Isn't it somewhat unrealistic in a combative situation other than certain nerve clusters belt good targets or secondary targets.  Healing wise I definately believe.  I have seen acupuncture which is block and/or stimulating these pressure points used for everything from migrains to weight loss.

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Was that hands up and chin down, or the other way around?

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Traditional TKD

Pressure points can be very effective in sparring and fighting. Years ago I sparred with Si-gum Chung, Ho Yin. He could block a punch and use his knuckle to hit the nerve we call the "funny bone." He could do this consistantly to all the students. Learning this takes lots of practice. Hitting that spot on someone isn't as easy as it sounds. you know where to find the nerve, but it is slightly different for everyone, and hitting it with your knuckle often results in hitting the bones of the elbow on either side of the nerve.

I think that pressure points are not emphasized in TKD very much. TKD seems to be more scientific in its approach to maximizing how force can be generated with the human body. I think that knowledge of pressure points come from knowledge of the healing arts.

the only pressure points we work on tkd is when we do high/middle/low punches.  high punch's between your upper lip and the nose, middle punch on xiphoid process (bottom of sternum), and low punch on right below the belly button. 

according to old kung fu comics i used to read, hitting those three spots simultaneously can kill anything, from human to bears. 

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i'm delicious

ioannis wrote: Take a look at this site: http://daochidimmak.spaces.live.com/default.aspx any comments?

Dim Mak; promulgated in the seventies in the U.S. via ads in comic books by 'Count Dante', the self acclaimed 'most dangerous man alive'.  His real name was Johnny Keehan.  He was a tough guy, no doubt, but to my knowledge, never displayed any evidence of any ability in dim mak.  While the idea of pressure points is legitimate (they do exist and can be used against an opponent and we are trained to use them in hapkido and taekwondo), everyone I have ever encountered who has claimed to be practiced in Dim Mak has been a fake.  Nor have I seen any convincing cases made for dim mak.  I am not saying that there aren't any; just that I have never seen any. 

Daniel

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교사 Yidan kumdo, Ildan taekwondo

Dim Mak... 

I don't know if it exists or not... but frankly... in most cases, you find out it's a sham... just another nice little martial arts specific urban myth.

Let's be honest...  some pressure points are easy to find... the brachial plexus, the back of the head where it meets the spine (medulla process is located there, which is an organ that attaches the spine to the brain, and controlls all involuntary functions like heartbeat and respirations... if severely damaged, it can kill very easily... which is why paramedics take every cerebro-spinal injury VERY seriously, and put their patients of auto crashes in cervical collars and get em on a backboard, to try to keep that area from being damaged worse after the wreck.)

MOST of them, are NOT very easy to find, NOR to HIT, in a live confrontation.

If your butt's on the line... you get that fight-or-flight thing going, and you experience what is commonly referred to as 'adrenal dump'.  Your body gets a HUGE dose of adrenalin, to empower your body to MOVE and move FAST.

Everything goes... fine muscle control is SHOT... you might wet your pants or experience an unplanned bowel movement... you get tunnel vision... your hearing even goes on you...

Interesting tidbit.  Every wonder why cops scream at the top of their lungs when they've got someone resisting them at gunpoint?  And then why when the cop shoots, he usually winds up emptying his gun or darn near it?

Let's cover that...
1.)  Fine muscle control is shot due to overdose of adrenalin... that means the cop's fine motor skills... such as the skills necessary to accurately aim and fire a gun, even at close range... is IMPAIRED.  There's no way to stop that from happening.  So he misses a few shots before he hits, normally, and he keeps firing until the suspect IS down.
2.)  The cop screams at the top of his lungs, because he cannot hear himself very well.  He can't hear ANYTHING well, because the adrenaline overdose also adversely affects his hearing.

Key point... a cop is WELL TRAINED for their job.  They are taught 'what works'.  They practice it repeatedly in the academy, and they are GRILLED on how to assess a situation, and to ACT, while abiding a use of force continuum that is MORE restrictive, than what you or I have to operate under in a defense situation.

Yet even THEY still experience adrenal dump and all of its deleterious effects.

So it's a RARE martial artist, even among high ranking Grand Masters with 40 years experience... who is going to be able to suppress the adrenal dump, and NOT be affected so adversely.  In fact, I'd say 1 out of a million MIGHT be able to pull that feat off in a live, life and death situation.

So the situation presents itself and your body experiences full adrenal dump... it's a real fight... and your butt is ON THE LINE... this one's for all the marbles AND the bag they came in.


That leaves you with only simple techniques... what I call 'high percentage' techniques... elbows... palm heels... straight punches... knees... LOW kicks that you do NOT have to aim... grabs of things like private bits, the hair, the throat, the face, or the body...

And all that, while facing an opponent who IS moving, who IS trying to do grave harm to you?

Your chances of nailing something as esoteric as a funny bone under THOSE combat conditions... is about the same chances I have of doing a somersault over the moon.

My chances of doing so, are JUST as outlandish and abyssmal.

So on the strength of that knowledge... (unfortunately, I've experienced that in real life myself, and talked to cops who have also)

I brush "Dim Mak" off as 'real world nonsense'.  It may exist...  but it's about as impractical a knowledge to a martial artist, as it would be to teach a first grader how to do blindfolded brain surgery.  You can do it... but really... it wouldn't serve any useful ends at all.

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Getting through life takes just a LITTLE bit of insanity!*g*

I know that pressure points are real but it would take years and years to master it.

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now is the time"it's time to show everyone what i can really do".

there's alot of different martial arts that use pressure points. they're all self defensive styles,real fights(no rules) happening outside of schools and tournaments. the kinds of fights that you would have a disadvantage over the attacker(s),size,weight,strength,speed,gender,and age.this type of defense you dont use any punches or kicks(that can leave a mark)on the attacker.

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now is the time"it's time to show everyone what i can really do".