Handwriting - Should You Learn to Write With Your Arm?

[@Lindys.human123]

The reason I stumbled into arm writing is as I have been getting older I've been experiencing pain on my fingers and wrist from holding a pen. When I started practicing whole arm movement drills I noticed pain was gone. So although my handwriting looks worse at the moment using whole arm movement, the lack of pain motivates me to keep practicing. Just wanted to share my personal reason for trying to learn this method

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Mariel Feliciano there is no better way to write ergonomically than with your arm. Keep it up and your arm writing will surpass your finger writing before you know it!

[@robogamer1921]

I would recommend this to everyone, this gets rid of the pain that happens in the fingers when writing.

[@SUPERVANS56]

I’m trying to learn to draw with my arm, and I feel like this is a natural companion to that.

[@anitavela-johnson1757]

This video along with part 1 are very helpful , especially the resource links. I find your explanations to be easy to follow. I am learning arm writing not to be a calligrapher but to reduce pain due to arthritis. This method was recommended by my physician . My writing looks pretty awful right now but I am more hopeful to stick with it after your videos. Thank you very much.

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Thanks for watching the videos Anita. Arm writing will certainly give you some relief. The writing will get better and anything is better than being in pain!

[@garyhughes1664]

What a fascinating video. I’d never heard of the Palmer technique until I came across your video. Being a slow writer, left-handed and always finding writing a bit of a struggle, particularly with holding the pen too tightly, I shall try out this method to see if it improves my writing. Thx for sharing.

[@gebbytoo]

Important things that need to be said!! Thanks for the shout-out btw.

[@simonjonasmusic8410]

I'm in the process of switching to arm movement writing, simply because of horrible cramps/pain I've had whilst finger-writing for the past 35 years. Arm movement writing almost immediately resolves those cramps. It doesn't look nice now and it is a BIG change to make in my fourties. But it will look better and I am able to write basically pain-free this way.

[@kikolektrique1737]

I like writing, problem is that i'm trying to write for longer periods of time. plus i use a fountain pen which i love. So i thought the best choice for me is writing with my arm. Its a bit hard but i'll figure it out. But thanks to your vids i was able to figure out where to start, what i'm doing wrong. And last but not least what i should focus on first.

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Great to hear! Reach out anytime with questions.

[@kikolektrique1737]

@@PerfectBiscuits will do

[@Brumor]

I want to be able to write faster in college exams. Do you think learning whole arm writing will be good for such purpose?

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Probably not if you can get by writing with your fingers.

[@Brumor]

@@PerfectBiscuits Thank you very much!

[@tval3183]

I went through Michael Sull's "American Cursive Handwriting" a few years ago, which explains the modern history of American cursive from the Spencerian script of the Gilded Age to the Palmer method that our parents and grandparents learned, to D'nealian which is what I and likely many others here learned. Rather than take us back to past arm-based methods it deals with handwriting for today, offering basic principles using a combination of hand and arm movements for creating even, consistently sized and slanted letters while leaving room for personal style. It may not be for everyone but my handwriting did improve after going through the exercises and practicing consistently, although I likely need to review it again or explore other methods as my technique seems to wax and wane periodically.

[@jwalters3225]

Hi there! I watched your "why is arm writing difficult" series and some of these also. Very informative, thank you! I've been studying Copperplate about 6 months following a two year journey of Modern Calligraphy. I think I have figured out muscular movement but now I want to develop arm movement for smoother flourishes. My question: do you find yourself using muscular movement for normal letters and then switching to arm movement for bigger flourishes? I may be leaning too much on my forearm, but I find it gets "stuck" on the table when I try to transition for a flourish at the end of a word. Another penman I follow suggests he uses whole arm movement and always glides his forearm on the table. So I'm unclear how much to "rest" my forearm... or if it should barely touch the table so my arm is free to swing away for a flourish at any moment. I'd greatly appreciate your thoughts. Thanks!!

