Beautiful Lady's Hand

Architect Mies van der Rohe once said, “God is in the details.” In talking about Tai Chi we might paraphrase this as “Chi is in the details.” Most Tai Chi classes teach the basic movements, then begin to refine the form by stressing principles, applications and philosophy and working on the details. Focusing on details too early can be distracting, but after achieving an understanding of the movements, how they follow one another, it is essential.

One important principle in Tai Chi is softness. This is practiced by keeping the limbs loose, curved and never fully extended. A crucial detail in which softness is practiced is the position of the hand. Never stiff, never extended, always soft.

Wolfe Lowenthal’s book on Cheng Man-Ch’ing, “Gateway to the Miraculous,” has been fascinating me since I first read it. On the cover is a photo close-up of the Professor’s hand in a gesture he calls, “Beautiful Lady’s Hand.” The hand is open but partially folded, the fingers lightly bent, the wrist loose and curved. It seems dossal, limp, but is actually endowed with potential energy, like a spring or a coiled whip. There is no tension in that hand, yet it is ever ready to strike. Like the “needle wrapped in cotton,” there is hardness hidden in the softness.

Early in my study of Tai Chi I held my hands flat with my thumbs sticking out. One time my teacher grabbed me by one of my thumbs: the pain was excruciating! “See,” he said, “you’re giving your opponent a handle.” What he didn’t know was that a few years before I had a severe fall in which I had partially dislocated both thumbs. I held my thumbs outward to ease the pain in my carpometacarpal joints where osteoarthritis was rapidly developing.

You may have read that Tai Chi is good for arthritis, not as a cure but as a therapy. I believe this is true. Over the years I have concentrated on holding my hands in the “Beautiful Lady’s” position, curving my thumbs and fingers slightly. I do this not only during Tai Chi practice but whenever my hands are at rest or idle. I also do finger and thumb exercises, sort of Tai chi for the fingers. Without movement a joint becomes stiff. It’s the same principle that creates some of the health benefits of Tai Chi.

Hands of the Golden Buddha in meditative position (Dhyana mudra).

The hands are not used to grasp an opponent. It may seem, for example, in Roll Back, that you have grasped each side of your opponent’s arm and you are pulling them around you. Here, however, the hands only  guide as the body turns and the opponents momentum propels them forward. In Push Hands, if you grasp your opponent, you are merely increasing their control of you. In effect you have created a fulcrum for your opponent’s leverage.

Yang Chen Fu demonstrating Fair Lady Works the Shuttle

The hands are not used to block. There is no such thing as a block in Tai Chi. There is sticking, following, redirecting, but no blocking. Again, to block you must become rigid  and immoveable. The outcome will depend on whose force and mass are greater. This is not Tai Chi. There is a movement called Fair Lady Works the Shuttle (or Jade Lady or Four Corners) which appears to be a series of blocks, one arm held high to guard the forehead and the other pushing outward, chest level. As you can see in this photo of Yang Chen Fu, the raised arm does appear to be a block. However, when seen as a typical “sticking and following” sequence, this interpretation changes considerably.

There is a nice description on line of the Fair Lady movement on Taichido.com (http://www.taichido.com/chi/explore/Cpt3part2.htm) including some videos. The movement can be seen as an upending of the opponent, similar to Ward Off. The author of the Taichido piece concludes with this:

As a concluding curve ball for further contemplation may I urge you investigate 'Fair Lady' as an upending trip. The foot, leading with the heel in the case of an opponent at locations other than the front, is placed behind those of the opponent and the forearm (this arm and 'leading' leg is always the same i.e. right arm/leg left arm/leg) applies 'extended (yang) ward off that becomes the push that applies the trip.

There are two other forms the hands take besides that of the Beautiful Lady: the Fist and the Hook. The fist, used during various punches, as well as Dredge Ocean for the Moon, Double Gusts Penetrate Ears, Advance to the Seven Stars, and so forth, is also formed loosely. The fingers are curved in toward the palm but only so far, as if you were holding a roll of quarters. The thumb is bent across the outside of the fist. The wrist is not curved but is able to twist and guide so that the punch strikes as an extension of the arm, guided in turn by movement of the waist. Hence there is no tension in the fist.

Cheng Man Ching demonstrating Single Whip

The Hook is formed by the right hand during Single Whip (except in Sun Style and Wu/Hao Style where it is a fist). The thumb touches the index and middle fingers and the wrist is bent. Applications of the Single Whip posture are many and variations of the stance and positioning of arms and legs vary from version to version. Examination of the Single Whip should be saved for another time except to point out that in relaxing and opening up the Hook, the hand goes easily into the Beautiful Lady form.

I see the Beautiful Lady’s Hand as a detail that embodies many of the principles of the Tai Chi Chuan form. The advanced beginner (is that an oxymoron?) can benefit from exploiting this idea as they practice, allowing the hands to relax, curve gently and move by following the actions of the arms which in turn follow the actions of the waist. Remember, Chi is in the details.