Category: Articles

ArticlesLeave a comment

Doing Your Time

Steve Rowe

How to cope in prison. You have to learn to ‘do your time’. You are humbled, stripped of everything you were and everything you had, put into a small cell, sometimes with up to two other people with just a bed, toilet and sink. You are surrounded by evil people and have to obey the guards, eating and doing what and when you’re told. ‘Doing your time’ means first learning acceptance of what and where you are and what you can and can’t do. Then integrating into the society, you can’t escape people, however obnoxious they are, so you have … Continue reading Doing Your Time

ArticlesLeave a comment

Beautiful Hands

Steve Rowe

In Tai Chi we say that you must have ‘beautiful hands’. The hands are extensions of the eyes, tongue and nose, they ‘see, taste and smell’, in their own way at a distance. The cupped palm is directly connected to the arches of the feet and the fingers are tentacles upon the tentacles that are the hands. The fingers, palms and wrists form bows along with the elbows and armpits to stimulate, store and release energy from the lower body. In Tai Chi the hands constantly flex and change, expressing the nature of each technique, they claw like a tiger, … Continue reading Beautiful Hands

ArticlesLeave a comment

Dying Inside

Steve Rowe

Dying insideIs a coping mechanismWhen we are made powerlessHaving the ultimate acceptanceNot wanting or needingTo end the life of the bodyWe end the life of the selfReleasing the need to controlWe yield to life and othersBeing dead none of it mattersWe’re taking our toys homeWe’re not playing anymoreWhen we can’t escape our environmentBe it poverty, politics or disablementIt’s all a kind of prisonWhen there is nothing left for the selfIt diesIs this the same as the meditating monk?The Buddha said ‘there is no self’Is it ridding us of the illusion of life?Is it losing the damaging desires?Is it good or … Continue reading Dying Inside

ArticlesLeave a comment

The Darkness

Steve Rowe

Carrying on with life normallyAnd suddenly, without warningAn overwhelming darkness descendsEverything is wrongYou don’t want to be hereDeath is preferable to lifePeople wonder why others suddenly end their lifeIt’s because the mask slipsThe darkness is always thereDeep down, we know life is wrongWe all have Stockholm syndromeWe’re abducted into a bodyEnergy becomes desireThe thirst of wantingOr not wantingControls everythingWe spend all our timeDriven by that which cannot make us happyWealth and beauty are emptyLook at the wealthy and beautifulSee the snarl on the lipsThe emptiness in the eyesThe bullying satisfactionOr lording their wealth and empty beauty over youThey are the … Continue reading The Darkness

ArticlesLeave a comment

Monkey Mind

Steve Rowe

Our body’s ego and physical, mental and emotional needs can be tricky bastards. It’s like being an alcoholic or drug addict, when we’re not being mindful we revert to type. With mindfulness training we can gain insight into our faults and indoctrinations, identify them and change our behaviour to become a wiser person, but we need to be permanently vigilant or we regress. It’s like swimming upstream, if we stop swimming, we go backwards. The Buddha said that once we’ve built a house it’s important to keep the roof in good repair. The ego is a very powerful narcotic. I’ve … Continue reading Monkey Mind

ArticlesLeave a comment

Amputate Or Die?

Steve Rowe

By the time most people get to the point of amputation, it’s amputate or die, up to that point if you were asked would you prefer amputation or death you probably would’ve picked death. But when reality kicks in…. When you come too after surgery a missing limb is a shock, and it’s not just that once, when you dream you have two legs or arms, so every day you wake up you get the same shock again and again. This is normal. The physical pain is bad enough, the phantom limb pains can be incredibly sharp (like cramp) and … Continue reading Amputate Or Die?

ArticlesLeave a comment

Think For Yourself

Steve Rowe

It’s too easy to take on the views of others instead of working things out for yourself. You only have to look at your feed here on social media to see martial artists continually repeating the same old tropes that you know didn’t originate from their own critical thinking. It’s lazy, gutless and weak to only repeat the view of others so you don’t stand out from the crowd and attract criticism. Ask yourself WHY you train/study in martial arts. Ignore what everyone else has said and go deep inside of yourself to find the true reasons, is it for: … Continue reading Think For Yourself

ArticlesLeave a comment

The Magic Of Avebury

Steve Rowe

I remember being in the Avebury stone circle and as I walked around touching each stone I felt that they were like ‘stone mirrors’, upright pieces of earth reflecting my ‘original face’ back to me. That thousands of years ago each stone belonged to a different magician and that completing the circle touching each stone gave me a unique transmission from each one and completed an ancient rite. I found Avebury far more powerful than Stonehenge and complemented the energies from Glastonbury Tor, Glastonbury Abbey (very powerful) and Chalice Well. Continue reading The Magic Of Avebury

ArticlesLeave a comment

There Were No Kicks Or Punches in Karate Or Tai Chi

Steve Rowe

Let’s use language to give an insight and some depth to our martial arts. There was originally no kicks or punches in either karate or tai chi. The problem with ‘kicks’ and ‘punches’ is that it limits our understanding of the arts. In traditional karate and tai chi before they were ‘sportified’ they were used for health and self defence, self defence started when we reached grappling distance therefore leg and arm techniques were manipulations of the opponents body and usually all limbs were being employed at the same time. We had ‘husband and wife hands, one destroying the opponents … Continue reading There Were No Kicks Or Punches in Karate Or Tai Chi