Anything bought belongs to the Earth; And any person loved is completely free. I am only here to learn; I stand on the line between life and death; Free to love, cherish and enjoy; To embrace pain and suffering; To understand how one creates the other. By not blundering, not ‘forcing’; But stepping back and yielding; Only using the softest guiding hand; To bring imbalance back to the Tao. Stiffness, clumsiness and ego; Trying to prevent or force intention; Only bring … Continue reading The Softest Touch

Articles2 Comments

Fighting Yourself

Steve Rowe

  In the Martial Arts we often talk about how ‘the biggest opponent we have to fight is the one inside of ourselves’ and that ‘when performing solo moves we must have an opponent in mind’ although I think the statements are self evident  I would like to put the two together and give it a bit of perspective. We are most likely to die of ill health. A good part of our health is our sanity and happiness, so emotional intelligence is an essential part or our daily training routine. We know how to do this through meditation and … Continue reading Fighting Yourself

Articles7 Comments

How Tai Chi Saved My Life

Steve Rowe

  After a double knee replacement I fell and severed 3 quadriceps on both legs, this went unnoticed for 4 years, then 2 x 5hr attempted and failed rebuilds.  My right leg became infected and I had another knee replacement with an antibiotic spacer and 3 months of intravenous antibiotics. Two years afterwards, that leg became infected again (I had been fighting the infection for the whole 2 years)  leading to 5 more surgeries including removal of the knee, another antibiotic spacer and eventually an arthrodesis (fusing the leg straight with an iron bar through the middle) and another 3 … Continue reading How Tai Chi Saved My Life

ArticlesLeave a comment

Don’t Think – Feel…

Steve Rowe

  “If you work on your mind with your mind, how can you not be confused?” A very common problem with the students I teach. They know that they are stuck, they know that they are suffering as a result.  It’s all very well telling them to ‘think outside the box’ or to find the ‘infinite stillness within’ or as Bruce Lee would say “don’t think, feel” but if thinking is the tool that you’ve always used to problem solve, you’re stuck.  You can only work on your mind with your mind up to a point. And the mind is … Continue reading Don’t Think – Feel…

ArticlesLeave a comment

Kung Fu Kids Codes

Steve Rowe

Below are listed the Kung Fu Kids codes that we teach at our club listed in the briefest and most memorable way to help you remember…. Our 4 Rules (recited in Dojo every lesson) Practice every day Never attack anyone Balance training, nutrition and rest Good behaviour at all times Good Values Respect yourself Respect others Value the environment Seek Knowledge Achieve your potential Contribute positively   Good Manners Say hello/goodbye Say please/thank you/excuse me Be on time Wait your turn Sit properly Ask before using Ask before moving Don’t interrupt or yell out Don’t swear Don’t embarrass others   … Continue reading Kung Fu Kids Codes

ArticlesLeave a comment

What Tai Chi Gives Me

Steve Rowe

  Tai Chi allows me to let go.  When we can’t let go we are consumed with anxiety, fear, anger and desire. Often we don’t know it because we are it, we are consumed and unhappy. Some people darken a room when they enter and some light it up. Those that darken it are consumed by all those negative traits and can’t understand why their life is so bad. Those that lighten it have learned to let them go and are ‘awake’ to the balance of light and dark known as yin and yang – they have found balance. If … Continue reading What Tai Chi Gives Me

Articles1 Comment

The ‘Taste’ Of Kung Fu

Steve Rowe

The ‘Taste’ Of Kung Fu…. We’re told that people learn auditory (hearing), visually (looking) and physically (doing), we always use all 3 methods but depending on character will lean more towards one method than the others, I’d like to also add a personal one – taste. Taste? I hear you ask, how can you learn by taste?  Do you have to lick your instructor? Thankfully you don’t, BUT everything has a ‘flavour’ if you can sense it and if you pick up the ‘taste’ of Yang Family Tai Chi, tiger, snake, leopard, dragon, Hung Gar or whatever, you start learning … Continue reading The ‘Taste’ Of Kung Fu