Yoga vs Tai Chi

[Eviander]

So I have tried both..but have not done them in depth to tell what is a all around better system of energy work. I know Tai Chi is funner..but the subtle movements don't seem like they help the spine enough as opposed to the pain that yoga can be..

 

Anyways..I would like some opinions on what has worked better in personal experience..As I know yoga is more widely practiced..but I have seen taichi/qigong masters do some cool stuff in videos..

 

This is also assuming that one does not have time for both..

Edited December 6, 2009 by Eviander

[Encephalon]

I think Yoda was vastly more powerful than Pai Mai. You could really tell in "The Empire Strikes Back" that Yoda like totally had his shit together and stuff. But it was definitely in Revenge of the Sith" with the spinning back kicks like Benny the Jet back in the 80s that he could kick Pai Mai's ass.

 

Although Pai Mai's Kung fu was pretty awesome. Teaching Beatrix Kiddo the three inch punch through the wooden plank was funner than Yoda's light saber, and you could tell that his Eagle Claw was a definite advantage with his forearm development. I also think Pai Mai had a better sense of humor than Yoda, although I guess that's because Yoda was like dealing with intergalactic issues and stuff and Pai Mai was like just hanging out in a jungle retreat on Earth and only agreed to take in Kiddo because he was lonely and bored.

 

So I'd have to say that Yoda was more developed and his clothes were pretty cool too.

[Eviander]

I think Yoda was vastly more powerful than Pai Mai. You could really tell in "The Empire Strikes Back" that Yoda like totally had his shit together and stuff. But it was definitely in Revenge of the Sith" with the spinning back kicks like Benny the Jet back in the 80s that he could kick Pai Mai's ass.

 

Although Pai Mai's Kung fu was pretty awesome. Teaching Beatrix Kiddo the three inch punch through the wooden plank was funner than Yoda's light saber, and you could tell that his Eagle Claw was a definite advantage with his forearm development. I also think Pai Mai had a better sense of humor than Yoda, although I guess that's because Yoda was like dealing with intergalactic issues and stuff and Pai Mai was like just hanging out in a jungle retreat on Earth and only agreed to take in Kiddo because he was lonely and bored.

 

So I'd have to say that Yoda was more developed and his clothes were pretty cool too.

 

Thanks for trolling the thread..

[Encephalon]

You had it coming, pal. Do you really expect everyone else to perform ALL of your own background study? I'd like to think that we bring at least some level of reflection to the questions we pose to each other.

[Eviander]

You had it coming, pal. Do you really expect everyone else to perform ALL of your own background study? I'd like to think that we bring at least some level of reflection to the questions we pose to each other.

 

Your thoughts..

 

they are false

[fiveelementtao]

Yoga and Tai Chi are two completely different arts. It makes no sense to compare them.

[Zenshiite]

^Indeed. Different arts, different goals.

 

Comparing/contrasting Yoga and Dao Yin would be more appropriate.

[Marblehead]

Yoga and Tai Chi are two completely different arts. It makes no sense to compare them.

 

I just wanted to repeat and concur with this.

 

Peace & Love!

[Ryan T.]

Your thoughts..

 

they are false

 

Your premise and your question are false.

 

Why does one have to be better than the other or vice versa? A person will just find what works best for them at the time. No absolutes that I have seen.

 

And yeah. Yoda for sure. As much as I love Pai Mai, he just didn't quite get to Yoda's level. But he didn't have the 700 or so years that Yoda had either. So that isn't exactly a fair comparison either.

[walkerinthewoods]

Anyways..I would like some opinions on what has worked better in personal experience..

 

Has worked better for what?

 

You need to decide what your goal is and then pick the one that will help you reach it.

[markern]

Right now tai chi is working better for me than the yoga I normally do because I need to ground and center myself in the dan tien which tai chi does more efficiently and it also helps me realx more because I am tense in a way that is better helped by the very, very, very slow movments of tai chi than the more strainious yoga. However, that is rihgt now. Long term I will focus primarily on yoga because I feel it does more for stuff like stretching building muscle and it is excellent for relaxation if done right. The problem is a lot of yoga is done quite fast and with too much effort and is too difficult for a beginner to do in a relaxed enough manner. Something like yin yang yoga which I will try when I resume practice addresses this well with combining very long held effortless stretching postures with quicker more dynamic sequences. Iyengars restorative yoga also give profound levels of relaxation.

