Dim-Mak
Dim-Mak (Death Point
Striking)
This is what all the internal martial
arts are based on, it's one
of the things
that make them so deadly. Dim-Mak
simply
means "Death Point Striking"
and it works through the energy
meridians of the human body.
There are Dim-Mak points
all over the
body, linked to every major organ,
most of which
will take even the
biggest of people to the ground with
just one
strike, through knock-out, or death.
Bellow is an article written by Erle Montaigue on Dim-Mak.
DIM-MAK A MEDICAL VIEW: By Erle Montaigue March 1988
There are certain techniques
which most responsible martial artists tend to keep secret until a
student is able to understand them and only use them responsibly.
However, in modern times, certain people have been traveling the
world revealing many of these very dangerous techniques to all and
sundry with many inexperienced martial artists going home and trying
it out on their younger brother or mother etc. I say inexperienced
not only in the physical sense where the student is just not up to
using these techniques properly but also inexperienced in medical
knowledge. This leads to dangerous situations where people are
trying to emulate techniques which they might have seen someone else
perform at seminars etc, and not knowing the medical implications,
can cause great damage to his or her training partner.
With this in mind I have
decided to impart some of the small knowledge which I have
accumulated over the years on the Dim-Mak medical theory so that
inexperienced martial artists will know more about why this art
works and perhaps think twice about using it in practice. I will
also reveal some of the more dangerous points and explain why the
knock outs work when attacking with medium pressure to certain
points far from the head or chin.
In revealing this
information, I too am in breach of martial responsibility. However,
I feel that it is necessary at this stage so that more injury does
not happen through inexperience and general lack of knowledge. It is
my hope that most young martial artists and some oldies will use
this information wisely and also tell about it responsibly, really
stressing that it is very dangerous and will kill. Better that we
have people killing others in times of dire need rather than going
home and hitting Mum on the carotid sinus in the wrong way and
killing her because some person at a seminar said that it was not
dangerous.
WAYS TO KNOCK SOMEONE OUT:
Firstly, it is dangerous to
knock someone out regardless of how it is done. We lose a few
million brain cells every time we are knocked out.
We, most of us know that a
strong percussion anywhere near the head or chin, face etc. will
cause knock out. This is because these areas are vital to human
survival and when knocked, the brain simply causes the rest of the
body to faint thus saving all of the energy and blood for the
affected area. This is the first and most basic of the knock out
techniques. This is why boxers are knocked out etc.
The second method relies upon
the chin being pushed back to cause pressure upon the spinal column
causing a momentary blockage of information from the central nervous
system to the brain and so the body is unable to do things, so we
have another knock out.
The third way involves
striking certain groups of muscles causing the muscles around the
lungs to contract violently thus taking the air away from the lungs.
This is termed a restricted air dim-mak point. For instance if I
strike someone in an upward way against the scapular muscles then
the lungs will be restricted. for the first attack and defence. I
attack to his inner wrist points to cause the mind to think that the
whole body has been hit and at the same time I strike at the 'mind
point' on the side of the chin where the jaw joins and just back a
bout a quarter of an inch. This is a 'special point' in acupuncture
and is on no particular meridian. This alone will cause knock out
and serious internal damage. Then, if I'm really keen on overkill, I
should attack to his rear with that same palm in an upward manner as
in This in Taiji is called 'stroking horses mane.' This was defence
against an 'open' technique where I am in danger of his other hand.
I can perform the same air restricting dim-mak using a 'closed'
technique. I now take his attack using a hinge block (in Taiji) to
attack his colon points on his upper forearm. Photo No.3. This alone
will cause the body to exert extreme low blood pressure thus
knocking him out, but more on this method later. I can now attack
with the same technique with my left palm across his pectoral
muscles and cause the lungs again to be restricted through muscle
spasm. I can of course attack to these points outright by taking a
simultaneous block and attacking with a palm straight into these
points.
The fourth way is a much more
complicated method and requires some medical explanation. This is
where we cause the brain to think that something has happened when
it really hasn't. The brain reacts to cause other physical things to
happen and we end up with extreme low blood pressure which can, if
it becomes too low cause heart attack. I will also add here that
any acupuncture point when struck with enough force will cause a
knock out. But it is not safe. Any acu point which is struck will be
greatly over stimulated and cause the associated internal organ to
be damaged. Acupuncture points are there for healing or for killing
so use them with great caution. A little pressure is OK for healing
but increase that pressure and you can kill.
So, we have little things in
our body called baroreceptors. Baro meaning barometer and
receptor meaning something that receives information. These little
bits of us register either hi or low blood pressure in the body. We
have them around the aorta but the main one that we are concerned
with is in the neck and is called the carotid sinus. This
thing is a small dilation (expansion) at the beginning of the
internal carotid artery just above the bifurcation of the common
carotid artery to form the internal and external carotid arteries.
The common artery is the big one from where the other two branch
out, one going to the brain, eye, forehead and nose. The external
branch supplies the mouth, face, nose, pharynx and part of the
larynx, some of the back of the head and some of the dura matter,
(brain stuff).
The sinus lies just under the
sternocleidomastoid muscle (the big one going up either side
of your neck) at the level of the upper margin of the thyroid
cartilage. (Adam’s apple). Sensory fibres (afferent) from carotid
sinus baroreceptors run through the carotid sinus nerve of the
cardioinhibitory centre of the medulla.
If blood pressure within the
aorta or carotid sinus rises suddenly, it stimulates the aortic or
carotid baroreceptors. The result of such stimulation is a reflex
slowing of the heart thus lowering the blood pressure. This is how
we maintain a normal blood pressure.
