hashpuppet

I've been reading books on arts and a lot of the chinese arts seem to have histories of guys knocking other guys 100 feet away and unimaginable stuff like that. It would be interesting to take a chinese art, i wish they had a dojo in my area.

kh_s

are you being sarcastic by any chance ?

Great Sage

I grew up in a MA family and as a youth, I was exposed to all sorts of kung-fu stories, mysticisms and mind-control. For a long time, I believed in many of that stuff. My older brother had gone to China on several occassions, training with kung-fu masters, etc... I was the little kid always watching as my father and brother trained together in TKD, karate and kung-fu - they ate that stuff up.

Unfortunately, by the time I matured enough to partake in my family sparring sessions, I noticed that all the secret kung-fu techniques my brother had hidden from me, really had no effect. He would talk of such things as "chi" and "dim mak", but when we sparred, I would clean his clock with simple boxing combinations and well-timed kicks. My father would always make excuses for my brother, pointing out that he was holding back.

It was different with my dad, however. He was trained while serving in the military and spent time in Thailand, Korea and Japan. My dad always beat both our asses.

__________________
The sage experiences without abstraction,
And accomplishes without action;
He accepts the ebb and flow of things,
Nurtures them, but does not own them,
And lives, but does not dwell.

kh_s

It was the same for me, when I was a little kid.. (8 years old?) But anyways, I'd still get my ass kicked by some other guy who takes kung fu, if he has the 'fighting genes' or blood in him, I aint just that type of person that was born to fight, if you know what I mean.

hashpuppet

if your brother really knew dim mak he probably was taking it easy on you, it takes years to learn that and its probably the most useful martial art as far as i know to tell the truth

Great Sage

Hash... You REALLY are naive. Perhaps you are referring to dim sum?...

Do you even understand what Dim mak techniques are? Let me enlighten you since you've obviously watched too many "Blood Sport" reruns. Dim mak is simply a series of pressure point strikes. Theoretically, if you can land certain strikes in a row, or a combination, it provokes a response. Some of these techniques are said to be as light as a touch... But it's all nonsense. Most people CANNOT even begin to land precise punches, let alone pressure points.

What I can tell you really hurts is getting uppercut in the ribs or left-hooked to the chin. You can feel your legs go out from under you... That's a better description of dim mak.

__________________
The sage experiences without abstraction,
And accomplishes without action;
He accepts the ebb and flow of things,
Nurtures them, but does not own them,
And lives, but does not dwell.

Szczepankiewicz

Something like Dim Mak or chi interruption, and pressure point striking needs to be expereinced first hand to be believed.

I understand (to a point) the effectiveness of pressure points, both for destructive and constructive purposes.

You must have an active mind in pursuing these matters.

hashpuppet

Ive seen pressure points in action, and i believe i did say that pressure point styles like dim mak take years if not a lifetime to completely master since the precision is amazing, but its not like it can't be done.

Szczepankiewicz

Oh, it's possible, no doubt.

Highly, highly improbable....

kh_s

Some of my friends watched Iron Monkey and thought that Muay Thai is a waste of time and Kung Fu is better. But can't blame them they got no interests ni Martial arts anyways, except for one fo my other friends who's planning to take boxing.

IPON

Sage - I don't know if its DIM MAK....right hook to the chin is more like LIGHTS DIM

__________________
A person who is said to be proficient in the arts is like a fool. Because of his foolishness in concerning himself with just one thing, he thinks of nothing else and thus becomes proficient. - Hagarkure

redazncommieDXP

Generally speaking, it isn't especially difficult to land precision punches if that's what you work for. Just train against a moving target, and it'll become second nature to you. And it's very easy to use to supplement pure strength and flexibility.

RobertG

Generally speaking it is difficult to land precision punches. Just train against a moving target that is throwing punches back at you. Or a moving target that is trying to take you to the ground. Or a moving target with a weapon.

Normal people cannot land precision strikes under duress. Professional boxers can. They train 8 hours a day and are genetic freaks. Some very high level martial artists can. These are the ones with the luxury of training 8 hours a day and also with good genetics. Sorry, genetics play a large role when you get to the upper levels of any endeavor. Most people simply lack the coordination and cannot be trained to have that level of coordination. The average guy that devotes 1-2 hours a day to training isn't going to be able to land precision strikes. They may develop reliable striking skills that can hit a resisting target opportunistically, but they aren't going to be able to hit dime sized targets in a real fight. Add to that, the average martial artists does not get in enough real fighting to develop the upper limits of their skills. So, for the average human, its a waste to attempt to develop these skills. These belong in the realm of the super skilled and talented and professional fighters. The average joe will not master them.

Tom Yum

That brings another point.

You see amateur MA ists (I don't mean amateur as bad, but amateur as the guy that practices 2hrs per day, 4-5 times a week) who practice karate strikes against stationary opponents that lock out their arm long enough so that they can strike 3 or 4 of these points at a time.

This is not going to do anything for you, but make a real attacker angrier. What are the chances your attacker will leave his arm out for you to strike?

Pressure points are used better in grappling where you can fumble for a second to find the point and press into it with your body weight behind it. Even then, they are only used to temporarily stun your opponent to buy time to assist or loosen a hold, so that you can reverse it and get your own hold or change position.

Pressure points for the average amateur are not finishing holds. Like Robert said, there are professional MA ists that practice this 8hrs a day that can do it; professional kenpo and wing tsun guys have extremely fast hands. Likewise pro-boxers are really good at hitting small targets at the right time.

Thai Bri

That was one of the biggest loads of shit I've ever read on this forum. Including the cack I write!

Haw haw haw! Rob, you're come back was hilarious and accurate.