Tag: Tai Chi

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The Importance Of Ritual

Steve Rowe

I’ve been asked to talk a little bit more about the importance of ritual. I’m ritual magic, before working on their inner self for healing and creating energy, the magicians would shower, anoint themselves with oils, wear a clean robe, go to the shrine room where they would keep a continuous flame burning 24/7. They would consecrate the space with water, and salt and cast a circle calling on the gods or elementals of 4 directions drawing symbols with a blade for protection. The preparation was important to create the right mindset to dig deep and do energetic work. In … Continue reading The Importance Of Ritual

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Every Training Is Different

Steve Rowe

Training on the fire escape this morning was very different. There was a strong smell of cannabis being farmed on the breeze (well it is Chatham) mixed with the scent of the flowers. It’s 5 months since Ann died and the grief is still raw with the birds circling the feeding table in the garden and sitting on the nearby branches looking down at where their food used to be. They still remember her. I can’t get down to the garden or to where they were fed so am unable to continue her legacy and I found myself apologising to … Continue reading Every Training Is Different

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8 Essential Bodycore Skills

Steve Rowe

I teach 8 bodycore skills that relate to all martial arts. They are: SoftenConnectOpenCloseStretchCompressTwistRelease We spend a lifetime studying these and are forever finding more depth. Softening without collapsing leads to connection throughout the body. Open and close are passive and a form of releasing, if you try to stretch or compress without going through these stages you will be stiff and awkward. Stretching without stiffening gives you the range to utilise stretching to encourage the flow of energy and compressing without collapsing does the same. Twisting is a form of both of these but deserves a separate study. Release … Continue reading 8 Essential Bodycore Skills

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The Best Way To Start Tai Chi

Steve Rowe

The best way to start in any martial art and particularly Tai Chi is with posture and breathing exercises. Good posture gets rid of excess tension and allows for deep breathing, balance and mobility. Deep breathing calms the body, emotions and mind. When the mind follows the breath, the energy moves with it. This brings about a state of mindfulness and the ability to manipulate energy. In my Tai Chi this is then the foundation for qigong exercises, forms and push hands, done ‘monk style’ for self healing, and then taken into applications and weapons ‘warrior style’ for further health, … Continue reading The Best Way To Start Tai Chi

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The Kung Fu of Tai Chi

Steve Rowe

10 hours of intensive private lessons over 2 days for 2 of my best Tai Chi students from the Czech Republic that I’ve known and taught for around 35 years. These kind of relationships are worth their weight in gold for both me and them. People often talk about the ‘secrets’ of Tai Chi and how the deeper teachings are ‘held back’ but the truth is that the students can only understand at a level that their study and training has taken them. All the ‘secrets’ are taught right at the beginning, but it takes decades for the student to … Continue reading The Kung Fu of Tai Chi

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Pay Attention

Steve Rowe

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

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Shamanism & The Tiger…

Steve Rowe

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…

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Own Your Mind

Steve Rowe

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

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Chinese Whispers

Steve Rowe

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

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The Devine Feminine

Steve Rowe

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