Pressure point karate?

[sensei8]

I attended a Dillman seminar in Chicago about 9 years back. Sat right in the front and got used as a demo dummy for several techniques by mister Dillman. Things hurt a lot and there were some good, hands on stuff that made senses. Basically the Chinese medical points were used as reference because they were a bridge between the martial technique and the anatomical reason things worked. Nerves near the surface, branching, ending, riding on bone or at the head of muscles etc. I think Dillman was just getting into the whole idea of "no touch" and "energy manipulation". After that, I think things kinda spun out of control. Once you start talking about that sort of thing you have to go all in, or get out of the game I suppose.

Now kyoshu stuff is nice. It's a layer. An aspect. A component. It's not a full fighting method. There are about half a dozen points that I work with because the targets do things regardless. Others that I know about and can get to in a pinch, but they aren't as reliable and don't have much impact if you target them on their own. They aren't bonus points, they are all you get essentially and I don't trust that sort of technique. I'm a belt and suspenders kind of guy in my karate. I like to body shift out of the way and deflect. Lock you in place and transition my weight into the attack both. Kyoshu is, in the words of one instructor, just a little octane boost. It won't run the motor (your martial art), but it can give you a little lift.

Solid post!!

[xo-karate]

I liked it too. So pressure points might not be best to practice in my BJJ. I need to find some friends to do some karate with. Probably problem is with my self - I've always liked sparring and again pressure points and friendly sparring ... not so good mix:-)

I tend to have issues with traditional karate - it's so damn orthodox and all variations are signs of not respecting your sensei ... or something like that.

[barrypardue]

I will have to train more on my pressure point striking after reading this post

[jaypo]

I took a class with a Kyoshu practitioner who is also a Chiropractor last night. I am also a "I have to feel it work" type of guy, and as of this morning, I'm still feeling it! He taught it in a very easy way to understand. He started with the radial nerve, went up to 4 points on the arm, then the neck, then the chin. We focused on those points all night. The first thing he did was knocked my arm off of his with his knuckles by hitting my radial nerve near my wrist. My whole arm went numb. I was hooked!

As we went further, we started doing moving drills using those points, and he incorporated them into our Shorin Ryu katas. It was awesome putting it together.

Just a side note- if anybody hasn't seen this, check it out, and beware of the knifehands!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOgFnlOmjKA

[cardinal95]

Troy Price (Shihan) has a speciality in Kyusho, he is also a wonderful teacher. Here is his website: http://www.shuritebujutsu.com/Troy_J.html

[Harkon72]

I knew of pressure points quite early on in my martial arts career. I never saw their true effect until I saw an SAS veteran and professional bodyguard who was my father's friend for many years drop several attackers in succession in a self defense situation. I learned my limited skills slowly over the next few years, as Bob said; "You don't have to know them all, just practice the ones you do know well."

[devil dog]

Kind of looking for some inspiration to take karate back to my training. Kyusho might be difficult, but I might get some training partners just asking around.

First I have to warn you this is not something you learn by trial and error. We have Kyusho Jutsu as apart of our Yudansha curriculum. I have experienced the side effects and have practiced it on others. If you do not have a skilled teacher this can be very dangerous to practice. We have had guest instructors knock guys out and not be able to revive them. It works differently on different people and some are more susceptible than others and can have very dramatic adverse effects.

I'm not saying that you are going to kill someone but it is possible that you could injure someone severely if you do not know the proper amount of force and the proper angle and with what technique to use to practice it safely. There are basic points that cause major pain or discomfort that can be used in day to day practice along with Tuite without ill effect but you need to be taught where they are and how to attack them and which points to stay away from for everyday practice.

Just my 2 cents but it would be better to find a qualified teacher (tons out there and in fact there are entire styles that put huge emphasis on Kyusho) than to find willing practicioners that may or may not have the knowledge. Oh and I've been told by those much more knowledgable than me that if your over 40 you do not want someone employing these techniques on you.

This is not magical, it's science and it works. Believe me I have had a headache for an entire day that felt like an ax split my skull from being knocked out with a vital point. But without the proper training you could unintentionally hurt your partners. You need to find a teacher that not only knows the points, how to attack them, and with what technique and at what angle but also knows how to revive you and more importantly how to practice it safely.

[devil dog]

Oh and I forgot to mention that some of these techniques do not work. I said I've been knocked out but I have also chuckled to myself when they were attempted on me and nothing happened.

Again find a qualified teacher. I'd hate for you to put full confidence in this and find out it doesn't work. Especially when it counts.

We practice around 50 points and I would only use 12 in an actual confrontation.

[sensei8]

Oh and I forgot to mention that some of these techniques do not work. I said I've been knocked out but I have also chuckled to myself when they were attempted on me and nothing happened.

Again find a qualified teacher. I'd hate for you to put full confidence in this and find out it doesn't work. Especially when it counts.

We practice around 50 points and I would only use 12 in an actual confrontation.

To the bold type above...

I'm a firm believer that the main reason(s) that techniques don't "work" isn't the fault of the technique(s), but more of the fault belongs to the practitioner not being well versed in said techniques.

Imho!!

[devil dog]

To the bold type above...

I'm a firm believer that the main reason(s) that techniques don't "work" isn't the fault of the technique(s), but more of the fault belongs to the practitioner not being well versed in said techniques.

Imho!!

I guess I agree with that statement. It is very possible that the application of the techniques were flawed. But I'm sure you could agree with me that we have all experienced those techniques that do not work and it does make the student wonder about the validity of that technique.

In fact I had dismissed certain hand strikes and kicks as a younger man that I now use because I discovered that I was not implementing them correctly. On the other hand there were certain kicks I loved to do as a younger man that I would not attempt anymore because I found the fundamental flaw in their application (atleast for me).

I think it really comes down to experiences. My trash may be anothers treasure and vise versa. We teach them all but I can not say that I would use certain ones with any amount of confidence because they have not worked on me and I have not been able to get good results using them on others.

I know the value of the art and respect what the applications can do however I still believe that besides a few most of these applications are next to impossible to employ on a moving, violent opponent. But they do have merit and we do use and teach them.

I guess I should not have used the phrase chuckled. It was demeaning to the art of Kyusho Jutsu. No disrespect was intended.