In Tai Chi we say that you must have ‘beautiful hands’.

The hands are extensions of the eyes, tongue and nose, they ‘see, taste and smell’, in their own way at a distance. The cupped palm is directly connected to the arches of the feet and the fingers are tentacles upon the tentacles that are the hands. The fingers, palms and wrists form bows along with the elbows and armpits to stimulate, store and release energy from the lower body.

In Tai Chi the hands constantly flex and change, expressing the nature of each technique, they claw like a tiger, wrap around like a snake, flap like a crane’s wings and shake like a wild horse shakes its mane.

Power comes from the feet, legs and hips, is manipulated by the waist, transmitted through the arms and expressed by the hands.

The neural system and energy meridians all end and are focused in the hands and fingers. It’s not by accident that the generic name for martial arts is ‘te’ in Japanese or ‘chuan’ in Chinese meaning ‘hand’. If you just clench them into fists it’s using a blunt object to do a delicate and infinitely variable task.