The human hand is a complicated instrument with limitless possibilities and man, even in his most inventive ways, has never been able to fully duplicate a human hand. Life, without the use of our hands, would be very difficult.

The hands are significant to the most basic needs of life itself and are one of the factors that separate humans from other animals. As humans, our hands are important for living and everything we do is somehow connected to the use of the hands.

Certain animals, such as monkeys or apes, lack in a specific skill and adept performance in the use of their hands. Humans, however, have the ability to create anything from the most basic needs of life to the most beautiful objects of art. The use of the hands can be skillful and caring or they can be clumsy and destructive. As humans, we have both the knowledge and choice to determine whether to use our hands constructively or destructively.

The true use of the hands becomes art as we exercise a conscious arrangement of knowledge and intuitive faculties to attain skilled workmanship or mastery. Art, in itself, cannot be learned solely by study, but must be experienced and felt through the soul. As art is developed from within, the hands bring the inner feelings and ideas to realization.

The art of the hands is a melding of the mind and hands in an intuitive and ingenious way such that the hands are perceived to have their own mind. Thus, a man's soul is revealed through his art and the use of his hands is the fulfillment that transforms the soul into art.

In the martial arts, the importance of the hands is apparent; however, it is very easy to misuse this ability in a destructive way. The artful use of the hands disposes of the aggressive nature of man and separates our human qualities from our animalistic nature. In order for us to become true martial artists, we must practice "Te no Jutsu" the art of the hands.

Jim Logue Copyright January 1993