What are the shortcomings of yoga and Tai Chi

As an enthusiast who has practiced Hatha Yoga for 7 years and followed Park Chen Style Tai Chi for 4 years, I must first explain that there is no absolute superiority or inferiority between the two. However, in comparison, yoga is less friendly to middle-aged and elderly novices, has a higher risk of injury due to improper practice, and is also slightly weaker in the physical and mental coordination adaptability of ordinary local practitioners. The essence of these differences is that the origins and training logic of the two types of sports are different.

When I was working as a part-time teaching assistant at a yoga studio, I saw too many middle-aged and elderly students who were eager to open their hips and break the horse. There was a 58-year-old aunt who pressed the lotus position hard to keep up with the instructor's rhythm. After squatting for three days, her knees accumulated fluid and she had trouble even going downstairs. Later, she was dragged by an old sister to practice Tai Chi. At first, she was too slow. After practicing for three months, she said that the deep pain in her knees had long since disappeared. In fact, the root cause is that the movement logic of Tai Chi is always "walking in an arc within the range of motion of your own joints." The requirement to loosen the waist and sink the hips is based on the force exerted by the muscles. You will never be forced to do the splits or fold to any standard angle. However, many commercial yoga classes on the market are in order to achieve results. It is easy to take photos and spread, and it will unconsciously lead students to break through their physical limits. Of course, some friends who practice Iyengar yoga argue with me, saying that the injury rate of yoga that uses props correctly and does not pursue amplitude is lower than that of Tai Chi. I agree with this. The problem is that it is difficult for ordinary novices to meet such professional teachers.

In addition to the obvious risk of injury, there is also a very hidden difference that is the issue of cultural adaptation. In the past two years, I took several uncles who retired from state-owned enterprises to learn yoga. When the meditation session was about chakras and energy flow, they couldn't sit still. They always thought it was "mysterious stuff made by foreigners". Later, I learned it from a Tai Chi teacher. The teacher said, "Qi sinking in the Dantian means that you don't puff up your chest and belly, and sink the Qi down to your belly." Of course, there are also many students born after 1995 and 2000 who feel that the "qi" of Tai Chi is too abstract, while yoga's focus on tightening the core and stretching muscles is more straightforward. This is also a matter of opinion.

There is also a very practical small problem. Yoga has more restrictions on scenarios than Tai Chi. I used to work overtime on a project until my shoulders and neck became stiff. I stood up and did more than ten cloud hand strokes, and my shoulders became loose in two minutes. No one in the office found it strange. If I did cat-cow pose or downward dog pose of yoga, I had to find a place to lay a mat. There was too much movement and even my colleagues thought it was strange. Even outdoors, Tai Chi can be done wearing cloth shoes and ordinary sportswear. For yoga, you have to find a flat place to lay a mat. Wearing too loose clothes when doing inverted poses can easily expose your body, which is a bit troublesome.

All in all, these are just relative shortcomings. If you are young, have good joint mobility, and are pursuing obvious body shaping effects, yoga is actually more suitable. But if you are older and want gentle physical and mental synchronization exercise, Tai Chi is indeed more suitable. There is no need to compete with each other.