I have to admit; on occasion in sparring I’ve been guilty of throwing my limbs in the general direction of my partner’s head or torso in hope that I’ll hit something that hurts. Sometimes I even end up aiming for the less vulnerable areas so I can afford to hit them harder. While we do have to look after our partners in kumete, this kind of ‘lazy’ sparring can develop bad habits. I don’t care how strong you are, if your punch lands square in your opponent’s pec or bicep, you’ll really need to start thinking about what to do next.

With the grading approaching I’ve found myself having to re-learn the Japanese pressure points (kyushu) that’d I’d once memorized for my shodan exam. It’s amazing how quickly one forgets these things. In any case, it’s reminded me of the importance of having a clear intent with our targets and to occasionally explore spots you might not always think about striking.

One of the things I love about traditional karate is training to attack these more vulnerable areas – the spots usually off limits in competitive martial arts. Groin strikes, chokes and eye gouging, biting, ripping at ears and pulling hair (sigh) – all that good stuff – these are the things self-defense is made of.

In training Sensei frequently encourages us to poke and prod ourselves and our partners to develop a feel for those hard to find places. Something tells me he could find them all blindfolded, but I’ve learned not to ask twice about the exact location of pressure points unless you’re after some first hand experience to ‘burn’ those spots into memory.

13 comments

1. Randy on 3 April 2009 at 00:39

   Great post. It can be tricky to keep your head clear enough to think about targeting "in the moment", especially when you have a target that is trying to hit you back! Every time I get whacked in sparring and it hurts more than usual or stuns a limb, or I get injured outside of training, I spend some time with a human anatomy atlas. I get a bit obsessed with finding out exactly what nerve plexus was involved, or what muscle insertion or tendon was manipulated, or which bone was rapped, so that I can avoid having it happen again- but more importantly, so I can do it to someone else! Looking at an anatomy atlas alongside something like the Bubishi, or a kyusho chart, can help to disambiguate the locations and effects of vital points. While the location of Lung 1 or Ram 2, etc… might not stand out to me during sparring, I might suddenly realize while my partner is choking me that his neck/collarbone is close, and that driving a knuckle down into the clavicle will cause pain in the brachial plexus origin or that jamming my thumb knuckle up behind their jaw hinge will cause them to recoil a bit. Most of the time these anatomical points are the same as in kyusho charts. Learning these spots on yourself can definitely make them more familiar and usable with another person. Good luck in your refresher- and to your training partners as well!

    
2. the snake on 3 April 2009 at 03:55

   Thanks for stopping by my blog. i wish you all the success in your training.
   Gambatte kudasai.
   Domo arigato gozaimashita.

    
3. Anonymous on 3 April 2009 at 07:05

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4. Sue C on 3 April 2009 at 23:13

   I find it's often the simple things that work well. Pinching the flesh over the triceps always stops my husband in his tracks and a sharp tap on the temple with the finger joint can take a grown man down!

    
5. Unknown on 4 April 2009 at 00:31

   I think all this attention to pressure point striking is a little difficult to take seriously.. I spent many years listening to people going on about it and quite frankly means nothing when you're fighting under pressure.. We all know where on our bodies it hurts, so thats where you hit someone else.. simple.. I dont think its such a science do you?
   
   Nice blog..
   
   Steve
   ----
   stevewildash.blogspot.com

    
6. Krista de Castella on 4 April 2009 at 01:14

   @Randy: Interesting point. I think it does pay to develop a thorough understanding of our bodies and our opponent's. I recently just bought a copy of the Bubishi but haven't had a chance to sink my teeth into it yet. To be honest my 'to read' pile of martial arts books is growing faster than I can manage. It seems like whenever I sit down to read I feel like I should be at the dojo training...
   
   @The Snake: Thanks for your kind words and I'll do my best to keep it up.
   
