Yuji Hirayama is one of the greatest climbers that our sport has produced, He does a bit of Yoga and is now a very successful man in Tokyo. I dont want to use him to promote any of my ideas or anything, so I'll just say he is a climber I have always admired and loved to watch, and he does more than a bit of Yoga.
This video is very well done, simply beautiful, There's lots of stuff about Yuji out there, so have a little look. Here Yuji video's in Slovenia.
This link is taken from the original great training book which hasn't really been surpassed, it's old now, but it is still gold. Read this about flexibility and why Yuji beat Jerry Moffat!
One of the things that might make Yuji stand out for you, is that he is so sucessful in different things, but make no mistake, Yuji is very clever and has a highly tuned brain, after all he has done sport from an early age. Yoga wont make you a genius, it just helps you sharpen what you might have. I think Yuji does Ashtanga yoga, I am not certain, it is sometimes called Energy, or Flow yoga, it doesn't matter too much, the important thing is he does some yoga, which is part of his life and helps him. I do believe he did a fighting art before he became a climber and was more of a trad climber than sports to start with. I first saw him stretching at Buoux a very long time ago I understood his stretching but definitely not his climbing. Putting lots of things together is an art, if you want the whole to look and be more than just the sum of these parts, I do believe that Yuji has done this. He is a great artist in the way Hokusai and Hiroshige the painters were, but his canvases are fleeting moments on rock, and are the more precious because they melt in time, like tears in rain.
This link of Yuji shows him climbing in the USA in 2001 and might help you understand hips! Hip control is a must in climbing. The hips basically will dictate your body mechanics and therefore your pulling capability. The hips will be moved from the toes, thru the knees, to the hips turning. People do it well, but do they do it as well as Yuji, or indeed his hyper sucessful climbing partner Legrand. I never really liked watching comps until Yuji and Legrand, these two can always school ya.
Here's another video of Yuji. This vid is really beau, usual Yuji, flowing up rock, his balance belies his strength, don't make that mistake, he is a strong tiger. An 8c+ roof gets dispatched back to the land of the rising sun salutation.
This link of Yuji shows him climbing in the USA in 2001 and might help you understand hips! Hip control is a must in climbing. The hips basically will dictate your body mechanics and therefore your pulling capability. The hips will be moved from the toes, thru the knees, to the hips turning. People do it well, but do they do it as well as Yuji, or indeed his hyper sucessful climbing partner Legrand. I never really liked watching comps until Yuji and Legrand, these two can always school ya.
Here's another video of Yuji. This vid is really beau, usual Yuji, flowing up rock, his balance belies his strength, don't make that mistake, he is a strong tiger. An 8c+ roof gets dispatched back to the land of the rising sun salutation.
