Effects of Different Finger Grips and Arm Positions on the Performance of Manipulating the Chinese Brush in Chinese Adolescents

Abstract

This study aimed to investigate the effects of finger grip and wrist position on Chinese calligraphy handwriting (CCH). Thirty participants were recruited in the study and asked to manipulate the Chinese brush using two finger grip methods (three-finger grip and five-finger grip) and two wrist positions (suspended wrist and raised wrist). Three experimental writing tasks were applied to investigate writing stability, agility, and hand–eye coordination, and to evaluate the completion time (s), area of error (cm2), and error times. Subjective responses (arm aching level, ease of grip, exertion level, and comfort) regarding the four combinations of Chinese brush manipulation were measured. The results indicated significantly better performance with the three-finger grip for the stability and agility tests, and with the five-finger grip for the hand–eye coordination task. Using the suspended wrist position for CCH allowed better agility and hand–eye coordination than the raised wrist position. In consideration of the results of the four operational combinations, the three-finger grip with a suspended wrist position demonstrated the best performance in both objective and subjective measurements. It is recommended for application in the early learning stage. These findings can be considered when teaching Chinese brushes for beginners of CCH in schools.