With the glut of young masters dazzling us with their new found physical prowess and modern styles that merely reinvent the wheel of tradition on the internet, it is a joy to discover an authentic master. Steve Rowe is one of the rare martial artists who immersed himself in the classical tradition martial arts training (today’s traditional systems are diluted classical methods), when martial arts knowledge was revered and secret — and had to be sought out and studied deeply.
Modern traditionalists cannot appreciate the journey of what we at TanDao call the classical traditionalist (when martial art styles were secret and unavailable to the public), who had to seek out the hidden science, advanced techniques and the true meaning of the martial philosophy that goes beyond fighting. Knowledge had to be earned.
So, listen to Master Rowe. He knows. His mature insights on self defense, and wisdom on eastern/martial philosophy are a distillation of a lifetime of research and training in authentic Chinese, Japanese systems on the martial path. In the eighties, he developed his own system, Shi Kon, which means Warrior Spirit
We at TanDao bow to Master Steve Rowe, an Evolving Martial Artist.
Keep practicing and exploring,
Lawrence Tan
And watch for our TanDao Dragon where we’ll reveal modern fight science concealed behind the stylized form. And if you want to know more about Evolving Martial Artists, check out our v-book, TanDao for Evolving Martial Artists. It’s the first martial art v-book ever (videos instead of illustrations to clarify the text) A new vision of martial arts using the latest technology!
Check out our Tiger Combat ebook
And…our video downloads – Tiger Claw and our vbook, The Red Book
Tags: fighting, lawrence tan, Martial Arts, self defence, self defense, shi kon, steve rowe
I’m just a guy who’s bounced around a bit over the years but has unfortunately had to test my skills on the street in a number of situations. Master Rowe’s principles of infighting shown above are fantastic; the use of body mass to destroy an opponent’s balance and the “unfolding” of techniques (head, shoulder, etc.) to help do so. I never learned these things but can see the economy and extremely practical value.
Streetfighting/self-defense situations are very close-in affairs; no fancy techniques “manifested” from a distance. And better not get into a trading punches situation if your opponent has boxing skills. Better to jam such an opponent and attack with the knees to body and inside/outside of thighs as shown above.
We did practice a lot of elbow techniques back in the day; never used one against a street/bar attacker but did tap a bodybuilder friend lightly in the jaw once (he grabbed my wrist, laughed at karate, and dared me to break his hold with the typical “release;” he was too strong so I stepped in and showed him “elbow-lite). He never grabbed me again. Or made fun of karate, either. But he sure did look tough in a tank top.