Let me preface by saying that I do not now train in DKI methods, nor have I ever trained in DKI methods. I have been trained in Chinese vital point striking methods, the particular method of which does not make significant distinction between the nature of a point - simply, there are points of various natures to be struck (i.e. bone, blood, nerve, muscle, combination (i.e. blood/bone, muscle/nerve), "forbidden" or acupuncture points), and they are struck in certain ways. They are referred to by their names, not by meridian location (i.e. ST-6, TH-13, etc.), though if a point had a meridian location associated with it, it would be noted in its training.
Originally posted by arnisador
My understanding is that while TCM is the theory that underlies several kyusho/dim mak systems it isn't in and of itself martially oriented.
No more so than TWM.
It is important to note here what TCM
is and
is not.
Traditional Chinese Medicine is an approach to holistic health management that is based primarily on several abstract theories that relate in allegorical (as opposed to literal) ways to the functions of the human body and its environment. Theories such as the Mother/Son Law and the Law of the Five Elements, the Zang-Fu organ relationships, and the paths of the
jing luo acupuncture meridians prevail over physical, mechanical descriptions of the body's workings. TCM holds herbology (a pre-pharmaceutical method of treatment), massage, acupuncture, bone adjustment and diet to be of vital importance in maintaining the body's internal environment in order to avoid its invasion by "outside evils," external pathogens that will set up conditions that allow disease to develop.
TCM by itself has nearly nothing to do with martial arts, other than fixing what we screw up...
The Dillman method and other methods rely on it but it isn't a literal application of TCM.
The Dillman method
appears to rely on it, but I believe that is the quandary at hand... As for being a literal application of TCM, that remains to be seen...
TCM, in terms of the use of acupuncture points for martial application, is a touchy subject. The ability to first identify at full combat speed a target often no larger than a US quarter, then to strike it in a manner that causes instant debilitation of the attacker, is often debated. The ability of an individual to manually stimulate an imaginary point on the body that has no corresponding physical machinery by which to effect the hoped for result of the strike further stirs debate beyond polite levels...
Then there is the issue of what defines
kyusho and simple
atemi strikes...
Kyusho appears to refer exclusively to the striking of acupuncture points for combat use, at least in the Dillman method, though it is my understanding that
kyusho relate rather to points that cause immediate lethal damage.
Atemi appears to relate to "regular" striking targets, but again my understanding is that
atemi are locations that, even when struck with force, continue to cause minimal damage (i.e. stunning, incapacitation, KO, etc.) as opposed to the more severe effects of
kyusho.
If anything I'd say--based on my observations but not much experience unfortunately--that the DKI techniques draw from the TCM theory to make their kyusho applications.
Only insofar as the points relate to alleged acupuncture points. Many points in the method of striking I have trained in, while also lying on acupuncture point locations, are
not acupuncture points at all, but locations of physiological weakness. Hence the debate between whether the DKI methods (or
any popular method of vital point striking for that matter, mine included) are in fact affecting
kyusho or
atemi points.
I have heard Mr. Dillman speak of the importance of striking different points at different times of the day for maximum benefit bsed on TCM principles, for example, though if I recall correctly he doesn't advocate worrying much about this in a fight.
It would simply be impractical to assume that, at full speed, in a surprise encounter, that even detailed knowledge of
kyusho techniques would enable an individual capable of rendering an attacker senseless. The defender would have to assess, instantly, which points were accessable, in what order, and what time of day it was at the time the attack was made. Failure to do this would make such strikes significantly less effective were they to do any damage at all...
Some of his high-ranking students have become acupuncturists because of their desire to learn more, I know (e.g. Ed Lake if memory serves).
Now
that is encouraging! Perhaps through further education, the realities of this debate will come out.
Gambarimasu.
.....have been working these techniques for many years and have not found any side effects. (Granted...that does not mean there never will be.....no one knows everything)
