Pressure Points and Karate

[JusticeZero]

Dillman's stuff always seems closer to hypnotic suggestion to me. People who don't 'know' that they're supposed to pass out when he pokes them tend not to, from all accounts i've heard.. his own students, of course, go into a swoon at the slightest provocation

[Cobosan]

I ve heard, he told me, my naighbour said that ... Please keep the " so i ve heard .. " to yourselves. It looks like everyone should go to a Ryukyu master and get knocked out in order to believe that its true. Sure it looks hard to believe at first but once u get to know how what where and when, then u actually see what its all about.

[Sauzin]

A lot of the criticism given to Dillman is really his own making. His no touch stuff is definitely a little hooky. There is definitely an element of belief. In one demonstration given by Jack Hogan, everyone began to fell that was behind the target. The target was unaffected. Coincidentally the target didn't believe in the effectiveness of it and the guys behind him belonged to affiliated schools. Don't get me wrong, I believe in energy work. And "I've heard" of cases where people who didn't believe in it passed out very quickly from a no touch. But I think belief affects one's resistance to it to some degree and as a result it will likely fail most placebo studies. Dillman has done many things to bring scientific study to pressure points. He has also done a lot to raise awareness of them in other martial artists, when it was monetarily beneficial. But he’s a showman, and in a lot of ways he's gone overboard. He’s guilty of deemphasizing the importance of technique in kata, instead focusing on a very narrow (and nearly nonexistent in some arts) portion of martial arts surrounding targeting. The guy has virtually no quality control in his organization and he's greedy. A lot of his claims to legitimacy are patently false. Specifically his styles name as he has no legit ties to Okinawan Kenpo. This isn't just stuff I've heard its stuff I've witnessed happen. You might even ask Jack Hogan about some of it as I've heard him and Dilman recently had a falling out due to some of the above reasons.

[Uechi Kid]

You can say what you want about George Dillman, when it comes to opening the eyes of the western world to kyusho and tuite, he’s the one.

I agree that he is a showman, gets off track easy and probably is greedy, and I wouldn’t want him for my sensei, but he open my eyes to a whole new way of looking at kata. We have found some amazing applications that follow kata exactly.

Thanks George

[Sensei Isshinryu]

Dillman is just a showman of the true masters of the art. I have had the opportunity to train with S. Oyata and various other Masters in Okinawa. I can say that Kyushu Jutsu and tuite are for real. It takes a great amount of practice and study. We CAN NOT learn them from video, books, or any other form of literature. Only with a true Master of the Arts. I was told there are three plains of the Martial Way. First we kick and punch, then we advance to Kyushu Jutsu, lastly we attain tuite, the true underling study of Bushido. I am in no way downplaying any art, system or belief just expressing my 30 years of experience.

[mary_jane]

Yes, I can see that it would be difficult to teach how to use presuure points when fighting. I would not think that memorizing any text book would be useful, but memorizing a specific chart and going over P.P.s in class I think would be better than just class work.

[Sauzin]

Understanding pressure point theory is all well and great if you have the art to use it. I'm just suggesting that people don't put the cart before the horse.

[Uechi Kid]

That's right, learn some theory then Practice, Practice, Practice. Then start all over again. Doing this has kept training alive for us.

[P.A.L]

Dillman is a green belt in karate.

[ps1]

One main reason you won't find mention of "pressure points" in your Kyokushin book is because it's designed as a guide for all students. The book does, however, have shin kicks to the thigh. That strike is actually going to a nerve called the Common Peronial. This is a pressure point strike.

A very problematic downfall of "pressure points" is they are dependant on pain compliance. This means when applied, they hurt, thus stopping the aggressor. However, many drugs used by would be attackers block the pain response. Therefore pressure points do not work on them. For that matter, many joint locks cease to work on these people as well.

In defense, I broke a person's wrist (terrible sound) only to have him continue at me. The subsequent dislocating of the knee joint did the trick. Although, he tried to stand several more times.

I also believe the offered definition of "pressure point" is too narrow. I would define it as any point of the human body where pressure is applied and, either by physics, or pain compliance, a predictable response is observed.