混合双人自选太极拳 表演者： 世界太极冠军庄莹莹， 黄颖祺 (+太极刀 表演者： 黄颖祺 (世界冠军))+(太极扇 表演者： 庄莹莹 (世界锦标赛冠军))

Taiji broadsword performed by Huang Yingqi, Taiji fan performed by Zhuang Yingying, and Mixed Doubles Optional Taijiquan performed by both of the Chinese Wushu Team at the Chinese Wushu (Martial Arts) Champion America Tour.

Taken at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center on May 18th, 2014.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: Friday, May 27th, 2016.

Wow, 10,000 views after 2 years! Thanks to everyone that watched this! Hope you enjoyed watching this beautiful performance of the new modern Wushu "mixed doubles" Taijiquan!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EDIT: Sunday, August 18th, 2024.

WOW!!! 100,000 VIEWS!!! Thanks everyone!!! It's cool to know there are still people watching this video after 10 years! To this day, I still occasionally come back to this video just to listen to the background music. It's also archival footage of what was at the time a new modern Wushu Taolu competition event implemented in China under the “traditional” Wushu banner. As seen, it primarily seemed to emphasize synchronized movements of two Taijiquan athletes, customarily one male and one female, with some brief elements of choreographed push hands and synchronized nandu as well. First, let me talk about Taijidao; this was surprising to me to see when I first read about it in the program. Although I had seen traditional Taiji broadsword forms before, I had no idea that it could be performed in the modern Wushu sense, as it was not one of the standardized Taiji events in modern Wushu: only Taijiquan and Taijijian were. Technique wise, this was simply what it sounded like; the basic techniques of dao, namely wrapping and twining, ideally with Taiji “flavor.” Taiji fan, while no doubt beautiful to look on, did not really appeal to my taste of martial arts performances, so I didn’t find it memorable; I find fan forms in general difficult to take seriously as martial arts routines, but that’s just my opinion. And finally, mixed doubles optional Taijiquan: this was very interesting to see in person. The synchronized nandu of both, as well as their successful split and one-legged landings earned applause, although there were some slight lapses in the synchronization between the two (though this may have been because this was Zhuang Yingying’s routine, which earned her a national championship title, and Huang Yingqi was not her original partner). Because this was something new, I couldn’t determine how I felt about certain elements, namely the push hands segment, which is traditionally a combat sensitivity drill, much like that of sticking hands in Wing Chun, being performed like choreography. Nonetheless, this was still a performance, and like most modern Wushu Taijiquan performances, I still found a way to appreciate it as just that, a performance. At the end, when the performance was greeted with not only applause, but shouts and whoops of approval, something I found strange, yet profoundly heartwarming, happened: Zhuang Yingying SMILED. And as both performers walked off the stage, Huang Yingqi gave what seemed to be a small but appreciative salute, which Zhuang Yingying quickly followed up with one of her own. This is an especially interesting moment to reflect on, because it made me think about how these professional performers, not just the audience, must feel about a performance for once. It must feel nothing short of fulfilling for a performer to perform something with such difficulty that requires a high level of skill, and have themselves rewarded with recognition, appreciation, and even respect. And you know what? They deserved that. Good for them! :)