Just some thoughts on pressure points.

[thetruth]

I am not going to get into what i have studied or who with but from the last 7 or so years of training I have come to this conclusion.

Pressure points as taught in the wider martial arts community are border line dangerous. Not because of where you are hitting but due to the fact that they are all done with the absolute minimum force required to activate them and the only real life demonstrations (at seminars or classes I have attended) or video footage I have seen are on stationary targets or against appallingly laclustre attacks. If anyone has any decent footage I would love to see it. Please don't link me to DKI or KI stuff because that is primarily the stuff I am talking about.

I believe pressure points are at best something that may augment your blunt force trauma striking or grappling. If you are grappling and have the opportunity to use a few points to manipulate your opponent, great, by all means go for it but never go hunting for them.

If you are defending yourself hit hard and fast (target points if you like) and if you hit pressure points great but if you don't you want to know your assailant is still going to be in a world of hurt. Tapping somone on stomach 5 in a demo is great but don't expect the tippy tap will work in the street. Maybe it can be fluked but I would not want to back my *** on a tap. What if it doesn't work? You are not going to be on your front foot ready to attack after tapping someone softly.

Just some thoughts
Cheers
Sam

 

[Adept]

I agree without reservation.

 

[still learning]

Hello, On Ripleys believe or not had a nice story on this. It shows it doesn't always work. But some people did seem to be knockout!

Will it work in an intense situtions? .....Aloha

 

[Hand Sword]

For self defense, I would say, if it is there take it! However, don't look for, or, try to target anything. Also, don't expect specific results. Just hit hard and fast!

 

[Hand Sword]

It's a roll of the dice in intense situations, judging from my own experiences. I've seen people drop easily, and have seen groins twisted and ripped, with no ill effects, just more anger! Effects of drugs, and booze, and, each person's pain tolerance is different.

 

[DavidCC]

For self defense, I would say, if it is there take it! However, don't look for, or, try to target anything. Also, don't expect specific results. Just hit hard and fast!

"Don't try to target anything"??? You don't aim your strikes? When I punch or kick I always have a specific target in mind. I must be mis-understanding you...

 

[MJS]

"Don't try to target anything"??? You don't aim your strikes? When I punch or kick I always have a specific target in mind. I must be mis-understanding you...

Ahh..you're not alone, as I think I may be misunderstanding also. I know when I'm sparring or working on SD, I'm not swinging, without any thought, just for the sake of throwing something. IMHO, there should always be some purpose behind anything that it thrown.

Mike

 

[Hand Sword]

My fault! I was a bit foggy. I did say that if it's there take it, but, what I meant by "don't target" was don't force the issue, becoming stuck on "I'm gonna hit the throat" or "get that arm bar". Just go with the flow, take what opening and target the opponent is giving you. I wrote it from the many incidents that occurred at work or the Dojo, where something took longer to deal and more punishment was received because of trying to target. When asked what happened, it was "I kept trying to get the solar plexus, and I just couldn't get it!" or something like that.

 

[DavidCC]

My fault! I was a bit foggy. I did say that if it's there take it, but, what I meant by "don't target" was don't force the issue, becoming stuck on "I'm gonna hit the throat" or "get that arm bar". Just go with the flow, take what opening and target the opponent is giving you. I wrote it from the many incidents that occurred at work or the Dojo, where something took longer to deal and more punishment was received because of trying to target. When asked what happened, it was "I kept trying to get the solar plexus, and I just couldn't get it!" or something like that.

Yes, I agree with that then

That's a lesson at least 500 years old, Ittosai Kenpo-sho I think adressed fixating the mind on a technique or body part or object.:asian:

 

[kickcatcher]

Cool orginal post. My personal thoughts are that PPs (beyond the basic smack to neck etc) are soooo unproven in live situations and so auxillary that they aren't even worth investing the time in, unless you do so for 'accademic' reasons. But each to their own.

