Tag: steve rowe

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You Can’t Stop Growing Old…

Steve Rowe

You Can’t Stop Growing Old… It begins when you’re shaving your Dad in the mirror, When your first steps in the morning are like the ‘dawn of man’ poster, When your designer stubble makes you look homeless, And your back goes out more than you do. Your karate belt gets shorter, To kick someone in the head, You have to kick them in groin first. When you look around the club, Everyone is younger than you. You’re now officially ‘the old boy’. Age can be a gift or a curse, You can either wear it with dignity, Or act disgracefully. … Continue reading You Can’t Stop Growing Old…

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Beginner’s Mind

Steve Rowe

“It is easier to write on a clean sheet of paper than one that someone has already scribbled all over” It’s a bit like singing in the choir with one chorister horribly out of tune, as the class glided nimbly across the Dojo floor into Neko Ashi Hanmi with an almost imperceptible ripple of power through each body manifesting itself like a whip into a powerful Shuto Uke, there was one klutz among us spoiling the harmony…… Thud!  As his foot stomped down on the floor in an unnaturally elongated stance, you could light a fag in between the timing … Continue reading Beginner’s Mind

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Who Do You Train For?

Steve Rowe

Who do you train for? Is it yourself? Or your self? Do you train to please your Instructor? Are you good because he says you are? Do you ‘try’ to do your martial arts well? If you’re ‘trying’ to do something, You’re not really doing it, You’re admitting failure before you begin. If you separate yourself from doing your art, You’re doing the opposite to what you should. If you’re training to please a separate ‘self’ you’ll fail, If it’s to please any other person, you will always be vulnerable. If you stop ‘trying’, If you stop trying to please … Continue reading Who Do You Train For?

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Power For Punching

Steve Rowe

“Junzuki Hidari Gamae…….  Ich!”  The atmosphere changed to that of total awareness as the class took up left step and punch in forward stance posture with an audible snap of their Karategi. “Kette Junzuki……  Ich!”  Front kick followed by Junzuki punch again. “Yameee!  What was that?”  Delivered in Sensei’s immaculate take off of Bruce Lee in Enter The Dragon….. “A finger pointing to the moon Sensei!”  Exclaimed one wag sensing that there was a bit of humour in the air. “More like a retentive hop with a finger in Uranus and mind in neutral…” mused Sensei. “Let’s look at the … Continue reading Power For Punching

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Training With Age

Steve Rowe

Leo was obviously trying too hard. He was no spring chicken, in his late forties he was trying to compete with the youngsters.  He had old, long term damage to his knees and ankles, he had a bit of “middle age spread” and here he was trying to leap around as if he hadn’t started shaving…… “Leo, take it easy,” said Sensei.  But this just seemed to aggravate him more. Well, it had to happen, his face got redder, his knees more wobbly, his movements more frantic and then one of the young bucks swept both his legs and unmercifully … Continue reading Training With Age

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The Structure Of Kata

Steve Rowe

It’s nice to get away on courses with Sensei……. He had been invited to teach on a course that includes many students and Instructors from different styles of Karate so it was interesting to see what their interpretations of the same movements that we practised were and also how they reacted to Sensei’s teachings.  It was also fascinating to watch Sensei’s diplomatic way of dealing with the differences…… Everyone was keen to share knowledge and were all patient with each other to get to the bottom of each interpretation.  Often with a lack of good instruction many of the attending … Continue reading The Structure Of Kata

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Looking Back Down Our Eyes..

Steve Rowe

Looking Back Down Our Eyes.. We can’t look back down our own eyes, To see who’s looking out, Or listen down our ears, To find who’s listening. We can’t smell who’s smelling, Or taste who’s tasting. We can’t bite our own teeth, Or even beat our own heart. We can’t hold our breath until we die, Or stop our heart from beating, Our internal organs work by themselves, Until it’s time to die. We think we have control, And we may have a little, Not as much as we’d like, Or do we have any? Who or what is our … Continue reading Looking Back Down Our Eyes..

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Magpies and Monkeys

Steve Rowe

Ooohhh…… shiny object…. Damn.. I was supposed to be meditating, Then I started thinking about that argument, Then what I was having for dinner, And then… oh well it doesn’t matter. How can I think of nothing? Surely that’s a thought in itself? And if I don’t know when my mind wanders, How can I bring it back? I feel like have a monkey on my back, Always chattering in my ear, Finding things for me to think about, When I’m supposed to be concentrating on one thing. Single whip again in Tai Chi, damn! It occurs in the form … Continue reading Magpies and Monkeys

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Move Like A Porsche

Steve Rowe

“Straighten the front foot, move from the Seiki Tanden, circle the foot through a line dropped from the hip, put the bodyweight through the power point on the foot, sink the chest to find the feet, tuck in the tailbone and stretch the neck as you would touch the opponent and apply the movement……..” We were working on Sanchin Kata and Sensei was working our “brain muscle” hard. “What’s the hardest muscle in the body to train?” “The brain muscle Sensei!” we all chorused, familiar with question. “Then why aren’t you using it?” “It’s too hard to think of all … Continue reading Move Like A Porsche

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The Aliens have Landed!

Steve Rowe

The Aliens have landed! The mysterious spaceship lands, The leaders of humanity arrive to greet it, At last, we get to know what’s out there… The crowds gather, Everyone waits expectantly, The doors ‘woosh’ open, And perfectly circular beings roll out.. The Prime Minister steps forward and extends a hand, The circle recoils, gathers itself and moves forwards; “Sorry, your appearance is terrifying…. And I was taken aback.” “You have tentacles – and tentacles on tentacles, Eyes that swivel and scary teeth when you smile. You look shaven with ugly bits of hair in strange places and move strangely; We … Continue reading The Aliens have Landed!