Yoga for relaxation and Martial Arts for fighting. What a contrast !
It is a contrast but hey – what about the Yin and Yang. I practiced yoga for around three years at my local Bannatyne’s in Banbury. I can confirm that there was no involvement is fighting, self defence or even any running away as a technique.
So what do these two past-times share ?
Traditional Martial Arts share with Yoga the mindfulness perception, being aware of yourself and surroundings, self discipline and the practice of meditation. They also share the concept of controlling and producing internal energy known as Chi, Qi or life force, energy flow.
Slow internal soft Martial Arts
Internal or soft Martial Arts relate to Tai Chi Chuan and other similar styles. They could also refer to certain styles of Kung Fu. These are the closest Martial Arts styles that are similar in their theories to Yoga. Although Yoga has it’s origins in India. These styles often have a slow, meditative style.
Fast external hard Martial Arts
These styles, such as Karate, Jiujitsu, Taekwondo and Judo use a much faster harder tempo but still require the concept of Chi or Ki (Japanese) to produce energy. I practiced Taekwondo for many years and dabbled in other similar styles, most of which used many warm up and warm down techniques closely resembling Yoga postures. Often Martial Arts that require a lot of high kicking techniques also require a lot of intense leg stretching to develop the ability to perform high kicks. A warm up often involves stretching similar to the Yoga moves of Warrior Pose, Triangle Pose and many others that involve opening up the hips and stretching the legs.
As with Yoga, traditional Martial Arts often have a period of meditation at the conclusion of training. This could involve kneeling or sitting cross legged or maybe even standing still or lying for several minutes.
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I practiced Yoga for one year and I felt very well. My backbone was really fit