Insight into Dim Mak, the Art & Science of Deadly Pressure Point Fighting
An interview with Dr Pier Tsui-Po by Joshua D. Wilson
For thousands of years, the subject of pressure point fighting (called "dim-mak") has been cloaked in mystery and shielded from the public eye. Martial arts masters with knowledge of it were reluctant to discuss it, still less willing to teach it. Surprisingly, even now in the age of the information super highway, the position has changed little. Perhaps Masters remain unwilling to discuss the subject but more likely, too few have the necessary information to impart.
Then why does a person die days after receiving a blow to some specific point in his chest? Why does a blow to a cluster of points cause multiple injuries? Can conventional wisdom and western medicine provide an explanation for the onslaught of epilepsy following a blow on the hand at a specific point when struck between only four specific hours of the day?
In what must be a world first, Grand Master Dr Pier Tsui-Po, the Dai Sifu of Dim Mak World and the acclaimed Golden Lion Academy provides a highly learned and compendious explanation of pressure points and of the way in which strikes or blows to those points affect the human body. Dr Tsui-Po's credentials make him eminently qualified to write on the subject. He holds a doctorate degree in acupuncture, he has over 30 years clinical experience in the healing arts, he is the author of several books and articles on healing arts and he has written and lectured extensively on other aspects of martial arts including tai chi and kung fu. He has trained an array of state and national kung fu champions, coached the Australian national kung fu team as well as coaching the Australian Kung Fu Wushu team.
"The Art and Science of Deadly Pressure Point Fighting" (which, for ease of reference, I will call "the Art and Science") is as much a reference text as it is a hands on study course. The Art and Science is divided into eight segments, each called a lesson, each in a discrete field of knowledge concerning pressure points. Each lesson logically, analytically and progressively uncovers the subtle nuances of pressure point fighting.
Each lesson builds on the teachings of the earlier in a cumulative way. This is not some impenetrably typed tome full of dense concepts. It is a modern work, explained in modern terminology, readily comprehensible and it is interactive in its teaching method. Where relevant, Grand Master Tsui-Po provides clinical examples drawn from his vast years of experience to illustrate the concept under discussion.
And, consistent with the Socratic style of writing, the Art and Science has as its ninth lesson a study guide in which readers are given the opportunity of responding to questions on their familiarity with each lesson. Some questions are in multiple choice form, while others are more akin to an essay. Dr Tsui-Po undertakes to assess each response and return it to the reader.
Very helpfully, the Art and Science is replete with illustrations. Some are anatomical illustrations showing skeletal or muscular aspects of the body while others are photographic showing, for example, the precise pressure point being struck and the precise hand, finger or foot application with which the particular point is in fact struck. The persons photographed are themselves specialist senior martial arts Masters, further enhancing the authenticity of this publication. The Art and Science is not specific of any particular martial arts.
Dr Tsui-Po makes no assumption that his reader is anything but a novice to either the martial or healing arts. In the result, what would otherwise be complex concepts of traditional Chinese medicine are explained in a way which a beginner can comprehend but a more sophisticated student will find stimulating and challenging.
Lesson 1 includes a description of Chinese and western medical terms. The origin and development of pressure points together with a Taoist viewpoint of health is given and the meanings of the names of pressure points, how pressure points are selected and how to locate them on the human body are included.
Lesson 2 informs the reader of the nature of various types of traumatic injuries that are commonly encountered in martial arts with reference to the signs and symptoms when pressure points are struck.
Lesson 3 teaches the underlying fundamental concepts of chi and the 24 hour clock used in the calculation of the death touch and of the delayed death touch. The flow of chi in humans, the midday-midnight law and its list of points, their locations, meanings, activation and functions are given.
The points that destroy yin and yang, chi and blood are taught in Lesson 4. Their locations, meanings, functions and activation are included. Various pathologies relating to the collapse of yin and yang as well as the collapse of chi and blood is taught.
Befitting the oriental culture, wu xing, the five elements, are taught in Lesson 5. Readers will find this lesson particularly useful in self healing. An explanation of the way the five elements can cause serious injury, even death is also given.
Lesson 6 describes the 14 main meridians and pressure points used in the counterflow technique of pressure point fighting. The counterflow technique is a study unto itself and various ways to help the reader incorporate the counterflow technique in his or her own style of marital arts is illustrated.
Lesson 7 presents the function of zang fu internal organs of the body and their mechanisms in health and in disease. The Chinese medical view on the physiology of the organs does not correspond to the western medical point of view on the physiology of those organs. A proper understanding of pressure point fighting can only be gained by a proper understanding of the function of zang fu organs, which Lesson 7 gives.
Lesson 8 offers the reader an additional 41 points: the most destructive pressure points that can be used in any style of marital arts.
