Are pressure/vital points in martial arts real? 10 points to the best explaination of my question.?

Question

Are pressure/vital points in martial arts real? 10 points to the best explaination of my question.?

Answer 1

I'm surprised your friend the boxer thinks this is a 'load of crap'. Boxers are especially known for their ability to knock someone out by hitting them 'on the button'.



The sad truth is that we see something in movies and immediately dismiss it as impossible because the movies exaggerate so much. The biggest problem with pressure points in self defense is that the strikes have to be of a certain force and in an exact location. Since both people are usually in motion, it is extremely difficult to hit these points effectively.

Answer 2

Yes there are pressure points and vital areas , unfortunately boxers aren't allowedto hit most of them , and the gloves they wear inhibit use of any they can .



That being said , its nothing like its portrayed in the movies . There is no one touch death strike . Pressure points are basically soft spots , places where it hurts to be hit .



Push at the base of your earlobe at the juncture with your jaw . That nerve is called the mastoid process , and if you push on it it hurts like H-E double hockey sticks . Here is another one , between your nose and upper lip ,about 1 inch wide , pinch . I don't recall the name of this nerve ,but it does hurt .



There are of course many more pressure points . Too many to try and list and explain . Boxers do use some however , lower floating ribs , kidneys , these are vital points .

Answer 3

yes there are points all over the body many are not practiced and used.the skin is the largest and easy to use,just find enough to pinch and twist.the sharp pain can give you that open door to make your escape from most any hold because it will distract the mind of your attacker.tko

Answer 4

I like your question. It is extremely broad. Looking for points that cause "scamage or some sort of reaction." I gotta tell you man, almost everything you do will cause a reaction. If you dropped to a knee and punched my leg, it would both cause damage and a reaction, albeit not a terrible amount of either.



I train in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Western Boxing, and Thai boxing and what I can tell you is that there are extremely useful VITAL points on the body, but the ones i'll reference aren't what you're looking for in all likelihood.



In muay thai, we use hard round kicks to the thigh constantly and take many in a fight. That being said, without training, the average human couldn't take a single thai kick to the thigh and keep standing. The leg is extremely "vital" to your ability to continue moving and if you ever get the chance to see a thai fight you might just be amazed at how much damage a swift thai kick can do to a leg in a small amount of time. I'd mention the skull, but everyone is aware of strikes to the head and jaw i think at this point.



In jiu jitsu, we manipulate a person into positions that cause pain or loss of function and usually both. Moves like armbars, omoplatas, triangle chokes, Kimuras, all of these moves will at some point cause enough pain for a person to tap. If the person is amazingly pain tolerant, then of course you'd have to break the arm, dislocate the shoulder, or choke them unconsious which is at that point quite easy in most cases once the submission is applied.



In boxing, i won't mention blows to the face as stated above, but another thing that nobody knows about(unless you train) is the liver. Hitting to the kidneys hurts, and it can cause longterm damage. It should be avoided. But the LIVER is a terrible thing to have damaged. Blows to the liver end fights quicker than they began time and time again when a trained professional makes the strike. It is not so tiny and hard to damage as the pressure nerve points in the body, but i promise you, it is at least as if not more powerful in ending an assailent's charge, and much easier to access. To hit the liver you need only throw a left hook to the body right under the ribs. The more you angle the hook up toward the oposite side shoulder the more likely you will do liver damage. This is difficult to do with boxing gloves on, but with MMA gloves it is a cinch, and barenuckle you really have to not get punched in the liver if you know what's good for you. Another common way to attack the liver is with a left thai kick to the body. Fighters like Mirko "Crocop" Filipovic have demonstrated on several occasions the power of a liver kick whether it be on the giving or the recieving end. The best thing about liver blows is that once you cause someone to whince, or drop from one, the liver is in an incredibly unstable state, and any more impact to it will cause extreme pain even if it is a light strike or a blocked punch/ thai kick.



Well, there you have it, some lesser known, nerve unrealated vital points in the body that will end a fight. Just like the other nerve points (of which i have not studied) it takes practice to get a good liver shot or leg kick. You can shrug it off after failing at it a few times but trust me, they work. And if you dont' trust me, watch some K-1 or MMA and you will see what i'm talking about.



