In Yang-22 our open palm typically either holds a Small Chi Sphere, holding a Chi Ring (Shoulder Ring or Kua Ring), or momentarily is not holding anything.

To ensure a smooth learning of the 22-form an exercise we do is to practice forming a fist from an open palm and vice versa. To begin the exercise you can have your open palm facing down, gently holding a Small Chi Sphere.

Now imagine that the Small Chi Sphere is shrinking in size. As it does so, your fingers curl to follow the shrinking. You stop when the Small Chi Sphere has shrunk to a size such that your fingers have curled to form an empty fist. At this point, squeeze the Small Chi Sphere and it will fit the space between your fingers snugly.

To reverse the process, begin to open up your semi clenched fist into a palm. Imagine that the Small Chi Sphere is expanding to a bigger size, with the expansion causing your fingers to begin to uncurl.

This continues until the growing Small Chi Sphere causes your fingers to extend until your fingers and the hollow of your palm forms a concave shape, as if your palm is suctioned to the Small Chi Sphere.

If you practice this exercise a lot at a point in time, down the road you will feel as if your strength has reached the tips of your fingers when you are hand is in open palm. If your hand is forming the semi-hollowed fist, you will feel that the structure of the hollowed fist is energized, such that you can hit a target without clenching your fist and the force generated will be just as powerful, if not greater than when you clench your fist firmly on impact.

Note – don’t try this until you have put in sufficient practice otherwise your wrist may buckle and your curled fingers collapse inwards on impact, breaking the power line of your punch.

Next, you can practice changing from an open palm to a hook. From an open palm bring your five fingers together as if picking up a small marble. Once the marble is picked up, imagine that there is a smaller Chi Sphere in the space between the fingers and the hollow of the palm. This Chi Sphere will aid in giving rise to the Elongated Wrist. Your hook hand should feel energized with power.

Finally, you can combine both exercises by changing from palm to fist, back to palm, then to hook. From hook, change back to fist, then to palm, and begin again.