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PRESSURE POINTS FIGHTING
The bunkai in the trilogy of Naihanchi or Tekki kata contain lots of pressure points fighting techniques. There is no need to rely on raw strength or brute force if you can strike certain vital Karate pressure points which will help you end a fight quickly or force a compliance. But there are lots of controversies surrounding the use of pressure points fighting and many doubt their effectiveness in a real fight. Most of them are due to ignorance or lack of understanding in the proper use of Karate pressure points.
To me, there are a few "rules" when attempting any pressure points fighting techniques:
1. Distract your opponent first - this is to ensure that you have sufficient time to hit the Karate pressure points accurately without too much movement or resistance from your opponent.
2. Use Tai-sabaki and Ashi-sabaki - use your body and feet to move away from his optimal striking range (his centerline) to ensure that you are at the safest position to apply any pressure points fighting techniques. Moving 45 degree into his left or right side is one way.
3. Do not rely upon any one technique or blow to win the fight - learn all the major Karate pressure points on every part of the human body so that you can switch to another target should the initial strike failed to bring about the desired effect. If a less than desired effect is achieved, such as your opponent being stunned but not KO, keep moving and strike other Karate pressure points.
Look at the pictures above which illustrate some good pressure points fighting techniques. Pressure points fighting is not magic and some degree of training is required in order for us to apply them effectively. But they are not difficult to apply in real combat, even for a person with no martial arts training. So it is suitable as woman self defense technique and for law enforcement officers who need to apply control techniques. I highly recommend any Karate class that teaches self defense for woman to include some pressure points fighting techniques in their syllabus. But you must be careful when selecting a teacher. Make sure he can demonstrate good knowledge of Karate pressure points and how to attack them. Be wary of "no touch KO" and "delay death touch" techniques, I leave it to your common sense to judge whether they work or not. Bear in mind that although there are many pressure points on the human body, traditionally only 30 or so were considered to be useful in combat. This cuts down the number of techniques you need to train and remember, enabling faster action in real combat. Go to my Human Pressure Points page to view some of these points.
The effectiveness of pressure points fighting in real combat was proven when police officers in Missouri used Karate pressure points to cut down the average length of time spent struggling to control a suspect to only 10 seconds, expended less energy and maintained lower heart rates compared to instances when they used a random selection of control techniques. Policewomen use them as effective woman self defense technique when attempting to restrain violent or resisting male suspects.
Similarly, you can use pressure points fighting to force compliance on your opponent and avoid running afoul of the law or facing legal liabilities thereafter. It's much better compared to using more "damaging" techniques such as breaking the joints or limbs of someone, or worse, striking a fatal blow. There is no need to deliver hard blows or many blows to win a fight, just target the vital points on your opponent's body to shutdown his CNS (Central Nervous System) and he will be neutralized.
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