You Can’t Help…

You Can’t Help….. How many times have you looked at someone suffering and thought “I can really help you”…. “I could teach you some posture/breathing/mindfulness techniques and some basic neigong/qigong exercises that would really help to take away your mental and emotional anguish and physical pain”. But they don’t want your help. They’re locked into their suffering and think that you’re an annoying twat if you keep offering help, even worse if you get annoyed because they don’t want it. My advice is only offer help gently once and after that don’t mention it again because you’re not helping but … Continue reading You Can’t Help…

The Bottom Line

When you plumb down to the bottom line of any martial art, past the dogma and politics, past the flowery hands and embroidered feet, you discover that although there are many paths, the bottom line is the same. Anyone who thinks it’s not, they haven’t got there yet. When you plumb down to the bottom line of any philosophy or religion, past the dogma, past the buildings, robes, and the rituals, you discover that although there are many paths, the bottom line is the same. Anyone who thinks it’s not, they haven’t got there yet. Truth is truth. It’s unchanging. … Continue reading The Bottom Line

Buddhism Saved My Life

Buddhism saved my life.It’s a toolbox for the mind and emotionsIt’s diagnosticYou look at the symptomsYour fears and anxietiesYour rage and angerYour insecurities and addictions. Then you use mindfulnessTo sustain awareness and concentrationLeading to insight and wisdomEnabling you to drill downAnd find the root causeOf all those problems. The magic isThat when you can see the rootsOnce you know the name of the devilHe can’t hurt youJust by observingWhat they areWho you really areThey go away. Instead of looking at life through a microscopeGiven to you by othersYou are able to see the entire vistaOf life, death and the universe. … Continue reading Buddhism Saved My Life

Hope Less To Enlightenment

You must have hopeYou can’t live without hopeThis is not trueWhen you reach a point in lifeWhere there is nothing leftNothing in the futureNothing you can haveEverything is out of reachNothing you wantNo desiresAs the self diesThere’s nothing to hope forYou are dead insideIn that darknessIn that stillnessIn that silenceLies immortalityUniversal consciousnessThe language of wisdom and insightNormally hidden by wantsAnd not wantsDesires and addictionsWhen hope diesSo does the selfAnd enlightenment arises.By Steve Rowe Continue reading Hope Less To Enlightenment

Dependent Origination

Your DNA goes back to the emergence of life on this planet about 4 billion years ago when simple self replicating molecules occurred. Every part of evolution after that is still inside of you. You have died and been reborn millions of times to become who you are. Every time you feel small or worthless remember how you got here and what you’re made of. It’s all in your DNA, it’s there for you to call on when needed. Dig deep, meditate on every life inside of you, not just human, but every life form, through mammal to reptile right … Continue reading Dependent Origination

Yang Family (Yeung Gar) Tai Chi Chuan

Historical facts about the founder of the Yang family (Yeung Gar) style of Tai Chi Yang Lu Chan are varied and often disputed, but he did teach in the Imperial Palace and also many high level dignitaries. I would speculate that this contributed to his notable skill and his ability to deal with opponents utilising the Tai Chi skills of a ‘soft front and a strong back’, often referred to as ‘a sharp needle, or iron bar wrapped in soft cotton’. He needed to be effective but retain a dignified approach, negating an opponent’s force with a blend of skill … Continue reading Yang Family (Yeung Gar) Tai Chi Chuan

You’re Enchanted!

You’re living inside a witches ‘glamour’ spell. You’re enchanted. Put inside a meat vehicle and subject to the spell’s glamour, you think that life is precious, you think it’s full of love, joy and happiness, not realising that your body is gradually rotting, will get sick and die and you will not be able recognise those glamours without an equal amount of anxiety, anger, unhappiness and pain. How do you deal with this? Life is movement, so sit still, breathe deep and you can get outside the spell, you can see the illusion and when seen, the glamour disappears… Continue reading You’re Enchanted!

Where Did We Go Wrong?

I was watching the BBC series ‘Human’ about our evolution and wondering when we changed from living in harmony with the planet and became the disharmonious, damaging, self inflicting, nasty virus we are today. It seems that it was around ten thousand years ago when we started to change from roaming hunter gathers who only took the minimum of what they needed when they needed it to settling in one place and ‘farming’. We altered, bred and farmed crops and animals to harvest and kill for food and stored the extra ‘for a rainy day’ changing our society and the … Continue reading Where Did We Go Wrong?

3 Qualities Of A Good Martial Artist

Do you want to know whether someone has a deep understanding of their martial art? Here’s 3 things to look for: Are they ‘in’ or ‘on’ their feet and legs? If they are ‘standing on their bones’ they can be easily pushed over, a skilful practitioner is balanced and can drop their weight into the soft tissue in the legs down to the feet by softening down through the body, and push directionally from there. Are their arms driven from the waist? Flapping the arms around is weak, but if driven from the feet, legs and then the waist, it … Continue reading 3 Qualities Of A Good Martial Artist

Training With Pain & Fatigue

Training this morning with chronic fatigue, chronic arthritis, only one leg and sprained my neck and chest yesterday using a transfer board at an awkward angle to get from wheelchair to car. Was obviously seated, moving with care to not make anything worse and was using my breathing to open and then close all cavities, tissue and joints in the body filling them with energy to assist healing and reduce pain. Turning disadvantage into advantage was using my hip bones against the chair as my ‘feet’ and pain makes me extremely focused, mindful and concentrated, and the sensitivity makes me … Continue reading Training With Pain & Fatigue