bending only the top joint of your fingers

[Tash]

a friend of mine who's doing medicine told me that asians have some crazed genetic thing where they can bend the top join of say their second finger without bending the lower joint, whilst caucasians can't do it! so she made me do it in case pianists have developed enough strength to do it, but i can't. then i made 3 of my asian friends do it last night, and they couldn't do it either...so now everyone here has to try it!! and you're not allowed to hold your lower joint in place, and the bend has to be pretty significant. do reckon if you practiced trying to do it it'd strengthen your top joints more?

[gorbee natcase]

I can do it but it wouldn't help me with piano in any way. I lock my fingers just beyond the double jointed position which allows me to move the ends of my fingers (I can only do this with 2 3 4 ) and it is about 20 degreas off a right angle before the finger collapses (clicks) to a less freaky position. I can also bend in half to fit in a suit case and do the splitts both ways.

But the bending in half could help me when traveling aboard a plane as luguage

[Tash]

wow you're a freak!!! and i meant that in the nicest possible way:)

actually i was testing it on another group of caucasian friends today, and one of them has freak hands with apparently no bones and she could do it, in fact she can practically make her entire hand collapse inwards, it's like jelly i tell you!!

[tocca]

I can do it with one finger, but that's due to an accident many years ago (Involving a propeller on a model plane!  ) It doesn't bother me in any way, but i can lock the lower joint completely and bend the upper joint to almost 90 degrees.

[henrah]

I found out last night that, if I curl my fifth finger and lock the lower joint of my fourth, the curling of my fifth makes the end joint of my fourth bend. I can do it to about 45degrees before the locked joint pops out and the fourth finger curls like the fifth.
Henrah

[rimv2]

a friend of mine who's doing medicine told me that asians have some crazed genetic thing where they can bend the top join of say their second finger without bending the lower joint, whilst caucasians can't do it! so she made me do it in case pianists have developed enough strength to do it, but i can't. then i made 3 of my asian friends do it last night, and they couldn't do it either...so now everyone here has to try it!! and you're not allowed to hold your lower joint in place, and the bend has to be pretty significant. do reckon if you practiced trying to do it it'd strengthen your top joints more?

AHAHHA

Ridiculous

Tis no genetic.

Tis practice.

Be doin it since ah was a wee lad.

[pathetiquegirl]

people that can move their top joints only (like me on all my fingers) have double joints.  it had nothing to so with practice or genetics.  in fact all me bones are double joints.  which is freaky!

[henrah]

Do your parents or any other relatives have double joints also? If so, genetics might be a factor.

[galonia]

tash, I'm double jointed, so I can do it, but it is of no help whatsoever with piano - in fact, if I were to bend my fingers in that way, I would not be able to play at all.   

[pathetiquegirl]

what i meant henrah is genetics as far as the differnet races.  of course it has to do with genetics passed on in your family.

[Mozartian]

nope. my fingers are either flat or CLAWS.

however, I can take my index and middle finger in a flat position up to a 45+ degree angle from my (slightly curved) hand. Dohnanyi.. does that to you.. _/

[mutedstring]

I'm double jointed, too and i also can bend only the top joint. I heard it doesn't help playing the piano, but it's indeed good for ballet dancing (well that certainly means double jointed all over, not only on the hands =)

now... how about bending the second joint w/o bending the top joint? can do this finger by finger or all together =) I heard pianists could all do this, but not sure at all...  My left hand could do it both finger by finger or all together, but my right hand could only do it seperately...