The Death Touch

[sansoouser]

Do any of you believe in the death touch? Not necassarily one that kills you with just a quick tap but maybe drop you to your knees or knock you down ( not in the groin ).

 

I have had it done to me by my San Soo instructor and it is a wierd feeling but I feel down when he just ran his hand down by back pretty soft too. Theres another one where if you hit them there they will feel sick or ill in a few hours.

 

So do you?

[granmasterchen]

The art of dim mak and vital points consist of these areas where touches with various amounts of pressure can cause injury to death. As for touches that cause latent death and sickness, I have only read about these and have never experienced them myself. If it is true i would like to study that also, I am only familiar with killing strikes.

[sansoouser]

Yes, i've learned most of the dim mak strikes and yes some are just ment to knock the opponent out, my sifu did this to a thug when we were walking to a store when we got jumped. The guy pulled out a knife when my sifu grabbed his wristand applied a wrist lock then struck his skull and that knocked him out.

[Sight for Sore Eyes]

I take Kyusho Jitsu so yes I do believe in these sort of strikes and touches. Very interesting and dangerous stuff.

[Thuggish]

there are hundreds of pressure points in the body, and most of them, when propoerly stimulted, can make someone drop to their knees- cause that sh!t hurts. if there was a touch that actually killed someone though, they were palming a tiny poison needle or something.

[JerryLove]

There are quite a few hits that kill... chest-compressions can throw a heart into arythmis, jogging the brain can do it, as can injuring the brain stem or spinal cord.

 

We just had a lady in a tough-man cmopetition here in florida die i nthe ring a week or so ago.

[YoungGrasshopper]

Don't get too hyped up on that stuff. I've read the books, such as "The Encyclopedia of Dim-Mak", which costed me a fortune. It is incredibly...LAME. These 2 guys are just trying to make money or something, and they try to make it sound interesting putting like "Hitting this point will corrupt ST9(stomache point 9)" and it's like the freakin rib. I mean all it does is point out the traditional "weak" spots of the human body (ribs, temple, armpit, throat, that one lil spot above the midde of the stomache and below the middle of the chest that i donno the name of...that weak part on the leg muay thai ppl always kick at...ERG). And you should already know these spots due to your current martial art training anyway. Besides, in a tournament, fight, whatever, those "Dim-maK" spots aren't going to be exposed to you. You won't observe your opponent thinking "OK...I'm ganna hit bladderpoint15 which is somewhere below the..." you know? I think that's why Dim-Mak is like least considered and not well-known cause it's delayness. Just stick to hitting the traditional modern spots today's fighters use.

[Martial Law]

i have a book called " Shaolin Long Fist Kung Fu " by Yang Jwing-Ming and Jeffery A. Bolt. It has alot of cool pressure points in it. There is another book called "Analysis of Shaolin Chin Na" ,i think that is what it is called, has some good stuff too.

[Shorin Ryuu]

Don't get too hyped up on that stuff.

 

As someone mentioned, they studied Kyushojitsu, and pressure point theory is the basis for all of this. If you study traditional Okinawan karate, all of their advanced techniques are based on pressure point manipulation. I'm sure there are many chinese styles that are as well, since a lot of this came from China, I just don't know them as well.

 

Some people have done more valid research on this topic than others. I admit, there are many crackpot books out there. George Dillman has done extensive research on this, combining medical studies and martial arts studies and has written several good books for this. It has been scientifically proven that hitting pressure points in one part of the body makes others much more effective and vulnerable. When you fight, you may not necessarily think about hitting gall bladder 20 on the base of the neck, or maybe you will. That is why it takes a long time to master techniques. Reducing it to punching and kicking real fast turns it into a strength contest. Implementing things like pressure points allows weaker opponents to take down stronger ones. All in all, you won't be strong forever. Training to be more efficient in addition to strength is what will make martial arts a lifetime skill.

 

In terms of just pointing out traditional weak spots in the body, it helps to understand the true theory behind everything. Sure, a wrist lock is a wrist lock, but employing pressure points in the proper way makes the technique so much more effective. Many techniques are taught without pressure point manipulation, and it is not until later that the more advanced student learns what is really behind it. Plus, different pressure points require different methods of striking at different angles.

 

Now, as complicated as this is, why do you think there is so much stressing on accuracy of kata and form in traditional arts? Because they concealed many pressure point techniques for different situations. Kata is just an easier way to remember them rather than just looking at a book.

 

Delayed death touches are really more the result of a pressure point strike or vital point damage that causes a blood clot or some disorder in the body that affects the opponent's health, either in a few days or a few years. Back when medical technology was not up to the modern level, these strikes seemed mysterious indeed. Nowadays, they can be treated. The danger of these techniques are perhaps one reason why there was so much secrecy behind the arts. You don't want to give any joe schmoe off the street a machine gun. Likewise, you didn't want to let just anybody know these techniques.

 

Blah, blah, blah...i could go on for much longer, but you get the point.

[Warp Spider]

"Dim Mak" points will not kill you, unless you are below 15 or over 50.

 

A healty person will have no trouble restarting their heart if you disrupt it, jogging the brain causes only momentary "punch drunk"-edness, and twisting the spinal cord, well, that hurts quite a bit and is a pain in the butt, people have tried that to me numerous times... but it didn't cause unconciousness or death, by any stretch. Pressure points cause pain, but pain is just nerve stimulation, and can be resisted. Eventually, enough pain would cause unconciousness, but that generally requires a GREAT deal of pain, like being crushed by a tank, or smashed into a wall by a car.

