Have you ever wondered what it feels like to use chopsticks like a pro? Trust me the feeling to even use chopsticks good enough can boost your confidence many folds. In this article I will share my journey about how I started and finally mastered the art of using chopsticks.
Few Things to keep in mind:
- There are no shortcuts, it takes dedication (I would say 5 minutes daily). If that is too much for you then good luck googling for shortcuts 🙁
- Stress in your fingers and mind won’t take you anywhere
- Smart & regular practice
First things first:
Buy yourself a pair of chopsticks, buy more than one pair in case someone else wants to use them you won’t compromise sharing yours 🙂 , I mean no excuses as simple as that.
Don’t demoralize yourself in the restaurant when you see someone playing with chopsticks flawlessly, keep reminding yourself you will be there shortly as homework is on.
The image I shared above clearly shows which of mine fingers are in play when using chopsticks.
Here is small breakdown:
- One of the chopstick (lower one) is resting at the ring finger of the right hand
- The second chopstick rests somewhere between middle and index finger, where middle finger & thumb provide it a support and index finger navigates it.
- Thumb provides a support
Refer below images for more clarity:
Again, the above grip works for me, but it could be some other combinations that might suit you better, so play with your fingers to get your own master combination to grip chopsticks.
Once you reach to a stage where you are able to hold the chopsticks then do the following without fail on daily basis:
- During dinner time keep your chopsticks on the table even if you don’t use them, trust me it will do wonders
- If your drive to master chopstick is true then I am sure you will get hold of those chopsticks (remember they are staring at you to get into your fingers 🙂 )
- Although, raisins are very good for health but beginners can try to pick a piece of raisin using chopsticks, this will be a good start for them as it is light weight & small so it would be somewhat easy to pick using chopsticks. This reminds me, during my initial days of learning chopsticks I always made sure there are raisins on my dining table. I guess you got the clue 🙂 , do it daily for 5 minutes, if you have more time do more. See the change within few days.
Once you reach to a stage of picking a piece of raisin easily then it’s about time to raise the bar. Start picking salad with chopsticks, your family might laugh at you & might say are you nuts, but same family will admire you when they will see your dedication & commitment, and specially next time you will visit a Sushi place as they will see the improvements right away.
If you have kids then they will learn a lot from you, trust me your kids will start using chopsticks alongside you at the dinner table, and unknowingly you are teaching them a skill which they will cherish for life. Plus they will use this approach to learn lot many new things in life. You are now a proud role model 🙂 , keep it up.
It’s been more than a year now I started my journey to learn chopsticks, there is still lot to improve but trust me I feel so happy & proud of myself when I use chopsticks flawlessly. Again, it’s an art and there is no way you want to impress anyone showing your chopsticks skills, remember you are doing it for yourself. Get out of the theory of impressing people, impress yourself and invest in yourself, rest assured is taken care.
Till next time,
Keep Chopsticking!
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