What’s the connection between T’ai Chi and yoga?
Both T’ai Chi Ch’uan and yoga are part of the short list of Classical Mind/Body disciplines. These ancient and traditional arts share four essential characteristics to conserve and circulate the vital life energy: alignment of the spine, control of the breath, relaxation of the mind and body, and use of visualization. One of the many allegorical stories in the tradition of T’ai Chi involves the monk Bodhidharama, who brought Ch’an Buddhism from India to China and established the famous Shaolin Temple. According to the legend, after setting up the temple Bodhidharma went into a cave to meditate for 10 years. When he came out, he found his followers to be weak and sickly from spending all their time in meditation and contemplation and not getting any exercise. As a consequence, they were unable to defend themselves against bandits or even wild animals. So Bodhidharma decided to teach the other monks a system of stretching and strengthening exercises also brought from India – in other wor