[@PerfectBiscuits]

It all comes down to the "writing zone", which is a concept I believe I covered in the "why is arm writing difficult" series. If you are using muscular movement, you have a much more restricted writing zone than if you are using whole arm movement. If the flourish you want to create is bigger than the writing zone of muscular movement, you'll have to use whole arm movement. Also, for copperplate or modern calligraphy, 99% of the strokes should probably be done with finger movement. I wouldn't use muscular movement to execute the normal strokes for the letter forms.

[@jwalters3225]

@@PerfectBiscuits thanks for your reply! I trust you've already mastered this so you know better. I would expect finger movement to change the nib-to-paper angle, potentially snagging on upstrokes, but lemme know if you feel otherwise. I guess what I'm stumped on is this: if I know I'm planning a big flourish at the end, should I start my word with whole arm movement... or write it with finger/muscular and then lift my forearm for the flourish at the end? Sorry if this all sounds dumb... I've had to retrain my arm multiple times, from a death-grip to tripod hold, from finger to muscular movement, etc. Just trying to find a good approach that lets me write and flourish smoothly. Thanks again for your time!

[@PerfectBiscuits]

I am by no means a master of copperplate, but I know for sure that nobody uses muscular movement or whole arm movement to execute the letters. It is only used for flourishing. Nibs write just fine with finger movement. If the nib catches on the upstroke, you’re pressing too hard.

[@kaitmarie6505]

Can you still use arm movement for printing, rather than cursive? My main motivation behind learning arm movement is hand pain. After mostly typing for so long, I find that my hands and wrists now get tired and painful super quickly.

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Yea you can, but it ca be difficult at small sizes. You’ll have to try it to figure out how small you can write with arm movement.

[@___sxbr___]

Does your arm hurt much less if you use arm writing ? I just came out of my 2nd yr medical school exams, and my hand killed so much that I couldn’t even focus on what I was doing. Im one of those people that have been holding my pen “wrong” my entire life and I did all my exams up until this point in that grip, but with not having such a long exam in a while, I’ve now realized I need to change my grip. Whilst using my arm just now, I couldn’t write legibly at all, but it hurt much less. I can’t tell if it’s bc the grip I used today or if it is a better way to hold my pen. Thanks for your video 😅

[@PerfectBiscuits]

You arm won't hurt at all if you use arm writing. Maybe a little soreness in the beginning when you are learning to write with your arm. The problem with arm writing is that it is difficult to learn. You've already tried it and experienced the complete loss of control. It takes time to develop the muscles in the arm to the point where they can control a pen and produce legible writing.

[@___sxbr___]

@@PerfectBiscuits that’s amazing! I watched your grip video too, and it makes sense that the arm won’t hurt. As it’s most likely me holding my pen tight and tensing my muscles that’s causing me this much pain, but you it’s much harder to tense the arm. If I were to use the trio grip (hopefully I’ve remembered the name right), I would be using a whole new set of muscles anyway. So if it’s not much longer, I’m willing to try arm writing ! Thank you :)

[@PerfectBiscuits]

@@___sxbr___ let me know how it goes. Definitely watch my intro series here if you haven’t: thepalmermethod.com/intro

[@asclepioshealth]

I am into calligraphy for about two years. I have practiced a lot of Copperplate script. I was aware about the change in grip of the penholder and the possibilities that arm movement gives. Recently I have been attracted to the Spencerian Script- mainly because it is more close to actual writing and not “scrip” . I am doing the drills of whole arm movement and I really enjoy the freedom it gives. My question is though, do you happen to know calligrepher that do detailed Copperplate script that use not a combinationa of shoulder,arm,finger movement, but only arm movement and are so precise as the copperplate script demands? Thank you , and sorry for my poor english

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Hi Anthony, thanks for reaching out. I do not know of any calligraphers that use pure arm movement write copperplate script. That script is written very deliberately using finger, wrist, and some arm movement. Additionally, nobody writes Spencerian script with pure arm movement either. The capital letters are done with arm movement, but the lowercase is combined movement.

