You know how it is: you’re a liquored up, muscular jock hanging in the bar, watching football clips put to rock music on the television when out of nowhere those jerks the nerds come up and start mouthing off with math or something. You turn to pound their spectacles into their faces, but then their leader, the guy with the pocket protector, steps forward and issues this verbal warning: “Don’t mess with us. I know Dim Mak; the touch of death.” Now is the time for contemplation: is Dim Mak that silly pinching maneuver from Star Trek or is this nerd got a serious ninja move in his arsenal? Hopefully the following information is read before you find yourself in that specific scenario because this is the 411 on Dim Mak; fact or fiction?
Dim Mak is a legendary move of Chinese martial arts, that is also referred to as “The Touch of Death.” The purpose of the move can range from stunning an opponent to instant death; if you believe the stories. Many modern day minds believe that Dim Mak is a creation of ancient Chinese warrior fantasies and works only in old kung fu movies or about as well as that Vulcan neck pinch from Star Trek.
Chinese medicine theory is often based around the human body consisting of certain pathway lines, known as meridians. These meridians consists of hundreds of acupuncture points, which is the basis for the needle sticking treatment some Doctors use these days, not just to make patients look like human pin cushion, but to help with symptoms of pain and sickness; known as Acupuncture. The usage of these points, however, for the purpose of Dim Mak is a bit different. According to legend the pressing on or striking of these points along the meridian at varying angles or in specific attack patterns and or striking groups, can disrupt the flow of Chi, or life force, flowing through the meridian causing various results. A master of the technique would theoretically be able to control his strikes and choose whether he wants his opponent to have a certain limb go dead, an organ to fail, or life to cease for the opponent altogether.
In general it is accepted that there are “pressure points” located about the human body, when struck can cause pain or disrupt normal body functioning. Some scientist, such as Dr. Michael Kelly the author behind the book: Death Touch: The Science Behind the Legend of Dim Mak, state that the main issue with ancient claims of Dim Mak procedures is not in the actual effectiveness of the technique, but rather in the reasoning behind why it can work. It is noted in scientific study that most of the mapped out pressure points on the meridians are located near nerves, many of which can be directly linked to specific organs in the body. Therefore, if one were to harm or cause damage to the nerves, it would in turn affect the organ connected to it.
Martial artists who do not believe in Dim Mak argue that it would be impossible to perfectly aim a strike with the strategic perfection needed to actually cause specific damage or to pick and choose an opponents suffering. However, the results of acupuncture treatments as a science seems to lend credit to the fact that messing around with pressure points can have some serious effects on the human body. Whether or not someone is capable of learning the art of Dim Mak to the exact degrees of proclaimed legend doesn’t really matter in forming respect for the possible capabilities of someone with such intentions. Or to put it another way befitting of the opening paragraph: you might want to just play it safe and stay out of bar fights.
SOURCES:
Wikipedia – http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dim_Mak
http://www.dimmak.net/
http://www.martialdevelopment.com/blog/investigating-the-dim-mak-death-touch/