Now, here is the rub:
If we are able to in some way cause this carotid sinus to think that
high blood pressure is present, then the brain will cause the
pressure to drop but because there is no high blood pressure, we are
instantly dropped because not enough blood gets to the brain. We
are able to cause this to happen with a medium strike to the
carotid sinus area. The more on target one can be, then less strike
force is necessary to cause knock out. However, we must strike
through the carotid artery in order to get to this sinus and herein
lies the danger. Apart from the danger of stroke from low blood
pressure, we also have the added danger of seriously damaging the
inner wall of the carotid artery which can slowly disintegrate and
perhaps we will die some days later in our sleep from heart attack.
The strike necessary for this
to happen is an inward strike, pushing in onto the carotid artery
and sinus. See photo No.5. Here I have used a knife edge to do the
damage but we are also able to use just the tips of the fingers to
dig into this area and attack the sinus. In some ways this way is
better as the smaller fingers tend to get to the sinus digging under
the carotid artery not just barrelling through it but both are
dangerous. I have in the past caused some of my students to become
quite dizzy from a light poke to this area. I do not do it now
however in the light of the dangers which have been told to me by
professor McCleod of the Sydney University Medical Dept. If you
attempt to just strike the outside of the neck with a knife edge you
will of course do damage but with a much harder strike and so this
is actually more dangerous. This is where irresponsible acts by
martial artists in demonstrating these techniques without showing
how they are done will cause damage. Someone will go and try them
and, not working, they will try harder and harder.
Here is another medical secret:
We are told that other things
that will cause this low blood pressure are, the cold sensors in the
skin being activated or sudden intense stimulation of pain receptors
in such visceral structures as, the gall bladder, uterus, (Lie
behind the parietal peritoneum and extend from the kidneys to the
posterior surface of the bladder. This is where the urine is
collected for excretion etc. Any attack to this area, kidneys, lower
abdomen will cause knock out) or intestines can cause such slowing
of the heart that fainting may result.
That's what the scientists
say. And here's another rub, the scientists either do not know
anything about or do not wish to know about the acupuncture points
on the body. There are so many intestine, small and large on the
arms, shoulders and back and kidney and gall bladder points from the
feet upward to the head that striking any one of these points causes
the body to think that the actual organ has been struck and so we
are able to knock someone out by striking to for instance colon
10, a point on the upper forearm as shown in photo No.6. You are
able to attack this point with a block or with an actual strike of a
finger grab. The power however is not just a touch, we were not made
that fragile! A certain pressure must of course be used and it goes
without saying that a person must first of all know how to fight and
get in before he or she is able to use these points anyway. the
striking of these points to cause knock out will however cause
damage to the internal organs through over stimulation.
We just heard that if the
gall bladder is in pain it will cause low blood pressure and there
is a point on the foot just to the side above the toes called
gall bladder 42, this point when struck with a heel stomp will
cause knock out to occur.
The fifth way to cause damage
by using points is to actually attack the points which refer to
important organs such as the heart. We do not have to attack to the
heart itself to stop it from working. Once again there are points on
the arms which will cause great heart damage and these points should
be avoided at all costs other that mild stimulation. Heart 3
if attacked with 'Play the Guitar' (from Taiji) will cause great
internal damage. Upon being attacked we simultaneously attack the
outside of the wrist and using the thumb knuckle, attack this point
just on the inside of the arm and near the elbow crease. See Photo
NO.8. We can further cause damage and knock out by then re-slapping
the wrist area and using a fa-jing (explosive energy) technique to
attack the mind point on the side of the face.
However, here's another rub,
these points must be attacked in the right direction and penetration
in order for them to work. For instance the 'mind point' must be
attacked with an inward strike. So although it looks just like a
back fist which would normally strike straight in, it is actually a
twisting fist which causes the pressure to go in towards the brain.
The attack to the heart 3 point must be going towards
yourself and away from the person you are attacking so there is a
slight hooking of the thumb upon impact to draw the pressure back.
There are points on the chest which will kill but if they are
attacked straight in will only cause superficial damage, breaking of
bones etc. But if the strike is made in a downward motion to affect
the flow of energy, then death will occur.
I will finish once again by
warning you not to try these points in an actual self defensive way
with power as they will do damage to your students. You can find out
where these points are by simply pushing and poking around on
yourself or on your sister, or mother, or father and watching them
jump when you find the point. But only use very light pressure as
you don't know what inner ailments are there. For instance there is
a point called kidney 5 which is used for healing period
pains among other things but that's what it is famous for. Now if
you grab this point and squeeze heavily and your sister just happens
to have her periods, at the most you will cause great internal
damage and at the least will cause her to just sky high and perhaps
kill you upon return. This point is used when we leg sweep. Never in
our Taiji katas do we leg sweep. Try it when someone has a rubber
pair of joggers on and standing on an asphalt surface. You just
can't sweep the leg without breaking it. No, we are actually
attacking to the k 5 point on the Achilles tendon. For
instance if we block an oncoming attack with the peculiar hook from
Taiji, thus attacking to the wrist area again and step in with our
right heel, you will notice in any Taiji form, the foot is placed
down coming back slightly towards you. Photo NO. 10 shows the attack
and initial block. I now step around and as I attack to the
Conceptor vessel point on the chest just between the two nipples in
a downward stroke, my right heel attacks to his k 5 point as
I throw him to the ground.
In closing I hope that you
will be somewhat responsible and at least have some more knowledge
of what happens when someone is struck in the neck in a certain way
and why the knock out occurs even to other parts of the body but it
is a fairly powerful strike. I have never seen anyone who is able to
just touch and cause knock out.
In the very least it is my
hope that most of you will now check out your old dusty medical
texts and look a little more at the acupuncture theory and points.
IN this way we will all learn more about the most important part of
the martial arts, that of healing, far more important than damaging.