Tag: kung fu

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NTKO’s & Woo Woo

Steve Rowe

So much martial arts media is taken up on either ridiculing or supporting these subjects. Many of the originators came from a good martial arts background including karate, tai chi, systema and the military. Although I have a deep background in philosophy, Buddhism, Taoism and other systems, I also have a strong background in the fighting arts and the security and law enforcement fields. So I tend to have a very practical outlook. In tai chi we extensively use techniques to block neurology, blood, oxygen and lymphatic systems, we press, poke, strike, and rub cavities, shorten tendons, muscles and fascia … Continue reading NTKO’s & Woo Woo

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Personal Alchemy

Steve Rowe

We need to work on our entire being in our martial studies. We have to educate, discipline and train our fear, anger and desires to be able to listen to and rely on our instincts and ‘gut feelings’. This becomes our driver and is how we become who and what we are meant to be rather than being manipulated by others and our own ignorance. Martial arts is a personal alchemy where we become a strong individual forging our own path and taking responsibility for our own development and studies. The ball is firmly in our court. Continue reading Personal Alchemy

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Posting On Social Media

Steve Rowe

What you post on social media as a martial artist is importantYou should be genuineBy reading or watching what you postGives you the opportunity to be objectiveAnd learn about yourselfIf you put others down, even surreptitiouslyYou only demean yourselfWe often do it without realisingInsulting people followed by a complimentIs a double insult and most people know thisTelling people what ‘not’ to doOr that something is wrongIs insulting those that do itWhy not be positiveAnd put out there what you doAnd let others judgeWhat’s good or badWhat’s right or wrongThe only time you should look down on someoneIs to give them … Continue reading Posting On Social Media

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Form And Kata

Steve Rowe

Form can be practiced by anyone of any age or condition on their own without the need of equipment. They have 3 treasures:Health – they are moving yoga improving posture, flexibility, strength, breathing, increasing emotional intelligence,and mindfulness. Skill – techniques are combined to increase skill levels of basics moving multi directionally to long and short turns jumping and dropping. Application – breaking down each technique and applying it on an opponent to make it work. They can also be ‘coloured’ in different ways. Monk – like a moving meditation to reduce negative emotions. Warrior – as you would use the … Continue reading Form And Kata

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When Tai Chi Arrives

Steve Rowe

It took me a long time to get this. In a lesson with Ma Lee Yang we were talking about the differences between mol gik, tai gik and tai chi. Mol gik is the infinite and tai chi movement creating yin and yang and tai gik inbetween the two. I asked if tai gik was the intention to move and Ma Lee said “no it’s when tai chi arrives”. This really troubled me, did it mean that I was to wait for tai chi to arrive? What happens if it didn’t? I realised the idea of ‘you don’t do tai … Continue reading When Tai Chi Arrives

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The Blind Men And The Elephant

Steve Rowe

Tai Chi teachers often remind me of the blind men and the elephant. Tai Chi by its very nature is impossible to define and however we try, we will always make it less than it is. We can only lead a student toward their own enlightenment from opinion and let them make their own journey to see what we are unable to fully describe. It’s the same for a teacher in any art. We have to be careful that we don’t let our ego get in the way and give people the impression that only we have the ‘real’ Tai … Continue reading The Blind Men And The Elephant

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Signed Books & Tai Chi Programme

Steve Rowe

From ‘Icebergs Instead Of Mountains’ available in the next couple of weeks on the links below….. Preface by Bryan Andrews Chairman of the Governing Body for Chinese Martial Arts in Britain.I’ve known Steve Rowe for over 32 years now, as a personal student of his taking regular private lessons with him and initially training on his courses and then later helping him on those courses. Although holding 9th Dans in karate and kung fu, he’s not like many senior masters. Steve does not follow to the way of ‘monkey see monkey do,’ rather his approach is to teach the principles … Continue reading Signed Books & Tai Chi Programme

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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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My Poor Old Vehicle

Steve Rowe

My vehicle is 73 years oldThe paintwork is scarred beyond beliefThe joints are rusted, don’t work and creakThere are essential bits missingIt’s gone round the clock a few timesWouldn’t pass an MOTIn the past was driven way too hardGiven the wrong type of fuelThe driver has been a complete idiotBut it’s served wellYou have to love itSo many memoriesEvery bit of wear and tearTells a storyWould I trade it in for a new modelNot likelyWhen this one goesI’m giving up driving. Steve Rowe Continue reading My Poor Old Vehicle

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A Jewel Between My Eyes

Steve Rowe

It’s like my conscious sat back and watchedI didn’t even know it was thereDespite the the fact it’s my immortal selfMy desires made me hurt othersPhysically, mentally and emotionallyWhen I finally learned to be stillI identified what had always been thereLike a precious jewel between my eyesI found a place of refugeWhere we could observe my idiocyWhen I could objectively see myselfIt changed meWhen I realised that everything was oneIt changed meI stopped hurting others and myselfI discovered empathyStopped supporting hurting and killing by proxyStopped supporting warStopped eating animalsStopped indoctrinated tribalism and nationalismRealised that it’s not just what you doBut … Continue reading A Jewel Between My Eyes