Yoga & Tai Chi: Ancient Asian Arts Find Their Way to Your Health Club

by Audrina Darling
11/21/07

Whether or not you've ever taken a health club Tai Chi class or Yoga class, you probably know that these two physical and spiritual practices date back hundreds of years, to China and India respectively. Looking back at the history of Tai Chi and Yoga, however, it's especially interesting to see how these two arts, separated by thousands of miles and completely different cultures, wound up side by side at health clubs across the world and in your own backyard.

Archaeological digs around the Indus Valley have revealed stone seals, dating back before the year 2,000 B.C., that may depict people in poses quite comparable to that of Yoga. Over the couple of millennia since, Yoga has remained a central aspect of both Hindu and Buddhist traditions, in all its various forms. It doesn't matter if you practice Karma Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Jnana Yoga, or any of the other popular variations. Certain core methodologies are consistent, including the use of particular physical postures and spiritual meditation to help gain a sense of peace and a deeper vision of the universe. It should be noted, however, that the Yoga most Americans know is a very different, Westernized version of the tradition, with less emphasis on spiritual dedication, and more on the holistic health benefits.

Not surprisingly, the same can be said of the Tai Chi Chuan, a Chinese martial art with roots dating back to the 12th century Taoist monk, Zhang Sanfeng. Through the centuries, a number of distinct styles of Tai Chi emerged, and by the 20th century, the art had been modified and introduced into the Western mainstream. Though Tai Chi Chuan was based on the concept of total balance to help in one's health, spirituality, and self defense, most of today's Western Tai Chi classes concentrate on Tai Chi's movements of balance as a form of healthy exercise, with less emphasis on meditation, and even less on Tai Chi as a form of martial art.

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