Development of Pressure Point Fighting

Use pressure points to disable a potential attacker.

Martial arts has long been a subject that has as much mysticism about it as it does fact. Books, films and television shows have glamorized martial arts techniques to where secret tactics and crippling nerve holds became the stuff of legend. While the entertainment industry has perpetuated many different myths regarding various martial arts styles and their origin, there are some grains of fact in the stories and this particularly applies to pressure point fighting.

History

Pressure points have a long history in both martial arts and spiritual pursuits in Asia. The Chinese referred to pressure point applications as Dim Mak as early as 500 AD. It was believed that there were certain areas in the body that were vital for healing. Conversely, attacking these areas could cause crippling damage to an adversary. The Chinese believed these regions to be very important to chi flow, what is the term given to a living organism's energy. As time went on, these "energy points" were found to be nerve clusters that connected muscles and tissues to the central nervous system.

Common Myths

Many people claiming to be instructors of "black arts" or the "poison touch" advertised that they knew techniques that could either disable or kill someone just by touching a certain area of the body. This was exemplified by the famous "Vulcan neck pinch" on the TV show "Star Trek" where Spock would grab someone by the side of the neck and he would immediately collapse to the ground. This belief was commonly used in kung-fu films as well where a certain type of punch could stop a man's heart or otherwise cripple him. While these concepts made for entertaining television, they are either complete fabrications or gross exaggerations of fact.

Facts

Pressure points do exist, and they can be found in various soft tissues throughout the body. The solar plexus are located at the base of the sternum and a well-placed blow to this region will knock the wind out of someone and make it difficult to breathe. Other clusters exist under the chin, in the front of both shoulders and in the webbing between the thumb and index finger. Where there are muscles, there are nerves and therefore the existence of pressure points. They are frequently used by acupuncturists and massage therapists for healing purposes but they generally will not cause any lasting damage when attacked and cannot cause heart stoppage or sudden death. There are areas of the body that can cause death when struck but they are related to the trachea and airway, not to pressure points.

Practical Application

Striking a pressure point in the arm will cause severe pain if enough force is applied, and this can make it difficult for the attacker to lift his arm or clutch his hand shut. The side of the neck has nerve clusters that can cause extreme pain when struck or grabbed, but the artery would have to be closed off on both sides (such as in a choke) to cause actual unconsciousness. The soft area under the chin and the soft tissue between the ribs are other areas that can be accessed by digging a single knuckle into them. This is not debilitating but is very irritating and painful, and can cause an attacker to release a hold.

Evolution

There is a greater understanding of pressure points in modern martial arts and pressure points are not frequently used in martial arts competition because they can be hard to access with gloves on and are not effective enough to disable a trained fighter in combat. One strike can indeed disable an opponent, but these effects are caused by impact trauma to the skull or internal organs and not from the disruption of nerve clusters.

References

• Nova Martial Arts: Pressure Point Fighting
• Ki Survival Systems: Dim Mak
• Kyusho Kempo: Kyusho Kempo - Hidden Secrets of Pressure Point Fighting