Many Tai Chi applications are performed with Tai Chi Open Hands. When most people first look at a Tai Chi set one of the first questions that they think and wonder about or ask is how can Tai Chi possibly be a real martial art. I believe that this question would not occur if the entire set were done with closed fists but the question happens because most people do not recognize or understand the benefits of the open hand as a self defense tool.
What exacerbates the situation is that not only is the Tai Chi form performed with open hands but it is Tai Chi Open Hands where the techniques are normally performed in slow motion in a continuous manner as the set is practiced. Anyway, once a person understands the power and benefits of Open Hand techniques then the Tai Chi set takes on a whole new light.
Open Hand techniques lend themselves to transferring whole body power, faster whip like movement and the ability to strike with shock or to become hard and strike with blunt force trauma literally as fast as the practitioner can think to make their hand solid from a relaxed position. Tai Chi open hands are a necessary component to transferring energy and whole body weight in strikes. Open hands cover more surface area than fists and are safer than striking with a fist due to the ability to conform to a surface as opposed to being the hard knuckles which get busted up when they contact another hard surface such as a head.
Tai Chi Open hands also lend themselves to grabbing or grappling as and when needed without having to change the shape of the hand very much to execute the technique making for a very rapid transition from striking to grappling and back to striking. Also, when you want or need to make a fist the Tai Chi Open hand can become a fist strike on the way to the target helping to condense and accelerate the intended strike.
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