Pressure points are Chinese acupuncture points. Martial artists hit or press these points to cause pain or disability in an attacker. Pressure points lie along the traditional Chinese meridians. The 14 main meridians hold 360 main points. Of these points, 30 to 40 are commonly used by martial artists. Each point has a time of day and an angle that work best. Some work better with steady pressure; some work better when struck.
Pressure Point Arts
The Chinese term for pressure point fighting is dim mak, which means "death touch." The Japanese term is kyusho jitsu, which means "one-second fighting." The focus is quick and effective application of pressure point techniques to disable or even kill an attacker. Pressure point fighters note that small people can easily defend themselves against large attackers using disabling points. An experienced pressure point fighter can knock out an attacker instantly with light strikes to one or two points.
Punching and Kicking Arts
Most kicking and punching arts from the Far East also use pressure points. For example, if a hard punch is effective, a hard punch to a pressure point is even more effective. Martial artists train themselves to aim for targets that will give them the best effect. Some targets break the structure of the body; some cause pain or disability through pressure points; some do both at the same time. Pressure points can also make blocks more effective. A block to a kick stops the kick. A block to a pressure point on the kicking leg stops the kick and shuts down some of the function of the leg.
Grappling
Grapplers, jujitsu-ka and aikido-ka, for example, use pressure points for two purposes. One is to cause pain. Pain leads to either distraction or compliance, and grapplers can capitalize on both. The other purpose is to cause weakness. Some pressure points will cause a joint to bend easily. Some will cause the muscles stabilizing an arm or leg to become temporarily weak, allowing the grappler to manipulate it more easily. Grapplers use these points to help them achieve their joint locks and holds.
Healing
Martial artists also use pressure points for healing purposes. The art of using pressure points for healing is called tuina. It is essentially acupuncture without the needles. Most advanced martial artists know at least a bit of tuina. They use it to help heal injuries, reduce pain and foster overall health and well-being. The more martial artists practice pressure point fighting, the more they need tuina to help undo the damage caused by striking pressure points. In fact, if you don't know the tuina techniques to neutralize a pressure point attack, you shouldn't be practicing the attack in the first place.
References
- Warrior Pages: Meridians
- "Death Touch"; Michael Kelly; 2001
- "Kysho Jitsu"; George A. Dillman; 1992
- "Advanced Pressure Point Grappling"; George Dillman; 1995
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