I'm sooo glad you said that! As a student of one of Oyata sensei's Shin Shu Ho students, I must say that his techniques are beyond reproach and definitely work. With Oyata, it doesn't matter if you believe it will work or not, when you get hit, you go down!I know someone like that too; he happens to be the Grandmaster of our style. But he will be the first to tell you, "Go for the mechanical over the mystical, every time."

The mere fact that SOMETIMES pressure points don't work is enough to make me teach them as only a 'bonus' technique to some more mechanically reliable joint lock, takedown, or strike. And it's not just different body types or nerve sensitivity - when you bring mind-altering substances, drugs and alcohol, into the equation, forget about it. You'd be nuts to rely on a nerve-strike to some junkie who is 3 days past his last heroin fix, and his .38 snubbie is shaking so bad he can barely hang onto it.

I'd agree with that. Anyone who teaches PP as a sole technique is setting up their uke for a bad fall. We use PP as an aid to techniques like arm bars and the like. Like a setup for something else. And I have YET to be "tapped" KOd I guess if you get into the hype and mystique of it so far, it may work for them, but in a fight, I have faith in my fists, not my finger tips! LOL ya know?