I hope you learned a lot from all these great posts and remember that noone is 100% right on this one it is still under hot debate by martial artists all over so take each answer with a grain of salt. The only thing I really recomend is that you never get caught talking about a death touch or death strike, for that will get you laughed at in manymany circles whether or not it exists it is commonly "known" to be fiction.

Answer 5

Yes, they are real.



I've both hit them and been hit in them. My experience has been with two types, one that cuses extreme pain when pressure is applied, even a little bit. The other is more difficult to explain.



Have you ever sneezed and had the ache all through your body from it? I got a tap at the base of the neck and there was this instant 'explosion' of pain throughout the entire side of my head and shoulders. My partner (godan) explained the target areas and the results to me and allowed me to practice on him for a while. It was quite an experience. It is also when I began to learn to differentiate between nerve pain and damage pain.

Answer 6

Yes pressure points do exist and are very helpful when use in combination with other arts. Remember that people react different to attacks to those points. A lot of people are very tolerant to pain. I am a Martial Arts instructor and a law enforcement agent and I had used preassure points many times with very good results. Including arrests and non compliant subjects. Another thing it is not like the movies, very unlikely to kill somebody but not impossible.

Answer 7

Yes, they are quite real. The basic theory is that by stimulating specific peripheral nerves, you can over stimulate either the sympathetic or parasympathetic nervous systems & that do sharing connections to the same vertibrae, that these point can effect specific organs. Recent western research tends to confirm what Oriental experts have known for thousands of years.

Answer 8

As far as being able to disable a person by striking or applying pressure to a "presure point" or nerve/artery on the body. Look at what happens when you punch someone in the chin or the temple. The force to the nerve can instantly knock someone unconcious.

Most pressure points are as described by another answer. Areas of the body where verves or arteries run close to the surface of the skin and can be easily found. Behind the ear under the nose, in the arm pit the inside of your bicept, neck inside of thighs and testicles are a few of the main easy to find ones. They do litle more than cause the person varying degrees of discomfort. One person may crumple at the knees at the slightest pressure another might be able to take many strikes or strong pressure on them.

As far as it being crap it isn't but it is cetanily not something you can use on its own to stop an attacker. Anyone who says you can is lying or has never had to use it in a real experoence. Sure if I walk up to you and you stand still and let me dig my knuckle into the nerve behind your ear you will probably wince with pain and maybe even go to one knee but kill you or be injured,,,, Not unless you let me keep doing it for a few minutes. So I doubt if attacked the person would be able to sustain a hold like that for more than a second or 2...

You might hear people mention the Death Touch or Dim MAk...

First of all Dim Mak does not mean Death Touch it means Push Artery... Second Dim Mak is a ficticous art theorised and fantasized in literature and movies. And as for all these so called Kung Fu Masters.... Kung Fu is not even an art it is nothing more than a term used by westerners to describe any chinese art. the same goes for Wu Shu whic literally mean MArtial Art in English. So if you are learning Kung Fu/Wu Shu in North America you are probably learning Win Chung or Shaolin or another form of Chinese arts even Tai Chi. And according to the theories of Dim Mak only one male per generation can be tought this art and it is passed down from the current one to the next one. And never to westerners or anyone outside the circle.



So anyone who claims to know it or teach it is only learning it from a book writen by a theorist or a book on acupuncture or Tai Chi



Not that I have pissed a few people off by exposing some facts. Look it all up for your self...

Answer 9

they are very real. i have been studying martial arts for almost 10 years now and have been very fortunate in the sense that i found a place that is willing to teach such things. i have been taught these "pressure points" from two differenct masters. one master called them "nerve shots" and the other called them "meridian lines", but basically i have found them to be the same. they run throughout your body especially around the face. my training in this art is limited, but i know for a fact it is very real. i have personally been demonstrated on. they are highly effective but i have found them to require exreme training to be proficient. im sure if you google one of those it should give you an arsonal of information.

