Tag: health

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The Black Hole

Steve Rowe

There’s a yawning black hole where his heart used to be.It reaches down into infinity.It’s like another dimension reaching up.Telling him that this illusion is only one of millions.His body is of little consequence.He is drawn into this life’s movie.The character he plays is merely for experience.Sadness, depression, guilt, anxiety and addiction teach him lessons.In fact far more than the balancing joy and happiness which only offers temporary relief.The yawning hole permanently aches, it’s an elevator that only goes down to bring the demons up.It can’t be fixed, it’s there for the duration.The bigger the challenges, the more he grows.The … Continue reading The Black Hole

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Selfies…

Steve Rowe

I was brought up in the 1950’s and 60’s when there was no mobile phones or computers and internet. The gym’s we trained in were mainly ‘spit and sawdust’ and full of natural testosterone. A ‘selfie’ would be a term used for someone abusing themself with ‘hand to gland’ combat in private. Posing scantily clad in front of a mirror, male or female would be ridiculed and you’d get thrown out being told to ‘grow up and put some clothes on’. To be honest, I still think that every time I see someone cavorting or posing like a 6 year … Continue reading Selfies…

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Your Belly Button Is Important!

Steve Rowe

Your belly button is important! Twisting the waist against the hips and releasing it is the biggest power source we have in the martial arts, but far too few practitioners are able to use it. When twisting the waist most practitioners turn either the hips or shoulders instead, either collapsing the knees and/or leaving the waist motionless. Kata like Naihanchi and exercises like Chan Si Jing in Tai Chi are structured to learn this skill. If you adopt an internally rotated stance like Naihanchi Dachi in Karate or Ma Bu in Tai Chi fixing the hips to face forward and … Continue reading Your Belly Button Is Important!

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Entropy Of Life

Steve Rowe

EntropyFrom organised structure into chaos.You’re already dead.Death is infinite and assured.Life sits inside death.It’s finite and tentative.From the moment you’re born,You’re also dead.Life/death is yin/yangWithout death, life has no value. From young, healthy, attractive, nicely scented and succulent,You rot into a grey, dry, wrinkled,Old, invisible and ignored carcass,Smelling of piss and biscuits.From mindlessly leaping out of chairs,You go to the ‘Dawn Of Man’ routine to stand.Or slide from chair to wheelchair. Only young people say “if you’re lucky enough to get old”.When old, sick people hear of a ‘sudden death’, they think ‘lucky bastard’,Even if they don’t say it.The key … Continue reading Entropy Of Life

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I Like Simple

Steve Rowe

I am a simple man.This is why I naturally gravitate to Taoism, Buddhism and Pantheism.I’m always looking for the bottom line.I don’t like clever or complicated.I don’t like deceit.I don’t like masks.I don’t like dogma.I don’t like robes.I don’t like temples and churches.I don’t like priests, vicars, bishops or popes.I don’t like flowery hands and embroidered feet.I dont like arrogance, false confidence or bluster.I like straight talk.I like patience, tolerance, kindness and compassion.I like unity, harmony, community and support.I rely on my gut, my instincts.I know a wrong ‘un when I see them.They pit one against the other.They rely on … Continue reading I Like Simple

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Why Should I Be ‘Happy’?

Steve Rowe

Why should I be happy? One thing that’s always intrigued me is the human pursuit of happiness. Every quote, meme, lifestyle and business guru advert is about how to be ‘happy’, yet with only a little bit of examination we can see that to obtain and maintain the ‘happiness’ being shovelled to us is impossible. It’s an illusion that society’s manipulators captivate our souls with to keep us unfulfilled and forever chasing their carrot. Life consists of order and chaos and we need the wisdom to accept and deal with both aspects. All the time that we’re imprisoned in this … Continue reading Why Should I Be ‘Happy’?

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Waking Up Our Chi

Steve Rowe

Waking up the chi…. The most important part of the day. To get the energy working and vibrant we have to exercise the spine, core and vagus nerve together. Using the mind, breath, emotions and Tai Chi movements, we meditate, calm the system first and then open, close, stretch, compress, twist and release the three together firing up the neural system and releasing the good hormones into the system. It’s an incredible feeling, opening all the cavities in the body and pumping and manipulating them, the stretch goes from tiptoe, to head and fingertips like the ‘yawning stretch’ and release … Continue reading Waking Up Our Chi

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The Martial Yellow Brick Road

Steve Rowe

I seem to have rattled a few cages with recent posts, and they are never aimed at any particular individuals, but if it gets people to look inward instead of trying to copy others, it’s not a bad thing. We all have our own individual skill set and power, but we need to find it, understand it, train it and internalise it to give us that internal locus of power that makes us different and that will bring the right people to our door and keep them. It’s not just a numbers game, it’s not just how many new students … Continue reading The Martial Yellow Brick Road

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Your Body Talks To You

Steve Rowe

Your body is constantly talking to you. The problem is that if you only think and hear in words, you can’t hear it. It talks to in the same way that your dog, pet or baby does, you know what they want by their ‘body language’ and if your senses are only transmitting outwards, you can’t hear your own. When you turn your senses inward in meditation or training and learn to feel your body from the inside, it talks to you. This is important for your physical, emotional and mental health. Normally we don’t listen until it shouts in … Continue reading Your Body Talks To You