Let’s consider our hands and think about the almost unlimited functions they serve. In Tai Chi, both the hands and arms are essential “listening tools”. Unfortunately, the vast majority of new students hold their hands in a tense and/or tight manner. A few even let their fingers and/or hands flop around without a clear concept of where they should be or why. Neither is conducive to “listening”. The hands and arms must be held in an “open free-flowing manner”.
We talked about palms, fingers, etc. in an earlier blog. There’s a lot of valuable information in that blog that you may want to review. When you change hand postures and or positions, you open a variety of transmission pathways for Qi, as well as a variety of mind/body interactions. This leads to improvements in your health, your skills, and provides a different, more interesting experience when you practice Tai Chi.
We know that in Tai Chi, for example, hands can grab, smash, strike, slap, chop, pull, push, and much more. One hand will often be doing one thing, while the other is doing something entirely different. Let’s put the martial applications aside and talk about the hands from a health point of view.
When you practice (and master) the different hand formations, you improve your hand strength and dexterity. By practicing different hand formations, you also increase the circulation in your hands while you open,and stretch. Your strength will improve in every part of your hand. As well, you stimulate the important acupoints located in the hand, which in turn builds muscle and improves your health. Correct hand practice makes your hands more supple and graceful. It does take practice though. A lot of students aren’t aware of this and find it surprising. They are more concerned about Tai Chi stepping and the choreography!
Osteoarthritis most commonly affects the joints in your hands, causing some loss of mobility and decreased hand function (ability to open and close). Many practitioners have reported seeing a decrease in swelling and pain in their hands and wrists, along with improvement in arthritis and carpal tunnel pain. Tai Chi’s soft, flowing movements and inner energy cultivation, leads Qi flow to your hands. It also helps maintain relaxed muscles, tendons, and joints.
Of note: Tai Chi Bang stick exercises may be beneficial for arthritic hands as it stimulates energy points to enhance circulation. You will develop dexterity in your hands and decrease hand joint stiffness. Even it you currently don’t show any signs or symptoms of osteoarthritis, the risk increases with age, especially in women. Tai Chi can help prevent development or decrease the risk of osteoarthritis.
Yet another reason why it’s important to stay active your entire life.
The Open Palm
The Open Palm facilitates internal energy flow according to Master Jesse Tsao, author of 108 Answers to Tai Chi Practice. On the other hand, the tightened fist stops the circulation of internal energy. The Open Palm stretches and contracts “slightly with each of your breaths”. Usually, hand movements away from your body coordinate with your exhale and softly, but gently, extend. When your hand extends and expands, it removes stagnant Qi and impurities from your body. When you inhale, your hand moves back towards your body and softly contracts. The contracting hand is collecting energy from nature and bringing it to your body. In other words, your “breath helps your hand’s movement and your hand’s movement helps your breath.”
Several “authorities” agree that there are many different hand positions in Tai Chi. However, there are others who insist that there are mainly four: the hook, the fist (vertical punch) and Tai Chi palm. The “fourth would only be used while wielding a jien or double edge sword” aka Tai Chi Sword.
Let’s look at some of the different hand movements we might use in Tai Chi. Most of these movements are not usually taught to new or beginning students. At the beginning, most are taught a normal or relaxed (transitional) hand, which is slightly cupped, like it’s holding a ball. This is also known as the Tai Chi Palm.
The Tiger’s Mouth hand is quite open with a lot of space between the index finger and the thumb. This is an active posture and the hand is ready to grab and/or twist, but not strike. It’s too open! A good example would be the left hand in a Left Brush Knee.
What if we wanted to strike? We might choose to keep the fingers erect with the thumb close to the palm of the hand. We would strike with the energy coming from the lower palm which would allow us to send the energy deep into our opponent. We might use this position for the striking hand in Brush Knee, for example.
Other hand positions are “Pushing or Neutralizing Hand”, “Slapping Palm”, Chopping Palm, Finger Poke Hand, Back of Hand Striking Hand, Fist, and Hook Hand. Hand movements and positions depend on the purpose of your form, your focus, your experience, and the different martial arts styles, lineages, etc. As you might imagine, there are many, many more hand postures than this blog can cover!
Focusing on hand positions when practicing Tai Chi is very beneficial for practitioners. It not only looks and feels good, the focus can help relax your mind and improve your mood! Sounds like a plus to me!
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There’s a short but very good, video on relaxing and holding the hands in Tai Chi: https://taiji-forum.com/tai-chi-qigong-video/tai-chi-tips/tai-chi-hand-position/
I’ve also included a couple of others for your “viewing pleasure”.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BocBsy-6Q3c
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F14wBVUBm9Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iza4OA_W5U8