 

If you choose yoga I think doing longevity breathing or any other exercise that teaches you to breathe properly and slowly is very important in order to get the most benefit as the progression of breath improvement is not fast enough just doing yoga for alot of people. Adding such a practice on the side for a fair amount of time in the begining will multiply the benefits.

 

Long term my plan is to do yoga mostly but have a short form of tai chi to do a little bit on the side for grounding, centering and for the particular type of relaxation and smoothing out of chi flow that it brings. I find that to be a great and efficient addition to yoga.

Edited December 6, 2009 by markern

[Encephalon]

So I have tried both..but have not done them in depth to tell what is a all around better system of energy work. I know Tai Chi is funner..but the subtle movements don't seem like they help the spine enough as opposed to the pain that yoga can be..

 

Anyways..I would like some opinions on what has worked better in personal experience..As I know yoga is more widely practiced..but I have seen taichi/qigong masters do some cool stuff in videos..

 

This is also assuming that one does not have time for both..

 

Okay - here's my charitable, kind, and compassionate response to your query, the manner in which I should respond to links as a matter of course if I had a tighter grip on my own egotism. My initial point remains... Books exist!! Information is out there! Informed questions are rewarded, uninformed questions sometimes are not. In fact, they are intellectual targets!!

 

In a lower -division critical thinking class, you would first clear away all your pretense, unexamined assumptions, and false information, leavving your original question to stand on its own. By your own reasoning, the following items in red are irrelevent to your question.

 

I know Tai Chi is funner..but the subtle movements don't seem like they help the spine enough as opposed to the pain that yoga can be..

 

This is not a conclusion you can make based on your experience. It is pure speculation. Beneath all the subjective minutaie lies the one critical question - "what is a all around better system of energy work."

 

As 5 Element said, pitting yoga vs tai chi creates what is referred to in the world of informal logic as a false comparison.

 

If you want energy work, you perform chi kung, specifically, nei kung, inner chi kung. As Bruce Frantzis has written for his western audience, chi kung , in its most basic biomechanical and bioelectrical function is about acquiring conscious control of one's nervous system, that part of our physical self that exists at the intersection of body and mind. Ancient Chinese culture cultivated this technique beyond that of any other culture.

 

Yoga, and by that I assume you mean the physical hatha yoga, makes you incredibly strong and flexible and in so doing enables you to relax so deeply that it becomes infinitely easier to calm your mind and sense your internal environment. So it is sensible to infer that someone with six months of daily hatha yoga experience is going to respond more quickly to chi kung exercises than someone who is tight and weak.

 

I personally have the good fortune of staying strong by working out regularly with my personal training clients, and I have a very flexible schedule, but if you are pressed for time, the 5 Tibetan Rites are an excellent choice for toning, strengthening, and flexibility while supporting energy flow, and they only take 15 minutes. I move right in to my standing Embrace Horse for 30 minutes right after the Rites. One hour's time is enough to get you started toward a very palpable internal environment.

 

The Embrace Horse link below is the best I've found on the web - It's not me.

[i_am_sam]

Do the one you feel to do and you won't go wrong. Lots of people I know do yoga, I meet a few that do tai chi.

 

I do tai chi because it attracted me, I've never felt a pull towards yoga.

 

enjoy

 

[NeiChuan]

Thats a wide wide question, considering how many ways people teach both.

 

Also how vast the systems are comes into play aswell.

[Stigweard]

That birds fly is "right."

Snakes live best when on the ground.

Best to follow "Deh."

 

----------

 

Deh, or true nature, is the spontaneous expression of an integral being. If this is expressed as yoga then that is the best. If it is expressed as Taiji, then that is best.

[steve]

So I have tried both..but have not done them in depth to tell what is a all around better system of energy work. I know Tai Chi is funner..but the subtle movements don't seem like they help the spine enough as opposed to the pain that yoga can be..

 

Anyways..I would like some opinions on what has worked better in personal experience..As I know yoga is more widely practiced..but I have seen taichi/qigong masters do some cool stuff in videos..

 

This is also assuming that one does not have time for both..

What are your goals Eviander?

Yoga and Taijiquan certainly have differences but also quite a few similarities.

If you want meaningful advice on which practice makes sense for you, we would need to know more about you and your objectives.

