The relationship between yoga and tai chi

Yoga and Tai Chi are physical and mental cultivation systems that originated from the ancient Indian civilization and the Chinese farming civilization respectively, and were independently developed and formed. The underlying "body and mind synchronization" logic of the two is highly similar, but the differences in cultural roots, movement logic, and ultimate direction are far greater than the superficial similarities. There is no mutually derived affinity. The common "Tai Chi yoga" fusion courses currently on the market are secondary creations based on the fitness needs of contemporary people, and have no direct connection with the traditional inheritance of the two.

I have been practicing Ashtanga yoga for almost 7 years. I moved to my old community last year. Master Chen, who was doing Tai Chi downstairs, dragged me in. I practiced Sanyue Chen style Tai Chi. My first misconception was, "Isn't this just a slow-motion yoga stance sequence?" ”. For example, Hunyuan Zhuang requires that the shoulders should be lowered, the elbows should be lowered, the knees should not exceed the toes, and the core should be tucked in without slumping the waist. It is almost 90% consistent with the adjustment points of Yoga Mountain Pose. ； Tai Chi talks about "bringing the form with the breath". When you move, you breathe first. In yoga, all movements must match your breathing. You cannot hold your breath and carry it hard. ； There is also the core bandha (Bandha) mentioned in yoga, and the "Qi sinks into the Dantian, and the waist is the axis" said in Tai Chi. The essence is to stabilize the core strength and prevent the force from being scattered on the limbs. When I twisted my waist while practicing yoga, I also tried to use Tai Chi stances to adjust my breathing, and I actually recovered within a few days. At that time, I really thought the two were distant relatives.

But after I followed Master Chen and learned Laojiao for a little while, I realized that the similarities I felt before were basically to the level of "a layman just watching the excitement." There has been an ongoing debate on the Internet about the relationship between the two. One group clings to the theory that "Dharma brought yoga exercises to the east, which later evolved into Tai Chi." They say that the two have the same origin. There is also an even more outrageous theory that yoga was introduced to China and was renamed Tai Chi. I frowned when I saw it. ； The other group is trying to kill two things that cannot be beaten. One is Indian religious practice, and the other is a fitness method evolved from Chinese martial arts. To mention the similarities is to say that the culture is not confident. In fact, there is no need to be so extreme. In terms of objective historical data, the earliest available "Yoga Sutra" that systematically explains the theory of yoga was written around the 2nd century AD. The original ancient yoga was more of an ascetic method used by Hindu practitioners to pursue the "unity of Brahman and self". Many movements were used to lay the foundation for long-term meditation. ； The Tai Chi inheritance, which has clear historical records, was created by Chen Wangting of Chenjiagou in Wen County in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasties, combining Taoist health regimen, traditional Chinese medicine meridian theory and Qi Jiguang's boxing techniques. It was originally a martial arts method, pursuing the ability to "conquer hardness with softness". The two originated more than a thousand years apart and are not related at all.

The difference is even more obvious when it comes to practical implementation. Let’s talk about the most common basic movements. The downward dog pose of yoga requires the force to be extended from the roots of the palms and heels to both ends. The entire back is like a cloth being lifted up. What is required is to "stretch"” ； The cloud hand of Tai Chi is to wrap the force into the body and move in a circle. The arms cannot be extended too straight. If the force is leaked outward, it will be wrong. What is needed is "adduction". There is also a big difference in breathing. The Ujjayi breathing commonly used in yoga requires deliberately closing the throat and making a friction sound like the waves to stabilize concentration. ； Tai Chi's breathing requires no effort at all, and it should be so thin and deep that you can't even hear the sound of breathing. When I was playing Yun Shou before, I always unconsciously breathed with Ujayi. Master Chen knocked me on the arm many times and said that I "hold my breath to practice, and sooner or later I will choke myself out of knots."

However, there is no need to draw too sharp a line between the two. Last month, I went to a friend's yoga studio to take a "Tai Chi yoga" class. The teacher combined Tai Chi's hip-opening and shoulder-opening movements with yoga flow sequences. After standing for 10 minutes, he relaxed into the child's pose. After the practice, the tightness in the entire shoulder and neck was actually more obvious than if I practiced yoga alone for an hour. It's no wonder that this kind of fusion class sells well. Of course, there are a lot of controversies. A teacher I know who has taught traditional yoga for 20 years particularly despises this kind of class, saying that it is "a dissimilarity that ruins both traditions." There are also many inheritors of traditional Tai Chi who object, saying that the core of Tai Chi is the logic of martial arts, which is completely incompatible with the flexibility of yoga, and teaching them together is a scam.

I'm not that particular now. I wake up in the morning and do Tai Chi for 15 minutes to open my waist and hips, and then practice yoga strength sequences for 20 minutes to stabilize my core. There's no need to compete with each other, and it can relieve my waist protrusion and shoulder and neck pain caused by sitting for a long time. It's more useful than any argument.