The Difference Between Yoga and Tai Chi

The former was born out of the ancient Indian religious and philosophical system, and the ultimate goal of practice is to achieve "the absolute unity of body, mind, and soul." The latter is a combination of China's native Taoist philosophy and traditional martial arts system. The core pursuit is "the harmony of yin and yang, and the unity of inside and outside." They are completely different from movement patterns, evaluation standards, and practice paths. There is no such thing as a branch of who, or a higher level than another.

I practiced Ashtanga for three years. Later, because I stretched my waist while practicing Wheel Pose, my dad dragged me to a municipal park near my home to learn Chen-style Tai Chi from Master Chen. At first, I thought both were slow health-preserving exercises. Only when I got into it did I realize they were far different.

Don't tell me, the most intuitive feeling is that the logic of force is completely reversed. I used to have morning classes at a yoga studio, and the teacher was very jealous. Your feet in Warrior pose did not rotate to 45 degrees externally, and your hips were not aligned. He would come over to straighten them even one centimeter away. The pain made you grin and you had to keep your Ujayi breathing steady. What you were pursuing at that time was "control" - your body must absolutely obey the instructions of your brain, be precise, stable, and achieve the standard alignment.

When I learned Zhanzhuang for the first time, I was confused by Master Chen’s first words: “Don’t tense up, it will take away all the energy you have accumulated from practicing yoga. The more you struggle, the less stable you will be. ”I tried to relax my shoulders and waist. After standing for less than 15 minutes, I sweated more on my back than during the previous 60-minute flow yoga session, but my waist, which had hurt before, didn't feel any soreness at all. Only then did I understand that what Tai Chi requires is never "control" but "harmony" - the energy should come from the feet, go along the waist, and finally reach the hands. Wherever there is a blockage, loosen it. It's like unblocking a water pipe. If you tighten it hard, it will leak easily.

Don’t think that yoga is just mat stretching or Tai Chi is just a morning exercise program for old men and old ladies. The differences between different schools are so big that you dare not recognize them. I know a girl who practices devotional yoga. She doesn’t do any postures at all. She meditates and chants at a fixed time every day, and volunteers at a stray animal rescue center in her free time. Her yoga practice is also based on the eight classics of yoga. However, many traditional yoga practitioners do not approve of the popular seven-day weight-loss yoga and Pilates yoga on the market. They feel that yoga has been reduced to pure fitness movements and has deviated from its original core.

Not to mention Tai Chi. If you look at the competitive Tai Chi in the Olympic Games, the level of difficulty is no lower than that of gymnastics. It is not the same as the 24-position simplified Tai Chi played by the park uncle and aunt. Master Chen always said, "Practicing boxing without practicing kung fu will lead to nothing." The "gong" he refers to does not mean how familiar the routine is, but the coordination of the inner strength and breathing. Ordinary people have no problem doing simplified Tai Chi to move their muscles and bones. But if you really want to practice something, you have to practice it and grind it slowly.

Last time, I took my best friend from the yoga studio to experience the standing position. She could normally hold the plank for five minutes, and she could get off it at the drop of a hat. Her core was so stable that I couldn’t push hard. However, after standing for five minutes, she was shaking like a roly-poly. She gasped and asked why she couldn’t push hard when her mind was empty. I laughed so hard that I couldn't stand up and said that you are used to practicing yoga and "give it what you want." If you want to tighten your core, tighten it immediately. If you want to open your hips, press down. Tai Chi is "release whatever you want."

In the past two years, many fitness institutions have been promoting "Tai Chi Yoga". They combine the Cloud Hands of Tai Chi with the warrior pose and downward dog pose of yoga and sell them as new classes. I specifically asked practitioners on both sides, and the opinions are completely polarized. Friends who own a gym say that young people nowadays suffer from shoulder, neck and waist problems when sitting in the office. This kind of fusion class combines the stretching feeling of yoga with the core stability training of Tai Chi. It can make you feel more comfortable without putting in much effort. The students are very receptive. After all, everyone just wants to relax, so there is no need to pick it so thin. But Master Chen shook his head every time he heard it, saying that the energy of Tai Chi goes from bottom to top, while the energy of yoga is sent from the core to the limbs. The underlying logic of exerting force is different. It is easy to twist the energy through mixed practice and injure the joints.

In fact, both of them are reasonable. There is no absolute right or wrong about exercise. If you just want to move your shoulders and neck, you can do whatever you want. If you really want to learn more, you still have to follow your own rules.

Now I no longer have to worry about the boundary between the two. In the morning when the air is good, I go to the park to join hands with Master Chen, and I do two old tricks together. I sweat a little and my whole body is smooth. I work overtime in the evening and my shoulders and neck are stiff, so I spread out a yoga mat and do a few cat-cow poses and baby poses to relax. I never mix the two, but I don’t think it is wrong to engage in fusion and innovation.

After all, whether it is yoga that originated in ancient India or Tai Chi that was born and raised in China, it finally fell back to ordinary people, not to live a more comfortable life.