Sticky and Nimble Hands

手為先鋒*

Hands are the vanguard

手以心把, 心以手把**

Hands are held by the heart, the heart by the hand.

One trains the grip, not the fist.

Closing the fist to open the tip of the fingers.

To extend the fascias, one shall always quarter the centre of one's palms.

Holding the hilt with the tip of one's finger and the depression in the palm, never pressing with the knuckles

Extending the hand to tense lax muscles through stretch, not closing the fist to contract them.

Hands as holding something so lightly it is on the verge of dropping.

Improving one's hand stickiness for lightness and fascias for firmness and nimbleness.

Moving the hilt like playing an instrument with one's fingers.

The wrist is flat to align the hand but twisted if the hand is locked. 

*七要論, 九要論, Discourse on the Seven Essentials, Discourse on the Nine Essentials 

**交手法, Hand to Hand Fighting Method. It is interesting to notice that 手把 also means handgrip, hence a probable reference to weapons handling. In addition, if you reverse the characters order for 手把, you get 把手, which means grip.