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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Don’t Be Diverted

Steve Rowe

If people knew the power they had, the world would be a far better place. Instead like lemmings we allow our minds and emotions to be diverted by those who currently hold power at our behest. Separate the masses and turn them on each other and they never look at the manipulators, the gaslighters and greedy narcissists. We used to say that if the information was available that people would become self educated and work together to make the world a better, compassionate and kinder environment. When that happened with the advent of the internet, we were diverted and turned … Continue reading Don’t Be Diverted

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The Power Of A Logo

Steve Rowe

This is an original handmade piece of glass made by Ruth Dathorne for our Dojo and is important to me as it is the only 2 logos I’ve ever used in my 50 years in the Martial Arts. ‘Logo’ means ‘word of god’ and represents the soul and ethos of my path in the Martial Arts. The person in the foreground was hand drawn by me in the 1970’s and is a yin/yang representation of a technique used in both Tai Chi and Karate and was our logo, badge and used on the front of the book we did in … Continue reading The Power Of A Logo

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Dragons & Martial Philosophy

Steve Rowe

Dragons represent wisdom in many cultures, they are the combination of earth bound reptiles that can fly in the heavens. In the West they have wings and breathe fire, Britain was supposed to built on the spine of a dragon and the powerful ‘ley lines’ that go through all our ancient sites carry the power of the country. Saint George killed pagan wisdom by slaying the dragon and Saint Patrick by ridding Ireland of the pagan snakes. In the East dragons also represent old wisdom but rather than having wings they fly by magic usually attributed to a pearl being … Continue reading Dragons & Martial Philosophy