   @SueC: Simplicity is definitely what we should be aiming for in martial arts. And, I know the old tricep trick - a favorite of my Sensei's in Australia. Been left with the blue finger prints on several occasions.
   
   @Steve Wildash: I think you're absolutely right. I like what Kane and Wilder have to say about pressure points in their book: "nerve strikes are extra credit... they simply do not work on everyone".
   
   The best targets are probably instinctive but that said, Sensei seems to be able to find all kinds of excruciating little spots I didn't know I had. Whether or not I could find them under pressure is another matter but maybe there's still something in it.

    
7. Scott on 4 April 2009 at 02:54

   I love the idea of a blog for following a dream. It sounds like you are having a blast in Japan.
   One must surely know where the death points are so as to avoid getting hit in one, even by accident. It's true that they may be hard to hit, and they may not always work--but knowing where they are is a must.
   Here is my take on the death point
   
   http://northstarmartialarts.com/blog1/?p=670

    
8. Krista de Castella on 4 April 2009 at 09:48

   Scott,
   
   Thanks and great point. Knowing how to defend our vulnerable areas is surely as important as knowing how to hit them. Interesting article too by the way.

    
9. Unknown on 4 April 2009 at 18:05

   Scott / Krista, covering up is part of any martial system as you already know, if you don't you're a fool...it's not rocket science to know where your vulnerable areas are.. "death points" I just can't go with it.. I too read the Bubishi with out a teacher to explain it.. well.. My opinion is that you hit anyone hard enough you will kill them..
   
   Do you condition your body enough to deal with stiking? I would have thought so training in Goju...
   
   Getting hit is all in the mind if you can't deal with it well, doesn't matter what training you've done and who with, it isn't going to make an ounce of difference.. It's all about you at the end of the day..
   
   BFN
   
   Steve

    
10. Krista de Castella on 5 April 2009 at 00:43

    @Steve/Scott:
    
    I think there is a tendency for pressure points to be wrapped up in a certain mysticism in the West. Paralysis points and 'Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Techniques'... In reality as Steve points out it's probably largely common sense.
    
    While we do a lot of conditioning in Goju Ryu there are however obvious areas that one can't make stronger (face, eyes, throat, groin... etc). There are also some good targets beneath the surface, organs and the like that one might not otherwise necessarily aim for. Given that we often don't train these areas as much I think it's worthwhile being mindful of them in training and avoiding falling into the habit of just aiming for the spots we're most comfortable with.
    
    I do think Steve's also got a point about conditioning though - desensitizing ourselves to getting hit is an important part of any martial arts training. I've spent a few solid sessions with different instructors learning how to quite literally beat ourselves up - really would turn a few heads to see a dojo full of students hitting themselves with bits of wood and slapping themselves in the face! Can't say I'm fully comfortable with getting beaten up yet but a healthy aversion to pain is probably good thing too right?

     
11. Unknown on 5 April 2009 at 02:21

    One thing Systema has taught me about conditioning is you should always be working at full contact.. so if the attack is very slow in drills, the contact to your body is light, as the intensity or the speed of the attacks increase so does the level of contact.. the level of intensity or speed is usually agreed between partners at the start of the drill, but the main thing is to aways have contact,whether face, body, groin, what ever, these areas can be worked at slower speeds and therefore you get conditioned in a controlled way..
    
    Steve

     
12. Jesse Crouch on 6 April 2009 at 17:25

    If you're really interested in pressure point martial arts you should look into Kyusho (http://kyusho.com). It's style agnostic with a concentration on points alone. Lots of good information with them.
    
    Some Systema styles also get very deep into pressure points, but come at it from a different perspective than other Asian martial arts.
    
    Also - nice layout. Really pretty blog.

     
13. Anonymous on 9 April 2009 at 02:01

    I train whith Sensei João Ramalho He was a former IOGKF member (4th Dan???) and he is studying some Goju Ryu "Kyusho Bunkai".
    
    I think its an interesting (very) area.
    
    Best regards