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What is Plam?
In Taiji Quan routines, palm techniques hold a dominant place. The main feature of the Tai Chi Chuan palm method is the looseness of the fingers, as opposed to the palm method of Chang Quan (Long-style Boxing) in which the thumb is closely bent and the other fingers are kept straight and tightly together.(Fig. 4-1)
Beginners should extend or withdraw their palms naturally and smoothly. The fingers should not be kept tightly together or opened forcefully, nor should the palm be cupped. When you are more skilled in Tai Chi Chuan, the movements will come easily. In stretching out your hand , the palm should be slightly cupped. This is empty palm. While the palm is stretched out and turned in a spiral form , it is gradually smoothed out and the cup becomes gradually flat. This is called from empty to solid. When the palm reaches its final point, the cup nearly disappears. The fingers are slightly spread, the palm is seated on the wrist and the bottom of the palm protrudes with slight power applied to it to help extend the palm forward and concentrate the mind and power on the fingertips. This is solid palm. When the palm is withdrawn, and it shrinks back in a spiral form, the palm gradually returns to the original state of a shallow cup form. This is called from solid to empty.
Movements of the palms form part of the integral whole. Therefore, the empty and solid state of the palm should be combined with that of the integral whole. As expressed in boxing theory, power is “Rooted at the feet, released from the legs, controlled by the waist and displayed in the fingers…. Theey must be combined as a whole.” The movements of the hands should be in keeping with the complete movements of the waist, legs and feet.
In the fixed position of every stance, the fingertips and the tiptoes must respond to each other; the tips of the two hands should also respond to each other, and the fingers should form a straight line with the tip of the nose in most stances. In boxing terminology, this is called “three tips form a straight line.”
When the palm is pushed out, its perpendicular face should not be extended further than the knee. If it is extended further, you will lose your center of balance. The arm should always be bent. Keep a stance of reservation, and change the stance depending on the situation. The movements should not be stiff or interrupted.
The palm methods are generally divided into standing palm, palm upward, palm downward and side palm according to their directions and images.
