Although not much push hands is
taught at Silver Wolf Wushu it is still important to keep
fingernails trimmed. If your fingernails are too long they
have a tendency to break when you grab things like a weapon or
a teacher's arm. In addition, we do a fair amount of
light massage on the face and head after sitting so short,
smooth nails help you not to scratch yourself. If you are
doing Iron Palm training the canvas bag will damage long nails
very quickly. I have heard mixed reports about long nails when
doing special conditioning like Dragon Rings and Chi Cu
stones.
A useful and practical test is to make a fist with
the fingertips pressed into the palm. Then close the fist
by moving the tip of the thumb to the middle of the middle of
the middle finger. If you feel discomfort or there are red marks on your palm, your nails are too long.
Try to clip
any nails perpendicular to the long axis of the finger. It may
be useful to trim the corners at 45 degrees as well. The
picture below shows a clipper, an emory board for smoothing
after cutting (or whenever you want) and a cuticle
("hangnail") trimmer. If you have an annoying cuticle
during class ask an aide to trim it for you. A number of
martial arts colleagues over the years would put a clear
lacquer on their nails to strengthen the nails and to look
more glamorous.
Toenails should also be cut squarely with
some attention to corners as well.
Note that cutting the
nails too short exposes the soft tissue beneath - this is what
the nail is trying to protect. Trimmed toenails make it easier
to get socks on, and don't ram into the shoe when the foot
moves forward. For those doing bagua zhang sets toe care is
more important because of the emphasis bagua places on turning
with the toes as opposed to tai chi's emphasis on turning with
the heels. We suggest the heavier clipper on the left for use
on toes.
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