Nerve Strikes

[sirdarksol]

Possibly one of the most argued-about things in martial arts (not counting the pointless discussions of "Could Jet Li beat Jackie Chan in a cage match?" and "What's better, karate or kung fu?") is the nerve strike.
Some people claim that a single finger poked in a secret area of the body will kill an opponent.
At the other end of the spectrum, people claim that there is no point in nerve strikes. A punch is a punch, there's no reason to worry about nerve clusters.

My opinion falls somewhere in the middle.
On the one hand, it is my belief that a lot of people would just randomly die if a simple tap to a nerve cluster could kill someone.
On the other, I know enough about human physiology to know that there are areas of the body where nerve clusters are far less protected than others, and these places are far more susceptible to harm than others.

I feel that a study of the locations of these spots and practice in striking them when the opportunity presents itself can do nothing but aid in an art. Not every attack needs to be at nerve clusters, but if you practice, in sparring, to aim for them when your opponent leaves them open, it will become second nature to do so.

Of course, this needs to be coupled with other types of training. A single training technique will fail the trainee, but when this is included in a regimen of different training techniques, it can be effective.

The advantage of such strikes is that the majority of them inflict more pain than an average strike without excessive harm. This means that there is more of a chance of stunning an attacker, allowing you to either escape or more effectively follow up, depending on the circumstance.
The disadvantage is the extra focus needed. If one allows one's self to focus on trying to find an opening, offensive and defensive opportunities will be missed. Also, these techniques may not work on aggressors who are on drugs, particularly strong drugs such as cocaine, PCP, and meth. These drugs severely raise most peoples' pain thresholds. Guys on meth or PCP have been known to put their fists through a windshield, pull the bloody mess out of the glass, and go on to continue swinging at things. If they can withstand this pain, there is little that will bring them down other than actual harm to flesh, tendons, or bones.

Some of the nerve clusters that I know about, and strikes that are effective on them, are as follows:

Sternum: This one is really debilitating to some people. A simple tap on my chest is extremely painful. A gloved punch to my chest makes it tough to breath (I have very little in the way of chest muscles, even after years of martial arts that have built the rest of my upper body strength). Nearly any solid strike to this area is going to be effective. The more concentrated, though, the better.

Neck, just under the side of the jaw: Feel around by the base of your jaw, where it connects to the skull. There's a point where firm pressure is kind of uncomfortable. A focused punch (striking with one knuckle, or the ninja's thumb strike) or a ridge-hand strike are best for this area.

Temple: Be careful with this one. A focused strike will be very effective, but if you're much larger than your opponent, or if your opponent is just unlucky, this could be permanently debilitating or even fatal. Far better for a softer blow, like a hammer-fist or even open-hand strike, unless the situation is really dangerous.

Ribcage, just under the arms: About the only time that I can come up with for striking these areas is when an aggressor grabs you by the throat. Close your hands into fists with thumbs extended and supporting the joint of the index finger. Strike the aggressor under the arms with both thumbs at the same time, then push the aggressor away.
It's possible that an attacker might have an arm up for some dumb reason, leaving this spot open. Otherwise, if you block an attack high, you might create an opening, but you risk doing the same to yourself.

Bridge of the nose: A hammer fist to the top of the nose will cause an attacker's eyes to water uncontrollably. This is sometimes even effective on drugged-up aggressors. Even without the pain, the tears make it more difficult for a person to see.

There are more, but these require more than a simple description to get a good idea of where they are.

[disgruntled]

i have learnt about these through hapkido, and i think that it you hit then hard enough you could kill some one, but i can't say that it would be a garenteed thing. i know that they are effective though. once of a demo i was practicing a SD that ended with a strike to the neck and i did not stop quick enough, but just tapped the guys neck and he almost passed out. he said that it was weird, i had to have hit dead on the right spot because i barely touched him and he said everything started to go back and he almost passed out. it did not hurt or anything, he just got knocked out.

so it is at least more likely to knock someone out with one strike nerve strikes..... but death, i would think is at least much harder, possible due to some luck and chance.

PS.... that "one inch punch" to the chest that makes it hard to breathe is very very dangerous. it causes heart murmers and can lead to heart attacks in people with bad hearts.

[Shirindo]

Whilst not saying that 'one touch death strikes' don't exist, I feel you would have to be extremely lucky/unlucky to pull it off or extremely well trained.

As to knock-out strikes; these, as Disgruntled said, are definitely for real. Especially when you use a combination of strikes.

Going back to the temple strike; I would like to say again be very, very careful if you strike there. I will disagree with you Sirdarksol though about the open handed strike. I believe in internal energy and an open-handed strike to the temple I would consider an extremely nasty strike indeed as you would be projecting all your intent into the head.

[SteveO]

Can i add that in controling techniques you should be using nerve points to control the other person of course you will not learn this until black belt upward but there are nerve points in the arms and legs that make the body react in certain ways and you dont always have to strike a nerve point just by applying ample pressure will get you the reaction you need and some blocks are not blocks at all they are strikes to nerve points , most of our MAs have been around for thousands of years you are taught to strike at a certan part of the body at differant angles not just because it hurts the other person its because they studied all the vital points on the body and came up with differant ways to hit them if this was not so we would all fight like MMA fighters..OH and striking the temples is very bad .... VERY BAD...

[disgruntled]

very good point. for joint manipulation i was taught to use pressure points to encourage the body to go the direction i want it to.

[sirdarksol]

Disgruntled, you likely hit the carotid when you nearly knocked the guy out. If you fully close off the carotid, it takes about a second for a person to pass out, because the brain uses a ton of oxygen. A short blockage or a shockwave traveling through the artery could easily throw the brain off balance.

Even with training, I think that there is still a matter of great luck when trying to knock out/kill a person with a single strike. Every person is different, and if the carotid is an inch forward or back from the place you strike, it will change the effect of your attack.

Good points on joint manipulation. Shorin Ryu does that in many of their goshin jitsu.