THE LEGENDARY TOUCH OF DEATH
Dim Mak means roughly ‘hit point’ and refers to a special way of hitting certain vital points. It is said the full effects of these blows may not be noticed for some time and according to legend, the results are often lethal. In Chinese martial arts Dim Mak is considered so secret that most traditional Chinese instructors will not even discuss it.
Many claim to possess this skill and some have even written books about it but I’ll be the first to say that they are all absolute hogwash. Does this mean that the whole subject is so much balderdash? Well, no......
Dim Mak been around for centuries and to this day, it remains shrouded in great secrecy. The art consists of two parts: the vital points, and the techniques used to strike them. Let's begin by discussing the secret points of the art.
There are several schools or "styles" of Dim Mak. Some aim at disrupting the flow of blood in the body. The flow of blood moves through the body like a small "wave", cresting in certain areas at certain times of the day. By striking special points located along its path, this “wave” can be adversely stimulated.
While some people scoff at this notion, consider that the gravity of the moon affects the tides on the earth. Nobody denies that. So, where is it written that the moon only affects the waters of the oceans? Would it not also affect all liquids on the planet? Of course it would! And blood is liquid - in fact, it's mostly water - so it is certainly affected by the moon!
Why aren’t professional boxers or, for the matter, people who are involved in traumatic accidents affected when these points are hit? The answer has to do with technique . Ordinary trauma will have no effects in terms of Dim Mak; correct technique is necessary.
When I say technique , I mean more than just a correct punch or finger jab. Any martial arts practitioner worth his or her salt can generate a decent punch, palm thrust, or seizing technique. However, to effectively apply Dim Mak one must learn to generate special kinds of power. This is achieved through very tedious and often painful training methods.
Thus, one must know not only the locations of the points, one must also develop the unique type(s) of power required to stimulate them appropriately. In some cases, the blow must be properly angled to produce the desired effect(s). Most of these strikes aren’t the body-rocking kinds of blows that we normally think of when we think of martial arts strikes. In some cases the impact may be just barely enough to jolt the victim, similar to being "bumped" in a grocery store.
So, yes, it does exist but you won't find any authentic books on the subject. Like it says in the Dao De Jing (Tao Te Ching), "He who knows does not speak; he who speaks does not know."
THE KILLER Kiai
Is it possible to actually kill a man with nothing more than a shout? Although there are several stories alleging that certain masters actually developed this unique skill, I know of none today who can effectively demonstrate it.
Certainly, a proper kiai can negatively impact the central nervous system and cause a would-be assailant to hesitate or even stumble momentarily. But could it stop his heart? Doubtful.
Still, one must consider what my teacher, W. C. Chen, once told me…
“Just as one kind of noise will break glass, other kinds will do other things. In some kinds of neigong (exercises to maintain the health of the internal environment) you are taught to make certain noises to keep certain internal organs healthy. So, different kinds of noise can also injure certain organs. It is said that some kinds of noise can shock the heart but I don't really know. I do know that (my teacher) Tai once knocked me down with his shout. Very frightening. I could not defend myself. How can I defend against a noise?"
KONG JIN (EMPTY POWER)
This is one of my favorites. ‘Kong Jin’ means, literally, ‘empty power.’ Is it real? Again, the answer is yes and no.
There really is a developmental stage in some internal forms of kung fu that is referred to as ‘kong jin.’ However, our contemporary martial arts hucksters generally use this term to refer to a ‘mysterious force’ which allows them to move or even knock out people without having to physically touch them.
And that's absolute rubbish.
Anyone, and I mean anyone who makes such a claim is nothing short of a fraud. When his ‘mysterious technique’ fails, one well known American charlatan blames it on the victim's positioning of the tongue or even his or her big toes, insisting that if they’re in the wrong position the technique is rendered harmless!
One of the modern Russian systema gurus does exactly the same sort of show but with more flair and a much higher price tag. He moves his hands and body to and fro and his would be assailants go flying around the mat. The most remarkable part of this kind of demonstration is that many of the people who decry similar performances by other martial arts ‘masters’ insist that this stuff is real!
And so is the Tooth Fairy.
THE ONE-INCH PUNCH
Ah,yes...the demonstration technique made famous by the late Bruce Lee. Was it real? Well, yes and no. Let's take a look.
There really is such a thing as a punch that utilizes what is known as ‘short power’ or ‘inch power.’ Such power is not something that is developed quickly. It requires years of tedious, progressive training. But it is possible. The idea is to make the large body movements and the technique itself smaller. The power of the technique is not reduced. R ather, it becomes concentrated and more potent as the movements are gradually condensed.
Let's look at Bruce's famous exhibition technique as it was first demonstrated at Ed Parker's 1964 International Karate Tournament in Pasadena, California. Bruce began with his fist about an inch or two away from the chest of his partner who was holding a pad against his chest as a form of protection. With a sudden shifting of weight forward and an explosion of energy, Bruce punched the pad, sending his partner stumbling back several yards before he fell into a chair.
And the crowd went wild. Remember, they'd never seen kung-fu before. But was it real?
Sure, it was! But it wasn't a punch...not a punch that'd do any real damage. Remember, the idea in punching (or striking or kicking) is to generate SHOCK rather than brute force. What happens to a heavy bag if you push it? If you guessed that it swings away from you, you get the banana! So, what happens if you put the muzzle of a .44 magnum against the bag and squeeze the trigger?
Well, assuming that you remembered to load the weapon, the bag might jump a bit. It might even ‘scissors.’ But it won't swing back much, if at all. Why? Because the power of the bullet is focused onto a tiny point and passes right through the bag at extremely high velocity, producing shock.
What Bruce did was a ‘One-Inch Push’, not a punch. Had his punch generated shock, his partner would pretty much have dropped where he stood. I must say that I don't think Bruce was intentionally trying to fool anybody; he probably believed that his one-inch technique was a very powerful technique. But if we take a look at it through the eyes of physics, it was actually just a strong push.
As a parting thought, let me say that although many martial arts myths are surely no more that – fables and “fairytales” – there have been, and still are, some truly remarkable (martial arts) people out there who are capable of performing some really extraordinary feats. There are also a lot of charlatans who do their best to ride on the shoulders of those who possess real skill.
You have to approach a lot of this sort of thing with a good dose of common sense and many grains of salt but even so, there are some genuine masters who are capable of doing things that can’t always be explained away with our twenty-first century science or logic.
Nowadays, the Orient as well as the Occident has more than its share of phonies whose professions revolve around special time tested techniques for removing money from the wallets of the unsuspecting. Just because ‘sifu’ or ‘Sensei X’ is from China, Okinawa, Japan, or Timbuktu doesn’t necessarily mean that he possesses any real skill or knowledge at all.
Remember the immortal words of the great showman, P.T. Barnum, who said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Don’t seek to add to their already considerable numbers. But at the same time, remember that truth is sometimes stranger than fiction.
- Phillip Starr
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