What is the difference between yoga and Tai Chi

The most essential difference is actually that the cultural core of the origin and the underlying movement logic are completely different. If you have taken Tai Chi classes and yoga classes for more than 3 months at the same time, you can tell them apart from the first impression when you practice them without others telling you.

In the past two years, I signed up for a Chen-style Tai Chi health class near my community and a weekly flow yoga class at a yoga studio. The most intuitive feeling is that when practicing yoga, I am always looking for the "boundary of stretching to the limit." For example, in downward dog pose, you need to step down on your heels a little bit to feel the stretch on the back of the calf. To open up the energy channels of the body, the hatha, flow, and yin yoga practiced by the public now are actually branches of fitness that have been stripped of the attributes of ancient Indian practice. Most people's demands for taking classes are also very straightforward: open shoulders and hips, improve rounded shoulders and hunchback, and shape the body. The mother I was with in the yoga class at that time hugged her baby so hard that her chest was too tight. After practicing for more than three months, my shoulder and neck pain was gone.

Turn around and take a Tai Chi class, and the logic is completely reversed. Tai Chi was born out of traditional Chinese martial arts. Even if it is the simplified 24 postures practiced by the uncles and aunts in the park, the fundamental offensive and defensive logic has not changed. It emphasizes "leading the Qi with the mind and moving the body with the Qi." All the energy is concentrated in the Dantian of the waist and abdomen, and you will not use your limbs to exert force at all. Taking the same static standing movements as an example, the Mountain Pose of Yoga requires the head to look up to the sky and the soles of the feet to grasp the ground. The whole person is like a rubber band stretched at both ends, and the core must be tightened; Tai Chi's Wuji Pose requires the waist to be loosened and the hips to be dropped, and the shoulders to sink. The whole person is like a pebble submerged in water. The energy is going downwards, and the core is loose but not slumped, rather than being stretched to exert force. The logic of breathing is also different. The breathing of yoga is bound to the postures, exhaling by bending forward and inhaling by bending back. Each movement has a clear explanation of what breath corresponds to it. There is no need to deliberately block the rhythm of breathing in Tai Chi. For beginners, when you first go to class, the teacher will ask you to breathe naturally first, and then slowly follow your thoughts to the Dantian after the movements are smooth. If you deliberately adjust your breathing, it will easily cause your breath to drift. Every time I sweat after practicing flow yoga, I feel light and relaxed, like a freshly watered green plant. When I walk home after practicing Tai Chi, I always feel like the soles of my feet are stuck to the ground. Even stepping on the stairs is very stable. The two experiences are completely different.

Speaking of which, both are now classified as mindfulness fitness. There are also many "Tai Chi yoga" fusion classes on the market. Many people think that they are all slow-motion breathing exercises, and there is no need to divide them too carefully. There are also many senior enthusiasts who have practiced for more than ten years. They do not agree with this statement. They feel that the cultural roots of the two are too different, and it would be incompatible to put them together. There is no standard answer to this debate. After all, for ordinary enthusiasts, it is enough to be comfortable and useful to the body.