Answer 10

Very Much so, put your fingers directly behind someones ears and press, thats a major point and easy to use to get out of a choke hold.



Some are for healing some are for defence.

Answer 11

while there are definitely vital points on the body that cause serious serious pain and damage, alot of martial artists become dillusional about their worth in self defense.



dim mak is an art that focuses on vital point striking for example. but practicing with a compliant partner is one thing. using it in a real self defense situation, with a person who is moving (most likely quickly) and uncomplaint is a different matter entirely.



is it impossible to use? i don't beleive so. but it requires a very very high amount of training time to be able to hit such small targets (the size = usually smaller than a penny) with the right power on a fast moving body of an uncompliant opponent.



i would think one is far better off using all that training time to learn self defense techniques that will still achieve the same result (that is, stopping the threat) but require less precision and high level skill. not everyone has 8 hours a day to train anymore. but that's just me.



but...and i will say but...in a grappling situation, there is a better chance of attacking these points. reason being = less movement from the opponent.

Answer 12

Even when examining pressure point theories from a western or more scientific approach the original concepts of these fighting techniques are still derived from chinese medical research and concepts. Chinese medicine is based on clinical observation, where western medicine is instead based on controlled experimentation.

These are the only way to discover the techniques that will increase your pressure point fighting abilities, unlocking the mysteries and secrets of former warriors. Fortunately, the past several decades have seen an explosion of information related to the pressure point fighting concepts of..

dim mak

kyusho-jitsu

tuite

chin-na

and others

In recent years several different martial arts schools across the United States and Europe have begun to embrace the once taboo subject of pressure point fighting.

Answer 13

Dim Mak wasn't fictionalized by Hollywood. The Dim Mak originated in my opinion because of traveling showmen who would go from village to village and enter local tournaments. Two buddies would pair up, and one fighter would instantly kill his buddy in a showy way, intimidating the other opponents to drop out and effectively winning the local tournament. Pretty clever.



As far as pressure points are concerned: I can name a few. The vagus nerve which tavels near the carotid artery of the neck controls motor function and the ability of the heart to pump. A nerve strike to this vagus nerve would either paralyze someone for a few seconds, knocking them to the ground, or stop their heart momentarily. Likewise, the upper lip contains a surplus of nerver endings. The solar plexise under the rib cage where the breast bone ends provides another great location for soft tissue striking. The Goju tendon near both elbows is utilized frequently in martial arts to take an opponent down quickly. I've witnessed this in Aikido. Shin Shin Toitsu to be exact.



So, to apply science/medicine: There are common places on the human body where nerves bundle up. Nerve bundles are prime vital points to hit. If you strike these nerves/nerve bundles then the nerves may misfire and send signals of intense pain or shut down the signals that regularly travel through the nerves. This can disable your opponent with pain, or tell certain muscles to shut down.



Nerve striking, soft tissue striking etc. are all very real. Apply slight pressure to the vagus nerve on your friend and he'll believe you.

Answer 14

Pressure points are very real and can cause major harm to a person. To further your research look into Kali Escrima(Phillipino Martial Arts) or any type of stick fighting. A blow to a pressure point with a stick or strike(if powerful enough) can render an opponent helpless or worse.

Answer 15

They are real. Your boxer friend will never hit them wearing those big gloves they wear in the sport of boxing. Poke him in the eye with your finger, see if illicit a certain response. try it a day later , see if you get the same reaction.

Pressure points and vital points are different things.

i will most likely not get the 10 points on this as I refuse to supply the knowledge of where these points are located. This information is for responsible trained people only.

Answer 16

A more important question is "DO THEY WORK RELIABLY?"



The answer to that would generally be no.



While there are nerve clusters making certain areas of the body and certain points on the body more sensative than others just as your jaw is more sensative than your thigh.



However unlike your jaw, or throat or nose or whatever when you have a small area that needs to be grabbed a certain way in order for it tow work, it is often not possible to do so in a fully resisting situation where your opponent is not simply going to let you demonstrate it on him/her. Making most pressure point areas and techniques difficult at best to capitalize on in a real situation or even a controlled but still free-sparring one.