No one can pretend that proficiency in pressure point fighting can be gained through anything less than a thorough and detailed study of it. Various authors have endeavoured to condense all aspects of pressure point fighting into book form, but even the most cursory glance at the material available on the subject in bookshops reveals that those authors have achieved only qualified success. My research reveals no publication to compare with this. Whatever your martial arts, you should include this publication in your library.
Q: Dai Sifu Pier Tsui-Po thank you for this interview. Can you tell us what motivated you to write 'The Art and Science of Deadly Pressure Point Fighting' in the first place?
A: There were several reasons. First, while I readily acknowledge the works of others who had written on the subject of pressure point fighting before me, I formed the view that the information available was too scattered and, in some instances, the available information was just plain wrong. Next, it concerned me that pressure point fighting techniques empowered martial artists to inflict very serious injuries if the techniques were incorrectly applied especially by a person who has an incomplete or inadequate understanding of their consequences. I felt a need to ensure that those techniques were correctly applied. But above all I did not like the fact that pressure point fighting had been shrouded in mystery and secrecy for thousands of years. I don’t like secrets. I thought the martial and healing arts community had matured sufficiently to be entrusted with the secret: hence The Art and Science.
Q: Why a manual? Why didn't you write a textbook on the subject?
A: The Art and Science is a professional home study manual. I structured it that way deliberately. I wanted to create an interactive point of reference but I did not want to create a turgid tome which would gather dust or serve as a doorstop. The Art and Science provides to a reader as much information on pressure points as he or she seeks.
Q: Why aren't the oriental anatomical charts showing dots over the body indicating pressure points sufficient?
A: For a very long time now, those charts represented the extent of available learning on the whole subject of pressure point fighting. In fairness, those charts did give students one (albeit base) insight into pressure points. But most students were told no more than a strike to any of the dots shown on the chart caused death. No one was told why death resulted from a blow to a point represented by the dots nor how dim mak worked. In fact, my research showed that the vast majority of instructors had no idea about pressure point fighting and no wonder, books and magazines on the subject were riddled with errors and inconsistencies.
Q: How does the manual work?
A: The manual offers a structured step by step programme of the foundations, theories and practical applications of pressure point fighting. The course can be adapted to any style of martial arts. It is broken into parts, which I call lessons. There are eight lessons in all, each covering a discreet issue in pressure point fighting. Each lesson builds on earlier ones.
Q: What level of knowledge must a reader have in order to make maximum benefit of The Art and Science?
A: No prior familiarity with martial or healing arts is necessary. In fact, if a reader brings an open mind to The Art and Science, then so much the better.
Q: Is a reader at an advantage if he or she has medical knowledge?
A: Not as far as western medicine is concerned. To understand pressure point fighting, a reader must gain some understanding of basic concepts of traditional Chinese medicine and in particular, the flow of energy within the body because dim mak is based on Chinese medicine. Other oriental medicines such as Japanese or Korean medicine is based on traditional Chinese medicine. However, those cultures have placed their own emphasis on traditional Chinese medicine and now call their own medicine Japanese or Korean acupuncture. Naturally, the greater the understanding, the more effective the pressure point fighter will become. In the chapter entitled 'Revealing the secret' in The Art and Science, I spend some time introducing the reader to aspects of traditional Chinese medicine such as Chi (that is, vital life-force or energy), its flow and its stagnation, Jing, Zang Fu organs, meridians and the five elements. As every martial artist knows, the flow and function of Chi is fundamentally important in the martial and healing arts. I have endeavoured to explain how effective pressure point fighting can interrupt or even reverse the flow of Chi producing devastating consequences. I also go into meridians and their function in traditional Chinese medicine. There is nothing new about meridians and their function in the martial and healing arts. I explain how they are an intricate network of pathways for the transportation of Chi, blood and essential fluids around the body. The ancient Chinese recognised the existence of meridians thousands of years ago. When ancient tombs were recently excavated in the Hunan province in China, archaeologists discovered silk books about meridians, although those books spoke of only 11 meridians whereas modern traditional Chinese medicine speaks of 12 meridians and eight vessels with about 1000 pressure points located on the human body, many of which are not located on these meridians and vessels.
Q: How are Chi and meridians relevant to pressure point fighting?
A: Both are critically important. Meridians connect with one another, with organs and with all other body parts. Pressure points lie on those meridians. A blow to a pressure point affects the flow of Chi, blood and other bodily fluids which in turn affects the organs or other body parts to which that particular meridian is connected. Other related or linked organs or body parts may likewise be affected. In the healing arts, Chinese Tui Na massage make use of the meridian system and so does acupuncture. In lesson 6 of The Art and Science, I explain which pressure points lie on which meridians and I explain which organ is affected by a blow to a particular pressure point. For example, pressure point liver 14 is located in the intercostal space between the sixth and seventh ribs. It is called a liver point to indicate that the organ involved is the liver. Here, pressure point liver 14 is numbered as the fourteenth point on the liver meridian. A blow to that point interrupts the flow of energy on the meridian which is liked to the liver. A blow to it also seriously affects the lung.