 

Here's a point by point debunking of the list posted above:

 

1: The "soft spot": This hurts. It also, for some reason, makes me feel very angry and frustrated to get hit here. I've cracked it a couple of times, but that was through impacts with concrete, typically at high speeds, as a result of bicycling accidents, etc. This hurt a lot, but even when split right open did not cause unconciousness. (though I imagine a person in that situation might rethink their desire to fight)

 

2: This makes you dizzy for a second, but it passes. I find it to have a similar infuriating effect to #1.

 

3: The temple: Theoretically capable of killing a person, but you're not Mas Oyama. Quite painful but not easy to hit. This area also seems to lack the dizzying effect of other head pressure points.

 

4: Eyes: Eyeballs are big and are NOT easy to pop out. They are a lot bigger than they look. It can be done though, but you would have to be a lot better than your opponent in order to do it. You could still just wreck them though. Hitting a person's brain through their eyes would take not only a lot of force to break through all the nerves and whatnot, but also very long fingers. Also note that having your forebrain damaged is not likely to kill you, though it could impair your thinking ability until your brain healed. Contrary to popular belief, your brain can usually heal itself if damaged, but some types of damage (like strokes) don't heal very well.

 

5: Ears: Simply put, not true. Air will escape from your ears on almost all people. Ears are shaped differently on everyone, but usually you will not be able to make a good seal over the ear with your hands. As an interesting side-note, some people don't have ears. (Don't laugh, it's true, I met a guy who had no ears, just holes and little stumps that were probrably some kind of undeveloped ear, but he could still hear.)

 

6: Behind the earlobes: Simply... you can't be serious. This isn't even painful, but I'd believe that you could damage a persons ear with prolonged pressure. However, prolonged pressure takes time, and it has relatively little benefit.

 

7: II-A: Breaking the nose: Big deal.

 

II-D: Forcing the nose bones into the brain: This is a myth. It is nearly impossible to do and doesn't result in death even if successful. Your brain can be compressed a fair bit before it will cause any real harm. Similar effect to a migraine headache.

 

8: "Upper lip": Generates a "tingling" effect in your face. Cool, but not that effective.

 

9: Breaking the jaw: Unpleasant, but it won't kill anyone.

 

10: Chin: A decent place to hit, but it's not a pressure point and won't kill anyone unless you are The Hulk. KO is actually achieved by twisting the spinal cord, not by a shock sensor.

 

11: Corotid/Jugular: Hitting people in the neck is no secret, and no pressure point. Regardless, although this hurts, it won't kill anyone. The notion that you could burst one of these with a punch is ludicrous. The throat is a better target on the neck.

 

12: The Throat: Not a pressure point, but it still hurts and can cause a person to feel like they are choking. This is actually a very good place to hit because the person believes they are choking, although they are not. Drowning a person in their own blood is just plain fantasy.

 

13: Tingling effect. Kind of cool.

 

14: Between the collarbones: Sure thing, Conan. If you have enough power to do this you might as well just rip out the heart and squeeze it in front of their eyes.

 

15: Breaking bones is always a good thing to inflict on your target. This is no different.

 

16: The heart: If you think you can kill a healthy person by stopping their heart, your opponent had better be 65 or a heavy smoker. Most people's heart can restart itself after being jarred, unless they are already unconcious. Even then they sometimes can. Collapsing a heart does nothing. The heart collapses parts of itself deliberately as part of it's operation.

 

 

 

17. Mmmm, kidney punching: I don't know how this qualifies as a pressure point, but whatever. Punching the kidneys is always a good target because it's pretty painful. Internal bleeding - not likely, takes a long time, and is easily fixed at the hospital.

 

18. Dislocating a shoulder: Same as breaking a bone, except you can put it back in place quite easily, even during the fight.

 

19. Breaking an arm at the elbow: Not a pressure point, but again, breaking bones does work pretty good.

 

20. Breaking fingers: Again, this isn't a pressure point. It's just breaking bones.

 

21. Dislodging the kneecap: Not as easy as it sounds. It isn't easy to land a downward strike to a person's kneecap. Even then, it's not the end of the world.

 

22. Stomping on people's foot: Wow, Mr. Science, I bet noone thought of this before! Again, this is just bone breaking.

 

23. Broken bone's. Nuff said.

 

24. Same here. Just bone breaking.

 

25. Uhh, it's nearly impossible to break the spine by striking it unless you are brittle and don't drink milk. It's quite flexible. Try snapping a rope.

 

26. Attacking the diapraghm. Knocks the wind out of you. Not fatal by any stretch.

 

27. Testes: This one hurts, but not THAT bad. Not bad enough to save you from being sticked/shot/whatever.

 

28. The "tailbone": This hurts and makes a tingling feeling over your entire body. It will not kill a person, however, unless you are, say, a polar bear.

 

29. Getting hit in the armpits hurts, but since its' surrounded by bones it's basically impossible to hit with a fist. You can jab it with fingers, but still, it won't kill someone or immobilize them as the article says.

 

30. Back of the upper leg: Hurts. No other serious effects.

 

31. The liver: Yes. Let's hit the guy ON HIS LIVER. Technically the liver can be damaged easily, except for the fact that it's buried in your body and cushioned by your flesh. A strong hit to the liver could kill you, but so would the suggestion in #14, which would probrably be easier.

 

32. The spleen: This is different from the liver because although it contains a lot of blood, it is not hard like the liver and does not break easily. If you can break a spleen with a punch, see #14.

 

For obvious reasons, I can't blame you for not trying these before you posted a reference to another article, probrably by people who also haven't tried it.

 

Breaking bones doesn't qualify as pressure points, and trying to break a bone with the intention of a jagged bone end puncturing an organ is kind of silly. By their nature, bones very rarely break in such a manner that promotes them to move around and puncture things.

 

These "pressure points" are mostly based on theories which are not supported by experimental data. There are not "magical" spots that you can kill a person merely by touching. If you could there'd be a lot more people just lying around dead because they tripped and fell funny, or whatever.