Category: Articles

Articles1 Comment

Making Sense Of The Universe With Kata/Form

Steve Rowe

“As Above – So Below” In ritual magic you affect the macrocosm by understanding and changing the microcosm. If you want to really understand kata/form and what was in the mind of the originators and you have enough knowledge – try inventing your own. Why would you invent one? It would have to improve the understanding and standard of the practitioner. Do you want to categorise an entire training system into one form? Maybe there are specific ideas and principles that you want to put together and train in one sequence? Very quickly you will begin to understand the problems … Continue reading Making Sense Of The Universe With Kata/Form

Articles1 Comment

Winter Sun

Steve Rowe

Sitting out in the winter sun with my old faithful mongrel dog at my feet. His old legs don’t carry him well anymore and he groans just as much as me as he gets up and sits down. But we are at peace, the sun glints through shaded trees; The breeze makes him twitch his nose as he ‘reads the doggy papers’; I meditate with slow deep breaths from the dantien calming my system down with neigong; We both commune with the Dao, me with skill, him naturally; All the fuss of politics, social media and martial arts dissipates in … Continue reading Winter Sun

Articles4 Comments

Come Together…

Steve Rowe

The Martial Arts are a broad church and should be based in respect.  You’d think that martial artists would always want to show how their training  had taught them patience, kindness, tolerance, compassion, respect, courtesy, resolve, determination and courage and many good practitioners do show those qualities, unfortunately those that make the most noise on social media don’t. 40 years ago we were a cult. There was a good and bad side to that. On the good side many were taught and showed those good qualities and on the bad side there were bullies and blind worship, we travelled the … Continue reading Come Together…

Articles3 Comments

Find Your Own Martial Art

Steve Rowe

Been training for a while and feel dissatisfied? Feel like you’re not learning the right things? The martial arts not meeting your expectations? Meditate – ask yourself what you really want from your training, I don’t mean all the usual blanket answers but what do YOU want? What are YOUR individual expectations? This can lead to quite a few surprises because you’ve probably been taking on other people’s expectations without realising it and that’s why you have to go deep to discover what it is you REALLY need from your efforts. Look at what you’re doing – having realised fully … Continue reading Find Your Own Martial Art

Articles1 Comment

Why ‘Positive Thinking’ Doesn’t Work…

Steve Rowe

Why ‘positive thinking’ doesn’t work. That happy mask, the fixed inane grin, the stupid idea that ‘anything’s possible’ if you think positive hard enough, usually comes from someone desperately unhappy or someone with their hand in your pocket. Let me be honest. At least 50% of life is shit. It ranges from dissatisfaction to ‘please kill me now’ suffering. If you learn to deal with with it by becoming durable, it ‘enobles’ you. It means you’ve been hurt so bad for so long, nothing or no one can hurt you as much as you’ve been hurt already. It gives you … Continue reading Why ‘Positive Thinking’ Doesn’t Work…

Articles1 Comment

The ‘Empty Force’ Of Tai Chi

Steve Rowe

  ‘Empty force’ sounds nebulous and difficult to understand, but it isn’t. The body is a spring, when the posture is correct and the joints unlocked, when the soft tissue carries no unnecessary tension – the compression and release of a combination of the joints, including the spine, bodycore and soft tissue is a skill that can be trained in a multitude of ways. The first level of skill is to unlock the body and keep it unlocked, start with good posture and then unlock the ankles, knees, hips, back and chest with the mantra ‘soften and connect’ when you … Continue reading The ‘Empty Force’ Of Tai Chi

Articles1 Comment

The Dark Side Of Pain

Steve Rowe

  Pain eats your soul. You want to move but you can’t. Life is out there waiting, Calling you to come out and play, People to see, places to be, Exciting, active and fun… The spirit is willing, but the body is tired, Every move jars the soul, Pain screams around the joints, They give way and are unstable, Medication has a price that is just as bad. Everybody assumes you will fully repair, That is the confidence of youth. You end up joining the pretence, Because it’s easier than trying to explain. In the end life can only get … Continue reading The Dark Side Of Pain

Articles3 Comments

Cognitive Dissonance In The Martial Arts

Steve Rowe

I posted recently on Facebook about Firemen who rescued some piglets from a fire and how the grateful farmer then slaughtered them and rewarded the firemen with sausages made from their carcasses. As a meditation I suggested that if that made the readers uncomfortable it might be because they were experiencing ‘cognitive dissonance’ because they might hold two opposing views about the piglets, one because they are cute and cuddly and the other because they like them as food. This then made me think that it might be a good idea to draw some of my teachings together under this … Continue reading Cognitive Dissonance In The Martial Arts

Articles1 Comment

Keep Your Child Safe!

Steve Rowe

VERY IMPORTANT! This is the time of the year that children are going up a school, from Infants to Junior and importantly from Junior to Senior and Senior to University. Parents in their infinite wisdom decide that their children will have more homework and often drop their martial arts training and teenagers going to university often move away from the area of their club and don’t bother to find a new one. THIS IS A BIG MISTAKE! Why? The children going from Junior to Senior school will need to move up in their martial arts club to the adult training; … Continue reading Keep Your Child Safe!

Articles2 Comments

Direct Knowledge Is Different

Steve Rowe

  I used to get my knowledge and wisdom from others at lectures, in books and lecture tapes.  I would meditate for ages on the wisdom of the Buddha, Lao Tsu, Ajhan’s Chah and Sumedho, Alan Watts, Kahil Gibran and many others, I studied Buddhism, Zen, Chan, Taoism, Wicca, Paganism, Ritual Magik, Spiritualism and all their associated arts, but when the breakthrough occurred, I stopped. No longer did I need to refer to others, because I was able to look inside and find my own ‘wisdom mind’. When I sat or stood still, I could access the part of me … Continue reading Direct Knowledge Is Different