Good advice, MJS. Learning pressure points is not exactly simple, especially because angle and direction are so important. A book can tell you in words which angle and direction to use, but that is much better shown by an instructor than by a book. It's like learning a new language; a book can tell you the vocabulary words (or the names and locations of pressure points), but an instructor is much better-suited to teach the subtleties of the language (or the art) such as slang, nonliteral translations, homophones, and exceptions to the rules (just like angle and direction, which points might not work on which types of people and which technique might be better for striking first and which are better for counters, etc.) Besides, if you and your buddy/partner/whatever start hitting points to see what happens, you could really get hurt, but an instructor will know how hard to hit for a KO versus a kill, and what to do if you happen to hit a point that you shouldn't, or if you hit one too hard or too often. The Dillman books are great - I can vouch for that, and I've heard nothing but good about the Moneymaker books, too.
