Skepticism about the use of Pressure Points in Karate

[Manny]

We don't spend a lot of time on it.
Sean

Saddly in TKD we don't spend even a little time on it.

Manny

 

[Brandon Fisher]

We use pressure points and nerve attacks in my dojo however it is the old schooll way of doing nothing mystical about it. Hit a nerve cluster with a well executed strike or block that is timed correctly then you will see a great effect. Especially if the attacker is already off balance which makes a major difference. Keep in mind the off balance does not have to be visable to have an effect. There are a lot of everyday movements we make that change the balance point in our body.

 

[punisher73]

Oh, yes, it definitely falls under the category of "cause more pain than normal when struck" that I mentioned, and swelling is a very common response to trauma, but I have heard someone somewhere mention that if you strike it in sequence with some other pressure point that you can stop someone's heart. Things like that bother me

thanks for the clarification. I agree with that as well.

Hit three points in a sequence to initiate the self destruct mechanism I remember seeing George Dillman showing a destruct sequence one time and he was actually using his big toe to push a point on the person's foot while doing the other two points. Really? How often are you attacked and both of you have bare feet? Let alone getting close enough to hold the point with your toe and not have him move his foot or punch you in the face.

 

[Manny]

I know some (very few) presure points, the one I use the most is below the ear, some time doing some kind of grapling I could not take off me a young stud so I drove a nuckle to the spot below the ear, and this was enough. Another presure point I know is below the nose, other below the eye sockets.

It's a plus to know some presure points and how to atack them efectively.

Manny

 

[Nomad]

Beware the Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique.

No can resist.

 

[BigRich]

We use them to some extent but only at more advanced levels.

 

[Sensei Payne]

Yeah, I study a Chinese system so pressure points are part of the deal. I think the problem arises when people think pressure points are an "I Win" button. They aren't. They are just another tool in a martial artist's arsenal and usually used to get your opponent to do what you want him to do.

This is very true...you can't just train in pressure points and expect to win confrontations...you have to have proper body positioning and hand placement...and it takes a lot of Practice.

Must become a WELL ROUNDED practitioner.

 

[Grenadier]

I will add that I do tend to be more apt to nerve attacks while grappling, but that includes standing grappling, even while striking. Unfortunately, a lot of karate is difficult to incorporate into sparring because it is structured to defend against untrained attackers or surprise attacks and working them on someone who is actively trying to fight you who has been trained is going to be extremely difficult. I have managed to hit a nerve or two in sparring, and I have thrown and joint-locked people in sparring as well, but it's HARD.

Also, in a life or death scenario, there's going to be adrenaline rushing through your body, and trying to aim for small pressure points in those situations is going to be extremely difficult, at best.

 

[punisher73]

In our class, we learn about pressure points and how to use/access them, but we also keep in mind that they're considered a "bonus" as they can be difficult to access in an uncontrolled situation, and since many people don't or won't react to them as you hope (whether that's because of a lack of sensitivity, or from adrenaline or less natural stimulants that can alter nerve conduction and/or perception is fairly moot).

So we will often aim for them, and hope to use them, but won't count on it being successful (which is why solid technique and basics remain so important).

Unfortunately, much of what is shown in my admittedly limited experience of the more "magical" applications of pressure points are partially reliant on your partner complying, and tend not to work nearly as well against someone actively trying to hurt you.

When I instruct our PPCT classes, which have a pressure point component to it. I have to make sure that they understand the time/place to use them. For the most part, they are used with "touch pressure" for low levels of resistance. For higher levels of aggression, the targets are clusters of nerves on the muscle which are easy to get to and can cause the muscle to dysfunction (either go numb, or charley horse effect).

Even THEN, I tell them to think about pressure points for normal people as a bell curve (not taking into account, adrenaline, drugs etc.)

For every 100 people, they will fall on this curve. If we look about 68% of the public will have a response to the pressure point. About 15.8% will have an "over" response to a pressure point, and at the other end 15.8% will have little to no response to the pressure point. So pressure points are effective in around 83% of the population, but as has been pointed out drugs and adrenaline will effect that number.

 

[Black Belt Jedi]

On and off I end up learning pressure points. When I am teaching I teach the basic pressure points instead of the advance ones, where certain buttons of the human body can be hard to target. So it's better to learn some pressure points than none at all. I end up learning pressure points in self-defense and flow drills to understand where and why we hit here and there.

 

[chinto]

ok, a lot of them are kinda bonus points. in that if you can cause some pain compliance with some one using them, and you can at times, great. But the 'pressure points ' also cover things like the solar plexus and vagus nerve in the neck and such that are large unwavering points.
also many would consider some of the lethal points as pressure points I guess. Yes they work to a point, but if its for keeps... keep it simple, go for maximum damage, and make sure you walk away.

but they do work and some are much more dependable then others. like the person before me said, better to learn some then none at all.