Tag: philosophy

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3 Essentials To Enlightenment

Steve Rowe

3 Essentials To Enlightenment If you want to be enlightened, And that doesn’t mean in the hippie sense, But to unburden yourself from too much suffering, There are 3 essentials that will help. The first is knowledge, To become the one that knows, Some people get this through experience and study, And some just never do. Knowledge gives a broad perspective, It helps you follow the right path, Books, learning and listening give knowledge, Intelligent use of them makes you grow. Study, meditation and experience, Are three keys to learning, The way of the true warrior, Is the pen, stillness … Continue reading 3 Essentials To Enlightenment

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You’ll Have To Kill Me…

Steve Rowe

You’ll Have To Kill Me… The only way you’ll stop me is to kill me. I don’t give up. If I gave up I might just as well be dead. Because life will have no value for me. This makes me pick my battles carefully, I won’t pick a fight just because I’m angry, Or disappointed, or any other shallow reason, Every challenge is one that I am prepared to dedicate my life to. There is only win or die, Nothing in between, Every thought, movement and technique has this dedication, Not desperate, but resolute and determined. Starting on the … Continue reading You’ll Have To Kill Me…

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I Don’t Do Nice

Steve Rowe

I Don’t Do Nice “Cover up guys and sit down….” Despite the efficient warm down, everyone ‘squelched’ as they sat. When you’ve had a really hard work out and everyone is drenched in sweat, every bit of clothing, underwear and skin is soaked.  Even using covering track gear and towels, you can see the steam rising from everyone’s head and shoulders. When they get up, they leave wet bum prints – almost like ‘rear end personal fingerprints’ on the floor. We’d had a ‘classic’ session, starting with standing basics, working on the skills of making a proper fist, use of … Continue reading I Don’t Do Nice

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The Beast That Lurks Within

Steve Rowe

The Beast That Lurks Within What darkness lurks within the depths of man…….. Rip away the social face, Tear off the generations of social conditioning, And what do you find? The slavering beast that lurks within………. See the momentary glint in the eye as a pretty girl walks by, The violent lurch within the breast as the car cuts in front, The first tendency toward total immorality as a fistful of money is offered…… See the mob violence take over with little incitement….. Crazed soldiers committing rape and genocide in the name of their culture, Jealousy and hate in the … Continue reading The Beast That Lurks Within

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Diversity and Compassion…

Steve Rowe

Diversity and Compassion… I was brought up in the streets of South London, Worked in the Fire Brigade and security teams, Also on road laying gangs, And then in the Martial Arts. Always with groups of men, We ridiculed everyone, including ourselves, If we didn’t like someone, We hit them. Do you want a slap? Give him a dig, Don’t like him, Knock him out. That was our reaction to everything, Like children spitting their dummies, Losing intelligence and getting angry, Then just wanting to hurt someone. It was natural to insult everyone, Different colour, different size, Different gender or … Continue reading Diversity and Compassion…

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It’s Yesterday No More

Steve Rowe

It’s Yesterday No More What you think you were yesterday, You weren’t. What you think you are today, You’re not. Memories are false, They’re what you want to make them. If you’re troubled, You think they’re bad. If you’re happy, You think they were good, But everyone there will see them different, Just like witnesses at a crime scene. What you were and what you are now is not true, It’s just your opinion, What you did or didn’t do, Is being judged by someone who is biased. Biased by culture, plagued by guilt, Sometimes hurt that is hidden, Festering … Continue reading It’s Yesterday No More

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Powerful Grading Speech

Steve Rowe

I looked down the line of students ahead of me waiting to go out and perform their grading, theirkarategi trousers were quivering as a result of shaky legs… Out on the floor I could hear the call of the Sensei, “ich, ni, san, shi, go, rokku, shichi, hatch, kyu, ju!” “EEEEYYYYAAAH!” the responding kiai came from the students already out there strutting their stuff under the watchful eye of Sensei and other club instructors officiating.  I could just glimpse Sensei’s impassive face occasionally between some of the students nervously awaiting their turn to grade. Why do we put ourselves under … Continue reading Powerful Grading Speech

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Defence Against The Self

Steve Rowe

We had a ‘free’ training night in the sense that sensei let everyone work on whatever they wanted to and he came around helping people individually.  It was an excellent way of learning as it enabled us to practice and get help with what we thought we needed to work on. Bernie was not a young man, he was what sensei would call an ‘earth’ person, obsessed with the practicality of everything and unable to see the health, skill and art aspects to what we did – and it showed on his face as he watched the younger Aaron working … Continue reading Defence Against The Self

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Seeing With Clarity

Steve Rowe

Seeing With Clarity That precious moment when you ‘wake up’ from meditation, When all behind the mask is revealed, When you see things with total clarity, And the circus that’s always been there. Can you imagine if we invented roads now? Tarmac strips between pedestrians without barriers, Jagged pieces of metal travelling at 70 mph, With people dodging between. Women with painted faces, Teetering along on pointy shoe stilts, Making themselves look like circus clowns, Matching the image of the ringmasters media. Men wearing a gaily coloured hangman’s noose around their neck, With a ‘manscaped’ face, and their wife’s tight … Continue reading Seeing With Clarity

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What Happened?

Steve Rowe

What Happened? When I was a child and teenager in the 50’s and 60’s, The public owned it’s own services, Trains, buses, electric, gas, water and mail, And the profit helped pay for community services. Prescriptions and university education were free, Legal and union representation gave job security, Council housing and rent control meant everyone was housed, Equality was becoming a reality. With free education, social mobility truly happened, We had 2 Prime ministers from grammar school education, Anyone from anywhere could become anything, At last society was moving forwards and there was hope. Computers and machinery were designed to … Continue reading What Happened?