I admittedly don’t know much about yoga. Besides the Sun Salutation and a few basic poses like lotus (okay, for me half lotus) and the plank, I haven’t practiced too much, either. I do enjoy what little I’ve done and appreciate yoga’s application to the martial arts. Flexibility, tranquility, discipline of mind and body, breath control–all of these things are essentials. I hope to begin learning a little more about yoga not only for martial arts but for its mental, physical, and spiritual health benefits practitioners enjoy.
I don’t think I’ll ever be able to hold a flame to these guys, though. Here are two videos submitted to me by a reader. I’m not familiar with the yogis, so any insight would be helpful. The recordings are from the 1930’s and are definitely worth watching. You can see some of the techniques from the first video practiced by Rickson Gracie (stomach), Eddie Bravo (lotus), and Michael Jordan (tongue).
The second video is really outrageous. This yogi’s Cirque du Soleil moves are beyond impressive. He truly embodies the union of mind and body which martial artists strive for; it must have taken decades of dedicated practice to master these contortions!
I hope you enjoy these videos and that they inspire your practice. Shout out if you know more about these incredible yogis and their art!
PS – Bonus points to the first reader to leave a link in the comments regarding the reference in the title!
Moai Martial Arts 
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhalsim
Winner!
Since the theme of gaming showed up here, I’ll throw in a less cool variant.
The wii and kinect have games with yoga “workouts”. Why the quotes? Let’s be honest…it’s a game… But if you have a game system, try doing the simple yoga after doing a few sets of burpees and see if you can hold the positions/forms/whatever they are called. Let the shaking begin!
Cool idea. I’ll try that!