[@suzeen]

Does plamer method help to write faster with good print(ish) handwriting at the same time?

[@PerfectBiscuits]

It's possible. Palmer really doesn't make you write all that faster even with cursive, but it might for some people.

[@suzeen]

@@PerfectBiscuits thanks for the advice. I was having a really hard time figuring out weather I should learn planer method or not Thanks to your advice I've decide to just continue writting with fingers :)

[@MetalWool]

Would you recommend this for someone who needs to take lots of notes and gets hand pain from writing a lot?

[@PerfectBiscuits]

This style of writing is 100% pain free.

[@Rohit-lu5zc]

is arm writing faster than using fingers and wrists? I have to write 4000 words in 3 hours twice a day for 3 days straight for a competitive exam. I have failed twice previously as i am unable to finish papers on time. Would palmer method be helpful for this purpose?

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Might be a little faster, depends. The main advantage is that you can write with your arm for long periods of time with fatigue or pain.

[@Rohit-lu5zc]

@@PerfectBiscuits Thanks for the reply. I have decided to learn it. writing speed reduces in afternoon session as my hands get tired after writing for 3 hrs in morning session

[@abhishekbhardwaj590]

@@Rohit-lu5zc Did it help you ?? Kitna time lga seekhne me ??? Kindly talk about your journey

[@davidmantooth1285]

In penmanship class we were taught to write with our arm; finger writing was discouraged.

[@kanck7909]

I have learnt to write slanted cursive from print because it looks cooler and it has become my daily style now. I plateaued after starting to write like this for a year and continued to improve marginally. I'm mostly happy with the look of my style but I do want to be able to write faster and for a longer time, perhaps by means of arm writing. I don't do it for grand ambition but mostly just because again it sounds cool to me. How hard it is to transition to arm writing compared to learning cursive in your opinion? I'm not sure of I will succeed. Well, no one can predict the future but I can always try.

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Kan CK if you really want to learn, you can do it.

[@joelstatosky1817]

I'm very young and I play tetris, I pretty much tap over 10 times a second with my fingers. So I pretty much need to arm right or I will have issues later on in life. It has been a bit hard but since my typing position is with my arms in the air I have slowly built up the strength to do so. I also have a lot less stress on my hands. Had a similar issue when I needed to learn how to write left handed, I recommend you focus very hard so then later on it is simple.

[@farshadghazanfar1757]

Will this method suit students that need to write a lot very quickly?

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Farshad Ghazanfar yep

[@JoseAlvarez-nk3yr]

The reason I have never gotten into whole arm writing is because it requires that you sit at a desk or a table that are just the right height with lots of space to put your arm on them etc. Try that today where most spaces to write on are about 12 inches by 5 or 6 inches. Or, electronic signature machines that are about 3 inches by 2 inches. In the real world today, it's just not practical.

[@somerandomperson467]

Can I adapt palmer script for finger writing?

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Yes. That’s essentially what my free course is here: consistentcursive.com

[@somerandomperson467]

@@PerfectBiscuits Have a terrific day!

[@Sndbest]

I am not able to understand the movement, Trying to recreate it following the instructions! I found that I implied more stress in my triceps! Is that it!

[@ezvkm77]

my question is why are using a dip pen instead if a fountain, rollerball or ball point, most people are not going to buy and white with a calligraphy (art pen) pen. Thanks

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Vernon the dip pen is the best tool to use when learning to write with your arm (ballpoint would be my second choice), but you can use whatever you want.

[@JohnSmith-xq6cv]

Why do the best penmanship people on insta are all hand writers not Palmer arm types

[@PerfectBiscuits]

Because 99.99% of calligraphers and artists write with their fingers. You can make all sorts of beautiful art and calligraphy with your fingers, it will just never have the true Palmer look.

[@furiousninja133]

With handwriting so ugly this fella advocates writing from arm. No thanks I love neaty ness of my handwriting. Rest everything is BS