What is the difference between yoga and tai chi

The most essential difference between the two is rooted in the cultural core. Yoga originated from the ancient Indian religious system, which pursues the unity of body, mind and spirit of "the unity of Brahman and self". Tai Chi was born out of traditional Chinese Taoist culture, and its core is to practice strength, nourish Qi and self-defense in accordance with the law of "unity of man and nature". This fundamental difference, even if various improved versions are developed to this day, can still be clearly distinguished from the physical sense.

Last week, I took my best friend who often practices Hatha Yoga to a trial class at the Tai Chi studio where I often go. She stood on the Wuji Pose for ten minutes and poked me with a frown on her face. She said that the Mountain Pose I usually practice involves my feet on the ground and my back straight. Why is it that when I stand, my whole body is digging into the soles of my feet, which is completely opposite to the feeling of standing up in yoga?

It’s normal to say that yoga posture design is fundamentally focused on the adjustment of the individual body. The Mountain Pose emphasizes adjusting the alignment of skeletal muscles to the best state, activating deep stabilizing muscles to improve posture. Even in fast-paced flow yoga such as Ashtanga, series movements are centered around muscle stretching and strength control. Even in Yin Yoga, which focuses on healing, maintaining postures for a long time is to unblock deep fascia, and ultimately return to the stretching and relaxation of the individual body and mind.

Tai Chi doesn't follow this logic at all. The teacher who was adjusting her posture at that time pressed her tense shoulders and told her not to fight but to relax. Jin should "originate from the feet, originate from the legs, dominate the waist, and be shaped by the fingers." Don't just think about how straight your back is, but look for the conduction of the whole force. Even if it is an old-fashioned move that is as slow as a snail, every move has its own offensive and defensive uses. Yun Shou, which looks like it is moving slowly in circles, can actually follow the opponent's energy to lead the person out when it is really moving. The breathing also follows the energy, and there is no need to deliberately use abdominal breathing to drive the movements like many times in yoga.

Of course, many people now think that there is not much difference between the two. They are both slow-paced health exercises. After all, yoga classes now held in cities have long weakened their original religious attributes. Most of them focus on shaping, reducing stress, and improving shoulder and neck problems. Many health centers even put Tai Chi and yoga stretching in the same treatment. In the class schedule, I have seen a paper in the field of sports rehabilitation before, saying that people who insist on two sports for a long time have no significant differences in indicators such as improving essential hypertension, improving core stability, and relieving chronic pain. My mother has practiced yoga and Tai Chi for three years, and the stability of her blood pressure measurement is indeed the same as before.

But I say that people who really practice yoga will not confuse the difference between the two. Every time I practice yoga for an hour, all the muscles in my body are stretched, and I just want to collapse on the mat and squint for ten minutes. After practicing Tai Chi, my whole body is warm, and the soles of my feet sink very much. When I walk on the road, I feel that my lower body is stable and can resist the gusts of wind. This kind of physical difference in details is much more substantial than the data.