Pressure points, can you use them?

Pressure points, can you use them?

After many years in training in traditional Shotokan karate (36 years) I realised that something was amiss, I regarded myself as a good puncher but when faced with a much bigger heavier trained opponent I found that he was able to take the punches, I was not looking to be a super hero, but I have spent almost all my life dedicated to the martial arts and I wanted to know that my training would work if my life or the life of my loved ones depended on it.

Could I be sure, well I know there are no guarantees in life but if you take driving lessons one would reasonably expect that after some time that you would be able to drive. (Not my wife it seems but don’t tell her as our sofa is not very comfortable).  So I came across an advert in a martial arts magazine. It was claiming that you could KO any opponent easily using pressure points, I read it and then I dismissed it as I thought it was just a marketing ploy, I put it in a draw and forgot about it, then after 6 months I found myself flicking through the magazine again and this advert kept nagging at me and for me to do something about it, what if it was true? What if you could knock anyone out, but how?

This led me on my journey to learn about pressure points and after an intensive study of the human anatomy spending £1000s and £1000s on books, DVDs, travelling to visit various masters around the world it has led me to the discovery that it is the nerves in the human body which can be utilised for self defence, it is not a quick fix formula you still need to understand how to attack the nerves e.g. how to stimulate and stretch them, which point activates which nerve and which are different body features respond to which weapon and how to use them, also which part of the hand or foot to use.

This all takes time to learn, you also need to train the speed, power, timing and again this all takes time. No one is going to just stand there and let you hit them on a pressure point this does not happen. A point that people over look is that they think they can be out of shape and just because they think they know and rely on a few pressure points to win a fight or confrontation that will be enough to save them, I have news for you, you cannot it is still a fight and you must still keep fit, sharp and have the stamina to get you through it.

In a fight or confrontation we react instinctively, that means how we train and our repeated movements and actions will become a part of our natural reactions so we must endeavour to put practical, good, useful and instinctive body mechanics into our training and put ourselves under pressure.  Anyone can react well when they are comfortable and in a safe environment but if a 300 pound hill billy runs screaming towards you, wanting to act out the scene from Deliverance. (Great film) you better have something ready and effective to use!

After saying the above using pressure points would not require me to change what I was doing too much I just had to modify and tweak a few things in order to make the pressure points work. That said I have tested the theories on many, many larger opponents from all over the world, who were twice my size and weight and I found by studying the principles of nerve dysfunctions I am able to use pressure points effectively for self defence purposes.

Don’t waste your time thinking about different cycles, yin and yang, chi energy, imagining different colours, emotions, Metal chops wood, wood penetrates earth Etc. Those who study pressure points will know what I mean.    All this is great if you really want to spend a lot of time studying but I am a simple man and I don’t like to confuse myself or my students. So when I teach I show the students how to stretch the nerves and how to make the correct fist or hand shape that coupled with the angles, energy and directions of the strikes. It then makes perfect sense to me and the people I teach. There is a saying;

“If you can’t explain it SIMPLY, you don’t understand it well enough.”  Albert Einstein

Train safe and take care

GM Angelo