A New Age

Traditionally men were the hunters and providers for the family.They were the warriors and protectors. Women were the homemakers and brought up the children.They were the healers and nourishers . This balance worked for the majority but didn’t cater for anyone outside those traditional roles. They were demonised. The 60’s started the change, many men became more effeminate and many women more masculine. This trend continued through the decades until gender and its infinite variations ceased to have any meaning and anyone could play any role, but most didn’t realise we still had a patriarchal society under the guise of … Continue reading A New Age

Pay Attention

To all you overthinkers…. I asked a student how long he meditated each day and he said “20 minutes”. I then asked him what he did while meditating and he replied ”I think about my breathing.” He wasn’t meditating, he was spending 20 minutes a day thinking…. He couldn’t differentiate between thinking and paying attention. Paying attention is mindfulness. And not for 20 minutes a day, but all day in everything we do. We think with the self, we pay attention with our consciousness. From paying attention and being mindful thinking slows down and insight and wisdom arise. “Mindfulness is … Continue reading Pay Attention

Shamanism & The Tiger…

This sits on the chest of drawers next to my bed. I was born in 1950 the year of the tiger, and it’s my 76th birthday next week. I also have a tiger tattoo on my upper arm and a painting of one in the Dojo. Tigers represent resolve, determination, strength, power, fluidity and ferocity, they are very special to me and an important Tai Chi animal, present along with the snake and crane in every technique. My kung fu is shamanistic and I take on the heart and spirit of these animals when I train. I see through the … Continue reading Shamanism & The Tiger…

Own Your Mind

It’s important to take time and spaceTo be still and silentNo TVNo radioNo musicAnd no peopleStop filling your mind with crapEveryone else wants a piece of itIt’s too easy to give it awayMindlesslyBe stillBe silentTurn your senses inwardAnd find yourselfDiscover your powerOwn your own mindAnd don’t let anything or anyone inWithout filtering itDevelop your own locus of power. Continue reading Own Your Mind

Fall Down Seven Times

During the day the emotional toolbox is goodBehind the trained emotions sits the abyssOnly rearing its head in the spacesEarly to bed avoids the fatigue and the black dogEvery night is the same dreamSearching for what is not there anymoreWaking at 4am exhaustedNot wanting to go back to the dreamWrite poetry5am get upMeditateTrainBurn incenseChantCommune with the infiniteRefreshedCarry onFall Down seven timesGet up seven timesNot bloody eight. Continue reading Fall Down Seven Times

Grief

You don’t ’move on’ from griefYou ‘go on’There’s a differenceIt’s always there in the backgroundHow deep you lovedIs how deep you grieveOver timeIt goes from being an overcoatTo your underpantsIt’s always thereBut hidden from othersIt gets triggeredBy photosBy smellsBy placesBy eventsAnd for a brief whileIt becomes an overcoat again. Continue reading Grief

Chinese Whispers

Chinese Whispers In WW1 there’s a story that in the trenches commands were ‘passed down the line’ and by the time “send reinforcements we’re going to advance” had gone down a long line of men it had become “send two and sixpence were going to a dance!” We never know how much knowledge passed down orally has become corrupted. I come across it regularly because I’m old and have studied the classics for over 50 years and often know the uncorrupted versions. But even then, were the original and revered ‘masters’ that good? The stories and legends of both Tai … Continue reading Chinese Whispers

The Devine Feminine

The Devine Feminine I’m told that being a man I can’t understand the feminine and that I therefore don’t have the right or ability to speak or write about it, but I can write from my own perspective and extensive studies in that area. To me femininity is not just about sex or what men’s expectations are, but the gifts that nature bestows on the female. The abrahamic religions talk about god creating man and that woman is made from a part of man, to me that’s the masculine hijacking the role of the feminine and it sits behind our … Continue reading The Devine Feminine

2027 Shi Kon Tai Chi Coaching Programme

No Previous Experience Necessary.This one day a month for 10 months programme will be taught personally by Steve Rowe 9th Dan and his team of assistants, Steve is an internationally renowned Tai Chi teacher, Chairman and founder of Shi Kon Martial Arts International.  The programme has been running for 10 years and has qualified over a 120 coaches, it is designed to certificate and give Tai Chi Students the ability to teach Tai Chi and run and administer a club to a basic level standard. Participants will be registered with Shi Kon Martial Arts International Association and the British Council … Continue reading 2027 Shi Kon Tai Chi Coaching Programme

How Can we ‘Unfold?’

How can we unfold? Everyone is different, we are as individual as snowflakes. Locked up inside of us is our own individual destiny and our skill is to allow it to ‘unfold’. To do this we have to learn the language of our instincts and listen to them. Only they can direct us accurately, but first we have to ‘unblock’ them. Society programmes us, family, friends, educators and politicians all tell us what we should be and what we should be doing to serve their desires. As this programming starts at a very early age, to fit in, we assume … Continue reading How Can we ‘Unfold?’