Category: Poems

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Blood On Wood…

Steve Rowe

Thump, thump, thump… He’s out there again, Hitting that bloody piece of wood in the garden, One of those Kung Fu nutters. Every bloody day it’s the same, Well I ain’t gonna tell him, He’ll probably tie me up like a pretzel, And post me back through our letterbox. Thump, thump, thump, Each time strike with seiken, Shuto, tettsui and teisho, Haito, koken and nukite. Feet press directionally to the floor, Spiraling through the legs, Connecting through the core, And powering out through the hands. Thump, thump, thump, The makiwara bends and is momentarily held, The return force is repulsed, … Continue reading Blood On Wood…

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Blind Assumptions…

Steve Rowe

Do you know what blind assumptions are? They are the views and opinions that we grew up with, They were always around us, our culture, And we never knew they were there. They came from our family, They came from or friends, They came from our schooling, They came from our environment, They were just always there. We took them on board without knowing, We naturally voice them as opinions, We blindly accept them as a part of us, Even though they never came from us. They act as a barrier to the outside world, We seek out like minded … Continue reading Blind Assumptions…

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Inside Out…

Steve Rowe

Are your techniques YouTube friendly? Do they follow the ‘fashion’ of the day? Do you ‘train’ or do you ‘study? Do you pay lip service to meditation? Or do you assiduously study it? Are you the person that everyone thinks you are? Are you your grade and qualifications? Are you your career and car? Are you how attractive you appear to others? Are you the ‘good guy’ everyone says? Are flattered by others? Do you go with the ‘zeitgeist’ of opinion? Do you work to ‘fit in’ and be popular? Do you culture yourself to be accepted and praised? Are … Continue reading Inside Out…

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My Immortal Soul..

Steve Rowe

Most of us are worried about what will happen to us when we die. When all we have to do, Is remember what we were before we were born. What we are now, have always been, And will always be. Where is you immortal soul? Why can’t you feel it now? Of course you can, it rests in your stillness. Stand tall, breathe deep, focus your mind, When the words stop and the body is still, ‘You’ cease to exist – and there it is. It has no name, it permeates everything, Everything within it rises and falls in time, … Continue reading My Immortal Soul..

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The Stopped Breath…

Steve Rowe

Between breathing in and out, And between out and in, There is a magic Zen moment, A moment in which we can access infinity. We stop our breath to concentrate. To draw a straight line freehand, To listen intently, Before we pee or poo, And even before we vomit. A moment of perfect Zen. When we meditate, these are our magic moments. Like the pauses between waves rolling in and out. We learn to extend our Zen from these pauses. And how to extend and deepen our breathing. When in combat we can’t match breath to technique. So breathing has … Continue reading The Stopped Breath…

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Internal Or External?

Steve Rowe

Internal and external has many translations in the Martial Arts, You cannot be one or the other, Because we all have an inside and an outside, If you are more one than the other, you are unbalanced. If you’re taught externally, Your instructor will correct you by how you look on the outside: If you’re taught internally, Your instructor will correct you by how you feel inside. Ideally, you need both. If you train externally, You will utilise the power of emotion, If you train internally, Your mind will be calm and focused. If you train externally, You will use … Continue reading Internal Or External?

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A Black Belt…

Steve Rowe

I used to think everyone could be a black belt. The ‘way’ was simple; All they had to do was train every day for 3 – 5 yrs, Attend 2 or 3 lessons a week, Pay attention to instruction, And they would make the grade. Over the years I realised that was not true. Many won’t make it as long as they have a hole in their backside. Some are just scared of the responsibility of being good, Some are scared of their spouses and family, Who don’t want a stronger version of them. Some are just so weak willed … Continue reading A Black Belt…

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Stick A Needle In Your Eye…

Steve Rowe

Stick a needle in your eye – that’s suffering. Unrequited love – that’s suffering. Watching loved one’s in pain – that’s suffering. Poverty illness and hunger – that’s suffering. Growing old and ugly – that’s suffering, Not getting what you want – that’s suffering. Getting what you want, that’s suffering… Hang on – how can that be suffering? Because the moment you get it, you try to keep it, That new car as the mileage goes up isn’t new anymore, Every scratch, bit of dirt and use wears it away. You don’t have it – you suffer; You have it … Continue reading Stick A Needle In Your Eye…

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Death In Battle..

Steve Rowe

The  pennants fluttered in the breeze……… the red  sun  rose from  behind the snow capped mountains throwing fearsome  shadows among  the  warriors….. Icy fear gripped  my  intestines,  the heaviness   of  death  chilled  everything,  the  horses   reared nervously,  snorting  out plumes of condensation  into  the  cold air….. Today tempered blades would be severing many a spirit from incarnation and sending them back into the void…..The  generals sat motionless astride their mounts like  icons  of power,  their  eyes  narrowing  behind  ferocious   war   masks, maintaining a continuous growl of ‘Ki’ from their Tandens filling the  space  between  us and the enemy with  our  … Continue reading Death In Battle..

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Do The Dead Speak?

Steve Rowe

The dead are a part of us. They live in our DNA. The words they uttered are remembered, They are written down, Recorded and filmed. DNA is changed by its environment. Every action, thought and deed is recorded in it, It’s passed down through generations, From the beginning of time. We are a walking record of our forefathers, And everything we have read, saw and heard in this life. When we meditate, we gain mental clarity and sharpness, What we need arises from this bank of information. Innate wisdom resides in all of us, If only we can still the … Continue reading Do The Dead Speak?