Tag: Taoism

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The Magic Jian

Steve Rowe

We study the names of the jian (Chinese double edge sword) techniques in great depth. The jian is the ‘magical’ sword in Chinese culture (a bit like King Arthur’s Excalibur) and the names carry the mythology and cultural stories that go along with it, and most importantly, tell us the ‘spirit’ and mindset that the techniques are done with. They are poetic, they include real and mythological creatures, they are shamanistic as we take on the spirits of various types of dragons, gods, swallows, cats, wasps, phoenix, wild horses, lions, tigers, rhinos, apes, celestial beings and observe and copy everyday … Continue reading The Magic Jian

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Entropy Of Life

Steve Rowe

EntropyFrom organised structure into chaos.You’re already dead.Death is infinite and assured.Life sits inside death.It’s finite and tentative.From the moment you’re born,You’re also dead.Life/death is yin/yangWithout death, life has no value. From young, healthy, attractive, nicely scented and succulent,You rot into a grey, dry, wrinkled,Old, invisible and ignored carcass,Smelling of piss and biscuits.From mindlessly leaping out of chairs,You go to the ‘Dawn Of Man’ routine to stand.Or slide from chair to wheelchair. Only young people say “if you’re lucky enough to get old”.When old, sick people hear of a ‘sudden death’, they think ‘lucky bastard’,Even if they don’t say it.The key … Continue reading Entropy Of Life

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Buddhism & Taoism In The Martial Arts

Steve Rowe

There’s been a few comments recently about the relationship of Karate and Tai Chi to Buddhism and Taoism. You obviously don’t have to be any religion to study either. They are both practised by millions world wide from all cultures and religions, but they do arise from Buddhist and Taoist cultures. The names of the arts and their styles reflect this, any Japanese art ending in ‘do’ (karatedo, judo, aikido, iaido etc) the ‘do’ is the ‘Tao’ and the names often relate to gentleness, softness, emptiness, peace and harmony from the religion in those cultures. The name ‘Tai Chi’ relates … Continue reading Buddhism & Taoism In The Martial Arts

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Why Should I Be ‘Happy’?

Steve Rowe

Why should I be happy? One thing that’s always intrigued me is the human pursuit of happiness. Every quote, meme, lifestyle and business guru advert is about how to be ‘happy’, yet with only a little bit of examination we can see that to obtain and maintain the ‘happiness’ being shovelled to us is impossible. It’s an illusion that society’s manipulators captivate our souls with to keep us unfulfilled and forever chasing their carrot. Life consists of order and chaos and we need the wisdom to accept and deal with both aspects. All the time that we’re imprisoned in this … Continue reading Why Should I Be ‘Happy’?

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Waking Up Our Chi

Steve Rowe

Waking up the chi…. The most important part of the day. To get the energy working and vibrant we have to exercise the spine, core and vagus nerve together. Using the mind, breath, emotions and Tai Chi movements, we meditate, calm the system first and then open, close, stretch, compress, twist and release the three together firing up the neural system and releasing the good hormones into the system. It’s an incredible feeling, opening all the cavities in the body and pumping and manipulating them, the stretch goes from tiptoe, to head and fingertips like the ‘yawning stretch’ and release … Continue reading Waking Up Our Chi

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Manipulators & Indoctrinators

Steve Rowe

“If men lack knowledge and desire, then clever people will not try to interfere.” – Lao Tsu This reads to most people like you should keep people simple and stupid, but the meaning is far from that. We are indoctrinated and manipulated from birth, by family, school, business, culture and society to ‘want’ and think what they want us to desire and think. In fact the true qualities of empathy, kindness, patience, tolerance and compassion are only true if applied in a simple way to everyone and everything. It’s only our indoctrinators and manipulators that tell us that this is … Continue reading Manipulators & Indoctrinators

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Soft Cotton Boxing

Steve Rowe

Yesterday we were looking at the practicality of self defence in Yang style Tai Chi. So many people seem to think it’s only for health or that it takes many years of training to make it work and that the moves have to be heavily adapted. Not true. The great thing about Yang Family Tai Chi is that it’s an art of self defence. The side benefits are good health and emotional intelligence as these are required as a base to protect yourself. It’s been passed down through the family uncorrupted and contains many of the deadliest techniques of kung … Continue reading Soft Cotton Boxing

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Speak Your Truth

Steve Rowe

Speak your truth.Walk the left hand path.Don’t run with the crowd.Those that clamour around the famous.Have no mind of their own.Separate yourself from them.They are the subjects of others.Don’t subject yourself to anyone or anything.View them all objectively.Tribal fear is not empowering.Lose the pitchfork and torch.Sit in the dark.Find yourself.Let your soul unfold.When you find your truth.There is no fear.No need for the attention of others.That inner knowing shines out.You become insightful.Wisdom finds you.You become the beacon.For those seeking the way. Steve Rowe 2025 Continue reading Speak Your Truth

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Nebulous Principles, Ideas & Strategies

Steve Rowe

Student: Is it like this or this? Me: Yes. Student: how can it be both? Me: because it’s not what you do but how you do it that counts. If you are following the ideas and principles, depending on the situation, a technique can be done in a variety of ways. People want ‘easy’ and ‘simple’, they want rules. If you advertise ’easy to learn’, ‘simple steps’ and lay down a simple framework to follow, people will buy into it. The essential underlying principles, ideas and philosophy to a good martial art can be quite nebulous and require considerable study … Continue reading Nebulous Principles, Ideas & Strategies

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Explore Your Darkness

Steve Rowe

Do you feel that if you surrender to your darkness that you won’t be able to find your way back? Do you repress and try to ignore it? If you’re always trying to be happy instead, you’re not happy – and the lurking darkness is permeating your soul in a negative way. We all know the ‘positivity’ people always trying to convince themselves and those around them that they are happy and positive but that veneer is thin and the tortured soul behind is obvious. The darkness needs to be explored and understood as it’s the balancing factor to the … Continue reading Explore Your Darkness