Hand position for standing (Wu Chi)

[Anonymous]

This may sound like a silly question, but it’s getting in the way of my standing practice, so I’d like to get it cleared up.

Basically, in order to be comfortable standing, I tend to wear jogging bottoms, with elasticated waist so I can breath easily and comfortably. The trouble is that most of the jogging bottoms (pants?) I can find for sale have pockets.

These pockets make it very hard for my hands/thumbs to rest evenly and comfortably against my thighs when doing the Wu Chi posture, so much so that I find it hard to focus on the standing practice itself. I don’t know if this is some kind of OCD that I should try and get over, or if it might be better to adjust my hand position to one of the variations I’ve seen from other traditions.

Actually there’s a picture of Bruce in one of his books doing Wu Chi with his hands slightly away from his body. Other traditions I’ve seen have the hands facing the hips as in beginning D T, or facing backwards, fingers slightly spread (like the picture of Bruce).

It’s only Bruce’s tradition where I’ve come across the thumbs on thighs thing.

If I make a conscious effort to keep my armpits open, does it matter if I keep my hands a little off my body?

Thanks in advance for any answers.

R.

[Anonymous]

Hey Robin,

I don’t do a lot of standing work these days so my knowledge might be a little rusty.

In Bruce’s system, you can do standing with your palms (or thumbs) resting on the sides of your thighs. This is how it’s often taught to beginners. At the very beginning, you want people to just relax. They have so much tension in their arms and bodies in general that you are just trying to get them to let go.

After they relax and can get some energy moving through their system then you give them a better version of that standing posture. Since they’re cutting some of the energy off by closing their armpits. So the hands move a little off the body and the palms face backwards and armpits open up. Like you see Bruce do in this video

It sounds like your on the right track!

Hope this helps,
Janak

[Anonymous]

Thanks Janak.

[Anonymous]

I had a similar question answered by Mr. Cavel:
http://www.energyarts.com/forum/arm-position-when-standing

[Author]

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