Q: Grandmaster, can you give another example?
A: Certainly. Take pressure point stomach 36. It is located below but near the knee. It is called a stomach point because it is on the meridian which is linked to the stomach. Some people may be surprised to learn that a point which affects the stomach is located nowhere near the stomach. But the ancient Chinese learned that manipulation of that point caused a reaction which, depending on the form of manipulation, could be favourable or adverse. It is reliably documented that soldiers in Chinese armies hundreds of years ago could gently manipulate that point and thereby invigorate the soldiers to enable the army to continue to march or do battle after they were exhausted. The translation of the Chinese name for the point is '3 miles' meaning that soldiers could march a further three miles when they were fatigued following manipulation of that point. On the other hand, when stomach 36 is struck with force, say by a front or side kick, not only is damage done locally at the point, but other bodily functions, mainly those relating to digestion are impaired. Paralysis of the lower leg is the usual consequence of a strike to this point. A blow to stomach 36 will also cause abdominal pain, gastritis, diaphragmatic spasm, diarrhoea or constipation. A skilled pressure point fighter knows that a blow to a certain pressure point will cause localised damage as well as damage to bodily functions and organs nowhere near the place of the point which was struck.
Q: Is precision required in pressure point fighting?
A: Absolutely. But precision comes from practice and familiarity with the points. In days gone by, martial arts students often trained up to six hours each day. In the course of their training, they suffered injuries, some quite serious. The martial arts master had also to be a master in the healing arts so as to repair any physical or energetic damage which their students incurred.
As a result of those hours of daily training, practitioners of the martial and healing arts became extremely adept at locating pressure points, whether singular points or cluster points. Nowadays, the daily responsibilities of most of us enable us to dedicate much less than three hours a week to training in the martial or healing arts. Hence, the need for precision. Some points can be missed altogether by as little as a few centimetres.
Q: That leads to the next issue. How can a pressure point fighter accurately strike a point with precision if his or her assailant is fully clothed?
A: There are two ways to train in order to attain precision. First, a student learns to locate pressure points on a bare body thereby actually seeing and touching the relevant body part. Next, there are specific landmarks which are used to identify the location of points even if the body is clothed. Those landmarks are pinpointed in The Art and Science. But several pressure points are readily accessible regardless of what your assailant is wearing, especially certain points on the neck (some of which are instantly fatal), points on the face (again, some of which are fatal whether instantly or delayed), points on the legs or arms, head, back or chest.
In The Art and Science, I dedicate an entire chapter called “the 41 most destructive points” to inform the reader about certain pressure points which will cause maximum damage. Many of those points are readily accessible regardless of the clothing your opponent is wearing.
Q: You write about something called 'the counterflow technique'. What is it?
A: The counterflow technique describes the technique used to cause injury to a meridian. Its effects are deadly yet the method used is deceptively simple. It is one of the more sophisticated skills used in pressure point fighting. Essentially, the counterflow technique causes injury or death (whether immediate or delayed) through striking a particular meridian in a particular way so that energy is forced in the opposite direction to the direction in which it naturally travels. The results are devastating. To master the technique, the practitioner must know in which direction energy naturally flows along any given meridian. For example, the stomach meridian runs from head to toe sending energy downwards. By applying the counterflow technique, a strike to the stomach meridian in an upwards direction using, say an uppercut, will result in damage to the stomach meridian, the stomach itself and organs and tissue associated with the stomach. Take another example. The spleen meridian has 21 pressure points on it. Energy flows upwards along the spleen meridian from the big toe to the chest. By applying the counterflow technique, a downwards strike to some selected points along the spleen meridian will cause adverse consequences to the proper functioning of the spleen thereby producing symptoms such as vomiting, feverishness, haemorrhage, yellowing of the skin and a prolapse of the spleen. Here's another example. Energy flows in a downward direction along the heart meridian. Nine pressure points are located on the heart meridian, the first of which is near the armpit and the last is on the little finger. An upward blow to any one of the nine pressure points along this meridian, in other words a blow which sends the flow of energy in the opposite direction to its natural flow, will cause cardiac pain, palpitations and heart attacks.
Q: You also write about the midday-midnight law. How is that concept relevant in pressure point fighting?
