What is the difference between yoga and tai chi

The core difference is hidden in the origins of the two - yoga is a physical and mental practice system born in ancient India. The underlying logic comes from the Brahmanism's philosophy of "the unity of Brahma and me", while Tai Chi was born out of Chinese martial arts, rooted in the soil of Taoist yin and yang and the meridians of traditional Chinese medicine, and follows the path of dual cultivation of life and life of "unity of man and nature".

If you have been to two types of offline classes, you can feel the obvious difference within a few minutes. If you go to a mainstream yoga studio, whether it is Hatha or flow yoga, there will always be more than ten minutes of supine rest in the second half. The teacher will guide you to sweep your attention from your fingertips to the top of your head, and even deliberately guide you to withdraw from the perspective of a "body user" and just watch the body's tension and relaxation. In the later period, many advanced practitioners will shift their focus to more spiritual exploration such as meditation and fasting. But if you go to the park and watch old boxing friends practicing Tai Chi, even if they are practicing the gentlest health frame, every move has the logic of attack and defense. Looking at Yun Shou's slow movement, when it comes to attacking, he must first offload the opponent's strength and then carry it out smoothly. Even if no one relies on Tai Chi to fight now, they still pay attention to "not losing strength" when walking. Every inch of force has its origin and its destination, which is completely different from the sense of stretching and relaxation pursued by yoga.

Nowadays, there are many voices saying that both are slow exercises and can maintain health. There is no need to distinguish them so clearly. Some schools even offer fusion classes of Tai Chi yoga. This statement does have a certain truth - after all, both require breathing to coordinate with movements. Long-term practice can improve posture problems such as rounded shoulders and hunched back, and can also help relieve anxiety. However, most practitioners who have practiced for a certain period of time do not agree with this confusion. I met a friend who practices both Ashtanga and Chen-style Tai Chi in the past two years. He said that the logic of exerting force between the two is even reversed: many yoga postures require "opening", opening the shoulders, opening the hips, and opening the thoracic vertebrae. The range of joint mobility must be stretched as much as possible. Even breathing is mostly done in the abdominal style, and it is important to inhale and exhale fully. ； On the contrary, Tai Chi pays attention to "wrapping". The shoulders are lowered, the elbows are held, the chest is pulled up, and the back is drawn in. The energy is drawn inward. You often follow the movements with reverse abdominal breathing, inhaling and exhaling, and never deliberately pursue "deep breathing". When he started practicing, he often had bad habits. When doing Tai Chi, he would habitually open his shoulders. When the teacher touched his hand, he would say that he had lost strength. When practicing yoga, he subconsciously held his breasts in his chest. He was always reminded by the yoga teacher to open his chest.

To use an inappropriate analogy, yoga is more like helping you disassemble and lubricate every part of the small machine of your body, and then let you try to escape from the machine itself and watch its operation.； Tai Chi is more like adjusting a more adaptable power system to your machine, allowing you to match the surrounding wind, the friction of the ground and even the strength of the people around you, so that you can move without any extra effort.