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Arrogance At Black Belt

Steve Rowe

“Hey!”  It was Manfred, we hadn’t seen him for ages, he passed Shodan several years ago and had trained only sporadically since, but he was a happy guy and it was always pleasant to see him. “How’s it going?”  I asked. “Not bad, fathered another rugrat since I saw you last, got promoted at work and been working out in the garage when I had the time, how’s things with you?” “Yeah, OK…..”  I hadn’t the time or the heart to even begin to tell him how much study and change he had missed. “Thought I’d get back to it … Continue reading Arrogance At Black Belt

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Soft And Slow Or Efficient…

Steve Rowe

Another visitor to the Dojo, as we were changing, the visitor explained that he had trained with all the “best” instructors for over 15 years and liked to “travel” around to see what each Sensei had…… He had heard of our Sensei “on the grapevine” and wanted to check him out.  He then went on to pull each senior Sensei to pieces and thought that the majority of them were overrated.  As he put on his somewhat “designer scruffy” (and smelly) Karategi we could see that it had “designer” blood stains strategically placed to impress….. He obviously did a lot … Continue reading Soft And Slow Or Efficient…

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Invest In Loss..

Steve Rowe

“OK, line up sparring.” My favourite.  We form two lines down the centre of the Dojo facing each other and then spar with the person that you are facing.  After a couple of minutes we stop and the person at the end of one line goes up to the other end and everyone in that line moves down one person.  This way you get to spar with every person in the other line. It was inevitable that John and Vince two of our 2nd Dans would end up facing each other. They just didn’t like each other, nothing was ever … Continue reading Invest In Loss..

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Chinto Kata (Gankanku)

Steve Rowe

“I hate kata!”  Peter was obviously not in a good mood and the days course today was on kata…… “So why bother to attend?”  I asked. “Because if we don’t it will affect our grading….” Peter was not going to be a bundle of laughs today so I made sure that I was as far away as possible so that I wouldn’t have to partner him in any pairs work. Sensei entered the Dojo, conducted the formalities and began the course…. “Chinto Kata, what do you know about it?” “It’s a Crane Kata,” said one. “Good, what else?” “It’s called … Continue reading Chinto Kata (Gankanku)

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Tai Chi Does You…

Steve Rowe

For many years I trained in Boxing, Kickboxing and the hard styles of Karate, all my training was directed towards my mind and spirit overcoming the pain and reluctance of my body, I literally punished and pushed myself for decades!  Today my body pays the price, with joint replacement, nasal surgery and all my old injuries returning to haunt me on a daily basis. Training in Tai Chi totally reversed this thinking.  I was in Hong Kong having a lesson with Ma Lee Yang (Yang Sau Chung’s daughter) when we were discussing the transition from Mol Gik to Tai Gik and then into … Continue reading Tai Chi Does You…

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Martial Arts Biggest Secret…

Steve Rowe

Sometimes those ‘special’ sessions just seem happen spontaneously, more so with the senior classes.. Sweat was running down the walls, everyone moved as one and the communal spirit was that of determination. This felt like a club in the true sense of the word, our mentor was giving the call and we moved in harmony to it.  The senior class had all trained together for a minimum of 5 years and some as many as 30.  We knew each other better than our own families; we had struggled, sweat and bled together in the cause of self improvement for an … Continue reading Martial Arts Biggest Secret…

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25 Signs You’re Ageing In The Martial Arts

Steve Rowe

You know you’re getting old in the Martial Arts when: You realize that those who taught you and many of your fellow students that you started training with are dead. You get out of bed and your first fifteen steps are like the “dawn of man” poster. The other students call you “Grampa” and you realize that you are one. You’re shaving your Father in the mirror. “Designer stubble” makes you look homeless. Your Karate belt gets shorter and training doesn’t make you slimmer or fitter just out of breath and more tired. Training on a cold day your head … Continue reading 25 Signs You’re Ageing In The Martial Arts

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Martial Arts – The Masterkey!

Steve Rowe

“To do Martial Arts you have to be totally dedicated!”…. “To be good you have to sacrifice many other things in your life”….. “To get there you have to be single minded”….. How often do you hear this?  How true is it? Words can be confusing because they are a method we use for defining an idea and often they mean slightly different things to different people, but let’s look at the idea that you have to dedicate yourself to one thing to the exclusion of most others to be good at Martial Arts – because I disagree. Martial Arts … Continue reading Martial Arts – The Masterkey!

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The Best Martial Art And Teacher…

Steve Rowe

Watching a variety of YouTube Martial Art instructional videos I was struck by the extent of what I would call unintelligent reasoning going on.  What the Coaches were saying sounded like structured teaching, but in fact they were focusing on unimportant points in the technique – and how they were explaining them meant that, in my opinion, most students would not be able to perform the movement with any efficiency. Some students will get better despite the Coach and they will go on to teach in the way that they have been taught and more often than not students with … Continue reading The Best Martial Art And Teacher…

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Grading Problem…

Steve Rowe

Is there a difference between a popular instructor and a good instructor? A popular instructor is often a charismatic and friendly character and structures his training around what the students want to do.  “Popular” often means good businessman these days as well, marketing the club efficiently and ensuring its financial stability. The problem can be in finding the balance between popularity and good Martial Arts.  Often an Instructor works hard at getting his club off the ground, caring about the students and encouraging them as much as possible, as they progress through the grades a personal friendship develops.  Often the … Continue reading Grading Problem…