 

[Phil Elmore]

Those pressure points that "work" are simply those areas on the human body that are more vulnerable than others. Thse include certain nerve clusters and arteries as well as areas related to the joints. There's no magic to it. Punch someon with one knuckle in the "triple heater" junction at the rear of the jaw and you'll have successfully used a "pressure point." Punch them in the same general area and you'll still hurt them regardless of hitting "pressure points" and regardless of whether you know or care about them.

 

[kickcatcher]

a humourous look at PPs...

 

[Phil Elmore]

Given that your cartoons (which show excellent talent for the graphic component but which suffer from poor dialogue and scripting) are based on your presumptions about the topics of which you are making fun, how do they add anything to this thread? Setting aside the humor value (this isn't the humor or off topic forum, after all), they appear to be nothing but straw man arguments in graphic form. What is it that you intend for them to add to the discussion?

 

[MSUTKD]

The cartoons, however anyone feels about them, do have valid arguments. It seems that there are two groups of people when it comes to pressure points. One group believes that these are just vital points, weak spots, which cause reactions when hit. The other group believes that these are “magic bullets” which disrupt the energy of the body to be used in an attack. If PP fighting and no touch knockouts are real they should be able to be proven. How do you practice nerve strikes? I would think that you would have to hit people there. How do you know if something works or not? Again, I think that you would have to try it on someone. In my experience certain people do not react to PP like others. Things like body mass and personal physiology affect the PP even if I can hit it. It is nice to know as a weak spot but I would never rely on it for any thing as real as SD.

ron

 

[Andrew Green]

"Pressure points" have there uses, The finger under the nose thing can work great for making space by pushing someons face back for example. Digging your chin into someones ribs can get them to react a little and give you the opening you need.

Of course relying on that sort of thing is not a good idea as all you are doing is creating discomfort in hopes of getting them to react. Different people will feel it differently, some almost not at all (kind of like tickling, some are very ticklish, others not at all )

But to think you'll KO someone by rubbing pressure points, or the magical no touch KO is fantasy, and without solid fundamental skills they have no use at all.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

They are all over the body. And if you take a look at pretty much all the vital targets for self-defense, you're hitting one or more. Here's a challenge...learn them all, then try and spar WITHOUT hitting one (deduct a point for everytime you make contact on one of yours or one of your training partners -- you'll be in big deficit fast). Not a lot of room left on the body...they follow bones, major muscles, etc.

If you know where they are, you can put a little more intent in your training into shaping natural weapons to fit the target. It's, uh, pretty much what we do in karate.

 

[kickcatcher]

They are all over the body. And if you take a look at pretty much all the vital targets for self-defense, you're hitting one or more. Here's a challenge...learn them all, then try and spar WITHOUT hitting one (deduct a point for everytime you make contact on one of yours or one of your training partners -- you'll be in big deficit fast). Not a lot of room left on the body...they follow bones, major muscles, etc.

If you know where they are, you can put a little more intent in your training into shaping natural weapons to fit the target. It's, uh, pretty much what we do in karate.

So if I prod the person next to me in a random fashion I will surely drop them like in the PP demos I've seen, just because of the law of probability?

 

[Andrew Green]

So if I prod the person next to me in a random fashion I will surely drop them like in the PP demos I've seen, just because of the law of probability?

probably not, but everytime you scratch 2 itches at once you are endangeging your own life

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

probably not, but everytime you scratch 2 itches at once you are endangeging your own life

3 itches, and you endager the lives of those witin a 10 block radius.

 

[Kembudo-Kai Kempoka]

So if I prod the person next to me in a random fashion I will surely drop them like in the PP demos I've seen, just because of the law of probability?

Within the boundaries of the Laws of Chacanery, moreso thand the Laws of Probability.

The reverse straw-man is equally dangerous, and just as absurd. Since the DKI/PP KO guys are so full of dookey, let's avoid ALL training around optimal targeting, stop studying pugilistic sciences, and just advocate carrying defensive firearms (in a hobbyist sort of way, of course).

Actually, I kind of like it.

Regards,

D.