You will see debated from time to time about Karate bunkai containing pressure point strikes.
Some claim that pressure points make your techniques ultra effective, whilst others claim that in the heat of the moment you will not have the accuracy to find the point whilst somebody is trying to hit you at the same time.
If you start a fight 6ft apart, close in, then exchanging blows with a capable opponent; I believe that it would be difficult to find pressure point targets.
Just think when you are sparring against somebody of equal skill, it can be difficult landing a blow on their torso, never mind finding a very small pressure point to hit.
In this kind of scenario, if you are genuinely convinced that you are going to be attacked and you are not able talk sense into your assailant, at some point you may take the decision that you will have to beat some sense into him instead. I’m not talking about somebody calling you names or jumping a queue, but a real threat of imminent violence.
In this scenario a pre-emptive strike to a pressure point will be much more likely to succeed.
You are better off using what Geoff Thompson calls “The fence”, with hand open and facing down in a universal position of neutrality, feet apart in a solid stance, engaging his brain with some dialogue, then hit him as fast and hard as you can on a vulnerable point.
How well do you think your pressure point strikes would work against a knife wielding assailant who keeps going with 4 bullets in him.
My friend Keith tried applying a pressure point to calm Daren down.
Human beings are capable of taking an awful lot punishment when in a rage, adrenalised, or just plain determined enough to finish the job; so it does suggest that pressure points can be limited when against somebody in a rage or fully adrenalised.
That said, there are some points that no matter how drunk, high or adrenalized a person is; cannot be resisted.
Attacking the carotid sinus, causes the blood pressure to the brain to drop and hence the assailant passes out.
These points should normally work under any conditions, though you are more likely to succeed with a pre-emptive strike than in an all out fight.
Whilst I believe that pressure points are valuable and have there place, they should not be treated as a short cut, or as a replacement for perfecting your technique.
Whilst most people recognise that technique may only be 50% efficient when under pressure, 50% of a good technique is still much better than 50% of a bad technique.
Russell Stutely is recognised as Europe’s number one leading expert on pressure point fighting.
I recall one of his newsletters where people had been writing in asking him why he spends so much time doing pressure points.
His response was that he only does a small amount of training on pressure points, with most of his personal training being basics and power development etc.
When you look at Russell’s franchise training program, he deals with balance points, power generation and other aspects before he starts on pressure points.
So if Europe’s number one expert on kata bunkai pressure points does not take short cuts and neglect his basics, neither should we.
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