Also not all people are constructed differently, certain things might depend on the body construction or size of your opponent.



Also there is the question of adrenalin and the level of aggression, as people can withstand more pain when the aggression and adrenalin (and alcohol) is flowing, it is hard to justify the risk of using a potentially ineffective techniqe that will not only do nothing, but put you at risk where a more controlled strike, lock or break, will not do.



WEAPONS: it is important to note that while overall pressure points are unreliable unarmed, that is not so in some cases with weapons, aside from striking certain areas (take for example the nerve clusters under the arm), there needs to be a certain amount of force or certain way to manipulate it. This, with a knife, or weapon can be reached with less force or accuracy. Hit the nerve cluster under someone's arm in a fight can be difficult at best when unarmed and if you have a chance to strike there, and risk not putting enough force behind it to have it actually work and them feel it, it is less risky to strike another area- the head, or a joint (knee, etc.). However with a knife, if that presents itself a knife can reach those nerve clusters and possibly do way way more damage than even a strike when someone lets you hit that unarmed. This is actually common in prison brawls.



In short, your boxer friend is right in the respect that he or anyone is much more likely to ko your opponent with strikes (in his case as a boxer) and do it with less risk to themselves, than someone else is to effectively land and use a pressure point technique. However against compliant opponents in a controlled environment they do work.



So why do people still teach this stuff and people still believe it if it is unreliable?

If you can answer that one I'll give you 20 points.



BTW: by pressure points I don't mean jointlocks small joint manipulations, or strikes to joints or moves that in any way bend the body in a way it isn't meant to be bent or moved as that is not a pressure point, that is a break or a lock. I'm talking about the contention of attacking certain nerve clusters to "transmit" greater pain sensations to the brain.

Answer 17

Yes they are real, there are to my knowledge 300 pressure points that can be used on an opponent, Many disciplines such as Chin-Na utilize these points to gain an advantage over an opponent.



I study Hapkido, and we use many of these points pressure points and vital points for leverage or to weaken an opponent.



and just as spidertiger has pointed out, these techniques should only be allowed for people who're trained to use them in a responsible manner, because if they're misused, they could cause serious injury.



and I also agree with what spider tiger said about how your friend would never be able to use those techniques with those 12 oz. or bigger gloves that he wears in his fights, pressure points and such need more of a free movement in using the hands and arms to properly utilize them.

Answer 18

pressure points are real and used by law enforcement all the time to force compliance on suspects who do not obey orders. this is used in conjunction with stresses on joints. all major joints in the body contain nerve bundles.trauma to these area's will produce pain. there are other nerve point located in the feet, hands and face.the soft points' in your body include the groin,inner thigh's, back of knee, under arms,all you have to do is have someone apply pressure to these area's, it will not take much pressure for you to realize an effect. a simple test is to apply forefinger and thumb pressure just above the junction of the thumb and forefinger of the other hand. there are many points on the body which can induce pain and or loss of function.

Answer 19

Yes, Pressure points are very real and very useful in Martial Arts. They showed us how to use them in Hapkido. Some cause pain while others cause muscles to relax, allowing you to Hyperextend them.

Answer 20

yea they r real press at the bottom and behind of your ear not to much pressure yet hurts hell of alot ... there sum in ur throat and in the middle of your arms at the top n also one by your veins in lower arm and some in ur legs

Answer 21

It is real, but it's worthless to use in self defense/fight. Why don't you learn a couple then try use some on your friend and see what happen?



My moneys is on your friend.

Answer 22

YES - ASK YOUR FRIEND TO ASSIST YOU - STANDING IN FRONT OF HIM - PLACE YOUR THUMB AGAINST THE RIGHT JAWLINE OF YOUR FRIEND AT THE POINT WHERE HIS JAW HINGES- HAVE HIM LOOK UP AND TO THE RIGHT - AS HE DOES THIS KNEE HIM IN THE SCROTUM AND WHEN HE REGAINS CONSCIOUSNESS - ASK HIM IF HE FELT ANY PRESSURE TO HIS VITAL POINT

Answer 23

yes they are real.a lot more real than some of the so called facts that you read on wikpedia.