Is yoga and tai chi the best combination?

It’s hard to say “the best” honestly. The effect of matching the two is completely different from person to person. For those who are suitable for it, it is a match made in heaven. For those who don’t, it will be easy to cause problems after practicing.

I know an aunt who has been practicing Tai Chi for 12 years. She didn’t pay attention to the alignment when she was practicing Fa Jin in the early years. Her left knee was worn out and it became stiff after standing for more than ten minutes. Later, she joined the Iyengar yoga alignment class twice a week with the teacher at the gym and focused on practicing it. It only took half a year to adjust the limb alignment and hip muscle strength. The original problem of unconsciously buckling the knees in while standing was solved. She also said that she has become proficient in Ujjayi breathing in yoga. Now she does the same old routine without having to take a breath all the way, which is much more stable than before. To put it bluntly, the underlying abilities of the two are actually complementary. Tai Chi pays attention to seeking stillness while moving. It practices fascia conduction and center of gravity transformation. Many people tend to neglect the support of deep small muscles after practicing for a long time. The static postures of yoga can help make up for this shortcoming. ； On the other hand, Tai Chi's logic of standing in a neutral position can also help many yoga practitioners avoid the compensation of excessive hip opening and slumping of the spine. Many friends who always have a low back when practicing yoga have improved their core stability after standing for two months, and they are much more secure when doing backbends.

But you can't say this too highly. People who are really not suitable for each other will only cheat themselves if they join forces. A while ago, a young man came to our studio who has been practicing Ashtanga for four years. He heard people say that Tai Chi and yoga are integrated to maintain health. After taking the class for three weeks, he had back pain and had to go for an MRI. It turned out that he was used to the tightening of the core and the expansion of the chest in Ashtanga. In terms of force mode, I still don’t understand the Tai Chi teachings of “bringing the chest and pulling the back” and “relaxing the waist and sinking the hips”. Every time I stand, I unconsciously push the curvature of the lumbar spine too much. When I go back to do yoga backbends, the force logic is completely messed up, which may cause injury. Many veteran boxers who have practiced Tai Chi all their lives are opposed to mixed training. They say that the sinking of Qi in the Dantian of Tai Chi and the abdominal breathing of yoga look similar. In fact, the shape of the breath and the starting point of force are completely different. In the entry-level stage, it is easy to practice "dispersion", and in the end the essence of neither can be grasped.

In fact, there is no absolute "best", it just depends on your own needs and stage. If you have figured out the logic of exerting force in one of them, and there happens to be a shortcoming that the other can make up for, you will certainly get twice the result with half the effort by practicing together.； If you are just getting started and can't even perform one of the basic movements to standard, and you are busy chasing the popularity of fusion classes, you will probably make a detour. Last week, I met a little girl who had just practiced yoga for a month. She had not even adjusted her downward dog posture yet, so she rushed to sign up for a Tai Chi yoga fusion class. Her calves were shaking as if she had pressed a vibrate button while standing. Isn’t this putting the cart before the horse?