Tag: Tai Chi

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The Softest Touch

Steve Rowe

  I am a ghost, a wraith; Passing through life with the softest touch. I own nothing and no-one; Anything bought belongs to the Earth; And any person loved is completely free. I am only here to learn; I stand on the line between life and death; Free to love, cherish and enjoy; To embrace pain and suffering; To understand how one creates the other. By not blundering, not ‘forcing’; But stepping back and yielding; Only using the softest guiding hand; To bring imbalance back to the Tao. Stiffness, clumsiness and ego; Trying to prevent or force intention; Only bring … Continue reading The Softest Touch

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Fighting Yourself

Steve Rowe

  In the Martial Arts we often talk about how ‘the biggest opponent we have to fight is the one inside of ourselves’ and that ‘when performing solo moves we must have an opponent in mind’ although I think the statements are self evident  I would like to put the two together and give it a bit of perspective. We are most likely to die of ill health. A good part of our health is our sanity and happiness, so emotional intelligence is an essential part or our daily training routine. We know how to do this through meditation and … Continue reading Fighting Yourself

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How Tai Chi Saved My Life

Steve Rowe

  After a double knee replacement I fell and severed 3 quadriceps on both legs, this went unnoticed for 4 years, then 2 x 5hr attempted and failed rebuilds.  My right leg became infected and I had another knee replacement with an antibiotic spacer and 3 months of intravenous antibiotics. Two years afterwards, that leg became infected again (I had been fighting the infection for the whole 2 years)  leading to 5 more surgeries including removal of the knee, another antibiotic spacer and eventually an arthrodesis (fusing the leg straight with an iron bar through the middle) and another 3 … Continue reading How Tai Chi Saved My Life

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What Tai Chi Gives Me

Steve Rowe

  Tai Chi allows me to let go.  When we can’t let go we are consumed with anxiety, fear, anger and desire. Often we don’t know it because we are it, we are consumed and unhappy. Some people darken a room when they enter and some light it up. Those that darken it are consumed by all those negative traits and can’t understand why their life is so bad. Those that lighten it have learned to let them go and are ‘awake’ to the balance of light and dark known as yin and yang – they have found balance. If … Continue reading What Tai Chi Gives Me

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The ‘Taste’ Of Kung Fu

Steve Rowe

The ‘Taste’ Of Kung Fu…. We’re told that people learn auditory (hearing), visually (looking) and physically (doing), we always use all 3 methods but depending on character will lean more towards one method than the others, I’d like to also add a personal one – taste. Taste? I hear you ask, how can you learn by taste?  Do you have to lick your instructor? Thankfully you don’t, BUT everything has a ‘flavour’ if you can sense it and if you pick up the ‘taste’ of Yang Family Tai Chi, tiger, snake, leopard, dragon, Hung Gar or whatever, you start learning … Continue reading The ‘Taste’ Of Kung Fu

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Why Bowing Is Important..

Steve Rowe

  Why Bowing Is Important When you walk into a Dojo or Kwoon, before and after a lesson and before and after any kata, form and pairs work in a traditional system you will bow as a sign of respect.  This simple sign of courtesy is a great reminder and marker of the varying types of mindset we have to engender and train at each stage of training. Entering the training hall it separates you from the outside world and reminds you to clear all external worries, anxieties and  distractions from your mind so that you can focus on the … Continue reading Why Bowing Is Important..

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A Different Tao

Steve Rowe

I’m on a different path. I’m a vegetarian Buddhist Taoist martial artist. I fight for peace, not war. I don’t have to convince everyone I’m ‘hard’. Don’t need to threaten them. I’m not so scared of everyone that I have to snarl like an abused dog sitting in the corner. Not so needy that I have to behave like a Diva. Don’t need to make myself look bigger by making others look smaller. I prefer to support what’s good, not shout about what’s bad. Don’t need new trendy names or pretty clothes. A turd rolled in glitter is still a … Continue reading A Different Tao

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Yang Tai Chi ‘Head & Feet’

Steve Rowe

In the classics it says ‘suspend the head’, what most people don’t get is that it is an ‘active’ requirement, this means that you have to actively do this all of the time. This is an act of mindfulness. It lightens and aligns the body making it weightless and mobile, but the moment it becomes inactive – you become a clumsy zombie! The classics also say that power ‘comes from the feet, is manipulated by the waist and expressed through the hands’. Whatever we do, we always start from the feet, when I touch a student’s arm they resist in a … Continue reading Yang Tai Chi ‘Head & Feet’

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Do You Train To Fight?

Steve Rowe

“The end result of martial arts training is to fight” – is it? Mine isn’t.  Mine includes the emotional intelligence to deal with confrontation in all it’s guises, to be able have resolve, determination and courage when needed, along with the patience, kindness, tolerance and compassion and their associated requisite skills when needed. To keep the peace. The calligraphy for ‘Budo’ and ‘Wu Shu’ is ‘to stop the spear’. The ‘Wa’ in ‘Wado’ means harmony and balance, as does ‘Aiki’ in Aikido, ‘Goju’ in ‘Goju Ryu’ and ‘Tai Chi’ means ‘Grand Ultimate’ as in the harmony of an enlightened mind. … Continue reading Do You Train To Fight?

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Don’t Mess With My Martial Arts

Steve Rowe

  People just don’t get it. If you are a serious martial artist, you won’t let anyone mess with your martial arts.  Training time is sacrosanct. It has to be done every day and takes priority over any other mundane tasks. Lessons and seminars are the same, they go in the calendar first and unless it’s VERY important everything else is arranged around them. Family and friends need to understand this. Why is this? Why is it so important to us? The reason is that it’s what makes and keeps us what we are. Every day we methodically work on … Continue reading Don’t Mess With My Martial Arts