The 200 Hand Postures

[Anonymous]

Early in the BMP, Bruce showed the most basic palm shape and a couple of variations as well as their martial applications. After all these years, does anyone know what these are really about? If you do, please post an explanation. If not, here is my take.

With the exception of the basic hand posture, all of the details of the palm shapes are a complete waste of time until you reach the stage when you are able to move the body primarily by manipulating the CSF. The balance of going out to the center of the palm and back toward the shoulder that Bruce describes is facilitated by the pressures felt in the CSF. In fact all of the details related to central equilibrium end up in the same place; however, there are stages to central equilibrium.

I now believe that chi chu dzuo is the stage where you manipulate the body primarily through the CSF. Interestingly, at this point there is no synaptic gap. The CSF connects and unifies the body. Its “commands” are virtually instantaneous, fluid, smooth, and inherently balanced.

“The mind leads, the chi follows, the blood follows the chi, the strength follows the blood.” is a accurate description of the process, but useless if you really don’t understand what chi is or how to control you blood or how your blood is supposed to relate to moving the body.

Anyway I don’t know all the details of the 200 hand postures but I do know it is a complete waste of time until you’ve reached chi chu dzuo (page 75 of the second edition of The Power of the Internal Martial Arts and Chi).

[Author]

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