[DalTheJigsaw123]

Has worked better for what?

 

You need to decide what your goal is and then pick the one that will help you reach it.

 

Couldn't have said it better myself!

[Old Man Contradiction]

I know Tai Chi is funner..but the subtle movements don't seem like they help the spine enough as opposed to the pain that yoga can be..

 

If your Tai Chi training isn't painful you probably need to find a different teacher.

[Sloppy Zhang]

Tai Chi is really good in the way that it emphasizes a lot of natural movements, and that outside of a few crazy things from the Chen style, most routine tai chi practitioners are going to get some pretty low impact movements, and it's good for gently moving.

 

Some of the more "extreme" postures in yoga really didn't appeal to me, so I mostly stuck with tai chi/other qigong, then I tried yoga.

 

There is definitely something to it. I could really feel different places open up in certain postures. Sure, a lot of tai chi/qigong people say, "well this routine will open EVERYTHING", and that's all fine and good, but opening one or two specific things is also nice, and you can learn to feel when energy is flowing through one isolated place. Then you move on to the next posture, and at the end, you feel very "complete" after.

 

I say, do what is appealing to you, and what you enjoy doing.

[New Dawn Fades]

I know Tai Chi is funner..but the subtle movements don't seem like they help the spine enough as opposed to the pain that yoga can be..

 

Tai chi is good for a lot of things but it simply doesn't do much for your back, neither does chi kung if the practice is done all standing up straight.

[fiveelementtao]

Tai chi is good for a lot of things but it simply doesn't do much for your back, neither does chi kung if the practice is done all standing up straight.

Hmm I'm not sure I agree with you. My experience is exactly the opposite...

If done correctly and with adequate stretching and warm-up, Tai Chi is extremely good for the back. alot of "Tai Chi for Health" is taught and performed incorrectly and when done wrong can be very harmful to back, knees, hips etc......

In terms of standing Chi Kung, I know of nothing better for the back. My experience is that standing postures when done right always realign my spine and relieve any back pain...

This isn't to cast any doubt on Yoga... At all. Yoga is great for the back too....

[Yuen Biao]

Tai chi is good for a lot of things but it simply doesn't do much for your back, neither does chi kung if the practice is done all standing up straight.

 

With all due respect you sound as though you know very little about Taijiquan. As it is a holistic system Taiji is focused equally on the spine, shoulders, hips and legs to develop transmission of force.

 

If you are not learning how to open up the joints in these parts of the body and utilising them as whole I'm afraid you are not learning 'real' Taiji.

Edited December 7, 2009 by Yuen Biao

[C T]

Tibetan yantra yoga - exceptional practice on the Union of Sun and Moon. Here is an intro:

 

 

[steve]

Tai chi is good for a lot of things but it simply doesn't do much for your back, neither does chi kung if the practice is done all standing up straight.

I will also disagree. One of the reasons I started practicing Taijiquan was back pain.

The combination of the warmups, standing meditation, Qigong, and form practice have been great for my back.

So much so that I now focus on the martial Taijiquan training.

The more physical/martial training can be tough on the back but that is optional and not necessary for the healing and fitness aspect of Taijiquan.

[New Dawn Fades]

Tai chi is good for a lot of things but it simply doesn't do much for your back, neither does chi kung if the practice is done all standing up straight.

 

With all due respect you sound as though you know very little about Taijiquan. As it is a holistic system Taiji is focused equally on the spine, shoulders, hips and legs to develop transmission of force.

 

If you are not learning how to open up the joints in these parts of the body and utilising them as whole I'm afraid you are not learning 'real' Taiji.

 

'Real'? Probably more real than you can imagine or have seen, but no matter. Tai chi will surely help with posture and alignment but that's just a small piece of the puzzle. Two of the more important aspects of curing or preventing back pain is strengthening (which requires bending over and to the side and back - postures and movements) and flexing, and tai chi has none of it. The primary cause of back pain in most people is poor muscle strength so strengthening is essential. Maybe tai chi can help a little, but it's nothing compared to a good holistic chi kung system, which you may have not seen. I suspect it's what some people call warmups (which where I come from is chi kung) that is helping their backs mre than the taichi itself. Tai chi is great for a lot of things but it simply doesn't do much for your back compared to other systems.

Edited December 7, 2009 by New Dawn Fades