Ten minutes of Tuishou with Maxime and Ulysses

Описание: At the beginning of this year I released a video showing ten minutes of my Tuishou practice with my friend Maxime, and now, nine months later, our Tuishou has evolved.

So here are some images which better represent our current practice.

In nine months of sustained practice, our movements have become more fluid. We are moving much faster now, but our bodies are softer. Or should I say: because our bodies are softer now, we are able to move faster.

The movements are also more articulated. That is to say, whereas we previously tended to move our entire back as one stiff unit, now our backs are more supple. Joints that we didn't know how to use before have now come online. In particular, our clavicles and shoulder blades, and our vertebrae and ribs, are now moving independently, playing their part in deflecting attacks and sending the energy back to the opponent. And even joints we did use before, we are now using more freely: like our shoulders, elbows and wrists.

There is also more movement within movement; our whole body might be moving forward from the legs, while our spine is twisting and our arms making spirals, all at the same time. These simultaneous movements are so complex that I would find them nearly impossible to reproduce as choreography, but somehow, my body works them out instinctively while engaged in Tuishou, without my having to consciously think.

So the practice of Tuishou has allowed me to express an inner intelligence that I normally cannot access. It is an exhilarating experience when this inner "super me" awakens into action.

When we push hands, the two of us are joined into a system in which energy is being passed back and forth, like a wave sloshing in a bathtub. We feel like surfers riding ten-meter waves and feel the same kind of high, which is why we laugh so much during this video.

For more information: http://www.ulysseschuang.com