Empty Hands

Blog Article/Post Caveat (Read First Please: Click the Link)

Why are they considered sooooo important that they are a descriptive term used to name an entire system and discipline that utilizes the whole body for protection and defense? It goes way back to those ancient days when humans crawled out of the primordial muck to walk upright. 

Apparently, as we already know through our instincts, hands and arms are our survival tools and hold higher criticality over the rest of our bodies. It all begins and ends with the hands and arms. 

Orientation Reflex: how for survival we humans orient toward movement because our hands perform and enhance life (we feed ourselves; our finger dexterity allows to grab, etc.; and our hands are used to inflict appropriate methods of violence toward grave damage and death as a part of our survival and since the hands and arms hold such important status we evolved to observe and act according to how others use their hands and the impressions those hands communicate both in our tribe and in others we encounter. Humans key off the hands of those who could endanger us, security and safety needs, and our impressions as others enter our sphere of influence tells us a great deal about that person as to "comfort/discomfort" that, in turn, should trigger our survival traits, i.e., freeze, flight or fight, etc.

I wondered and observed practitioners in the dojo by how they maintain their hands. Hands that reflect the persons well-being, self-respect and self-confidence always impressed me in understanding how well they would apply themselves on the dojo floor. It also told me how long they would remain, study and earn their status in karate.

Since we are programmed by nature to asses others intentions by observing, assessing and forming opinions by the hands they present to us it can tell a lot about the danger or lack of in potentially dangerous situations and environments. 

Law Enforcement know, as many violence professionals know, that to watch/check the hands of potential dangers of humans is how they determine if that person presents a danger to them. They know that it is the hands that hurt you. Example: if you are pulled over you will win a lot of points with the officer if you roll down your window then place your hands, palms up, on TOP of your steering wheel. Try it if you ever get pulled over and if approached on the streets keep your hands in a way that the officer can see them - at all times. 

People who hide their hands should gain your full attention until you can assess the person and situation with more information. 

Don't point, use the full hand in vertical or palm-up position to do your pointing, people don't like that finger as it in many cases is interpreted as an offensive gesture.  As a Marine Corps Instructor/Teacher we learned early on that using the open hand, like a knife hand strike position, to gesture for emphasis and then point to various things in teaching goes a long way to ensure they focus and learn. 

There are a variety of hand/arm gestures, etc., that speak volumes to what a person feels and intends so it warrants further study and you can get that from Mr. Joe Navarro's books on body/nonverbal communications (see the references listed at the end).

Remember, although we all look first to the hands for impressions and intent in regard to defense and protection and safety, it also requires one to interpret the rest of one's face and body for nonverbal information that tells us what the person intends including any possible dangers they may intend. Also, use such strategies and methods to set boundaries that give you time and distance to act BEFORE things go astray, i.e., to avoid or escape-n-evade, etc.

Note: we hear all the time how we should be aware of "furtive gestures" and that means reading one's hands not only as to aesthetics (ones hand aesthetics go a long way to communicate both positive and negative impressions of those who observe us; they can also demonstrate quickly comfort or discomfort too) but how they are used in such fashion to check things in case they need to utilize things to achieve their intent, just saying! 

Since hands are a dominant indicator of who we are, our attitudes and what we might intend be it good or bad is how we have survived since those days we first crawled from the primordial muck to walk upright we can begin to understand why the hands, in karate, hold such high status even tho karate, as do other disciplines, utilize the entire body because in the end regardless of methods or methodologies they all rely on our hands and arms to achieve success. 

For reference and sources and professionals go here: Bibliography (Click the link)

Navarro, Joe. "Louder Than Words: Take Your Career from Average to Exceptional with the Hidden Power of Nonverbal Intelligence" William Marrow Publishing. January 1, 2010.

Navarro, Joe. "What Every Body Is Saying: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Speed-Reading People." Harper Collins. 2008.

Note: there are many other references available, these are the two that I preferred for my own studies and presented herein in case you want to read more from my source material.