A: At different times in any 24 hour cycle, each organ in the body is at its peak or its low point of activity. As a result, energy flows into and out of that organ either at a rapid rate (at the high point) or at a slow speed (at the low rate). In every 24-hour period, energy in the body makes one full cycle of the 12 main meridians and energy takes two hours to pass through each of the 12 meridians. This is relevant to the martial artist because he or she should aim to strike the meridian corresponding to the organ in which activity is at its lowest in any 24 hour cycle. A skilled pressure point fighter knows which organ is at its peak or at its low point of activity at any given time in the 24-hour cycle. Thus, a blow along the heart meridian at midday or at midnight will cause maximum damage. That is because the organ is at its weakest when the energy level in that organ is at its lowest. The Art and Science contains a fuller explanation of the workings of the midday-midnight law. I encourage readers to refer to that explanation.
Q: How much force must be used in a hit to a pressure point?
A: There is no hard and fast rule but the severity of the injury, whether physical or energetic, will depend on the accuracy of the strike and the degree of force which is used. A strike may cause an external physical injury, that is an injury which is visible to the eye, or an internal injury to the energy systems which is obviously of greater concern to the victim. The strike may cause an acute injury manifesting itself in redness, pain, swelling, loss of function, impaired mobility or even shock. If the strike is accurate and made with full force, the result will be a chronic or severe injury. A chronic injury is one which lingers for a prolonged period such as arthritis caused by a blow, say, to the knee.
A severe injury is one where, for example, internal organs are so badly damaged by the strike or blow that instant or delayed death results. In the second lesson in The Art and Science, I descend into the traumatology of pressure point fighting and I explore the effects, at least in traditional Chinese medical terms, of various injuries which occur in pressure point fighting.
Q: How relevant is the oriental concept of yin and yang to pressure point fighting.
A: Very. Being complementary opposites, yin and yang combine as much in pressure point fighting as in any other aspect of life which calls for balance and harmony. This is not the time and place to give you a speech about the Taoist theory of the duality of yin and yang. But in pressure point fighting, the strike or blow which upsets the body’s balance of yin and yang or the strike or blow which scatters yang will cause the maximum destructive effect leaving the opponent drained of energy which in turn leads to the eventual collapse of yang thus producing death. No one can function effectively with an imbalance of either yin or yang. Successful pressure point fighting causes an imbalance of yin and yang by damaging the meridians through which energy flows thereby damaging the organs which we need to live. In pressure point fighting, yin equates to blood and yang to energy. Blows to certain pressure points destroy blood and blows to certain other pressure points destroy chi. Traditional Chinese medicine has it that once both blood and chi are destroyed, death results because yin and yang are destroyed. Once yin and yang are eliminated, our very existence ceases. In lesson 4 of The Art and Science, I list (with accompanying drawings) various pressure points, blows to which destroy yin (blood) on the one hand or yang (chi) on the other. Points which destroy yin are generally more deadly than points which destroy yang because yang organs can recover quicker that Yin organs.
Q: Is this what you mean when speaking of a death touch point?
A: Yes, although some yang points, especially those which destroy chi are death points. A pressure point fighter strikes those points at his or her peril because of the risk of death to his or her opponent. Blows to points which are yin (blood) points lead in the most part to some form of disease because the blood stagnates thereby impairing the proper function of organs. Disease then leads to death.
Q: Does it follow that the expression “delayed death touch” is a reference to a blow to mainly yin points?
A: Generally yes or it may refer to a lesser blow to a point which destroys chi in time, for example, a significant blow to pressure point liver 13 (located on men directly below the nipple on the 11th rib) which will cause death.
Q: Dai Sifu Pier Tsui-Po do you have any parting words?
A: Yes. As every martial artist knows, you and you alone are responsible for the consequences of your actions. The ancient Chinese have given us a gift - knowledge and the skills of pressure point fighting techniques. That gift is given on condition that we use the skills wisely and not in breach of the law. The consequences of pressure point fighting can cause death or very serious injury. Use the skills wisely.
Joshua D. Wilson is a Barrister-at-Law and former Kung Fu instructor in Melbourne, Australia.
For more details on the resources available at Dim Mak World, follow this link.
The Points
These photographs illustrate some of the more common dim mak points. For more information on the location of these points or their medical effects go to dim mak online. For a complete list of resources on dim mak and the dim mak points click here.
These points are shown for educational purposes only and one should refrain from attacking them.
PRESSURE POINT MERIDIAN CHARTS | ||||
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YIN - NEGATIVE (-) | ||||
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ORGAN - CIRCULATORY |
ELEMENT |
HEALS |
CONTROLS |
CHARTS |
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FIRE |
EARTH |
METAL |
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EARTH |
METAL |
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METAL |
WATER |
WOOD |
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WOOD |
FIRE |
EARTH |
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BOWEL - DIGESTIVE |
ELEMENT |
HEALS |
CONTROLS |
CHARTS |
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FIRE |
EARTH |
METAL |
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FIRE |
EARTH |
METAL |
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METAL |
WATER |
WOOD |
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WOOD |
FIRE |
EARTH |
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EARTH |
METAL |
WATER |
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WOOD |
FIRE |
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