The salute is a signal from the
student to the teacher that the student is ready to practice
and learn. Standing with feet flat and straight ahead the
student should have squared his or her shoulders. The eyes are
looking straight forward and one inhales lightly before the
actual salute. The left arm is held with the elbow bent and
near the leftside ribs so that the bottom of the hand is
roughly level with the heart. The hand is held with the palm
facing toward the right, perpendicular to the floor and
fingers extended upward. The thumb is relaxed, parallel to the
ground and pointing toward the heart with about a three inch
distance to the chest. The right elbow is bent with the
forearm parallel to the ground. The right hand is in a fist
palm downward. Note that the four fingers are clenched and the
inner (right) tip of the thumb touches the centerpoint of the
middle finger. The actual salute occurs when the fist moves to
the left and contacts the area of the left palm just below the
bases of the left fingers. Then both hands move parallel to
the ground and away from the chest for about two inches. The
student holds this position until the teacher's salute is
complete. Then the hands retract, the right fist separates by
moving to the right and the hands slowly drop outward and down
until they are touching the gall bladder meridians on the
outside of both legs. |