Paul Chou 12/29/2002

Lately, we had a good discussion on ''how to perform hand and finger in TaiChi exercise''. Here is my point of view, there are stages in the progress in TaiChi learning. The training methods on palm and fingers are different in those stages:

1. As a beginner, restrained by lack the ability to comprehend the total movement, the first thing we can learn is to imitate fingers and hands movement. By observing the circles and beauty of hand movement that our teacher''s performed.
2. At this stage, the old teaching remind us that we should keep our palms and wrist as fix as possible. Even use a card board to restrict movement of the wrists and fingers. Only when applying this restriction, one can learn how to observe movement of elbows and their circular path shown by his instructor. In this stage, while driving energy from elbows, the common mistake is the often broken integrity on the shoulders. One should focus on shoulders'' integrity at this point. By doing so, he can reveal the torso rotation.
3. The easiest mistake at this stage is relaxing and twisting waist (the area from Dan Tien to chest). This defect breaks the integrity to gain flexibility and fluency on upper body movement. However, it prevent one in further search on the relation of Dan Tien and the hip joints.
4. Now, the instructor should ask his student to fix the relation (not the muscle nor the organs nor the Chi) between shoulder joints and the hip joints. Under this constrain, the student will learn how to adjust legs' configuration from feet to hip, to operate torso rotation.

Although the above stages seem totally unrelated to your palms and fingers. They are the stages of training one has to pass, unfortunately.

Student stays in this stage for a while to develop deep sense in operating Dan Tien energy as a center source of entire body. Assuming he has develop this capacity. When intention arise, his Jing goes down to feet, grasp the ground. His Dan Tien operate against this reaction from ground up. Drive up along waist to chest to shoulders.... With the integrity he had built through time, his intention goes into elbows which are driven by shoulders. The forearms rotate around elbows as pivot point and root. Finally, express up through wrists, palms and blossom at fingers. Fingers show different shapes according to each intention.

If he has already built his energy from ground up, the finger expression should be a nature result. However, It is not just a word ''relax'', or ''go with nature'' can cover. As confused as they have already caused. It is a developed, integrated, synchronized and full of intention within, in every instances.

If he has not gone through all the hard work! He needs to be very disciplined as described above and start to follow the correct training path. It will be very hard for him to get there by only paying attention on the beautiful hand expression.