Comments on: Death Point Striking For Peace

By: Carl J Daubenspeck

Carl J Daubenspeck — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 17:21:30 +0000

One spoke well in a past post. We feel peace against hostility and passion for those in turmoil against their own spirit. It is against such conditions that the arts were first formed.
We deal in Aikedo of sorts and the true martial artist IS a healer and a fighter. A healer first in the way of common practice. We must deal first with the dis-ease of the client. For all are clients of our good work. Then as it is offered to us in some of the only forms others are able to express we accept the force and change the form to redirect the energy that has made dis-ease in the client.
The change in the offered force is accepted thereby leading to recovery or the force is redirected back in magnitude to that with which it is offerd for change. Destruction or death is the result of a non compliant client to the change offered in turn for the sickness being healed. The mind that accepts change is healed and those which do not are destined for disolution. It is of the true Practitioner of the Arts to understand self and know why one believes in their own frailty, then trust between the spirits is formed and healing can be accomplished.
The best martial art is accomplished through harmony and only against distressed spirit is the destructive force of the Dim mak ever needed or used.
Peace to you

By: Josh Young

Josh Young — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 17:42:05 +0000

Thank you kindly for your considerate reply.

By: S.Smith

S.Smith — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 04:08:27 +0000

It’s a good question. But there’s a lot of accessible points. I thought about digging through some manuals to provide an answer, when the answer suddenly struck me: none. (And again: death points is a bit dramatic…)

All point strikes require either compliance or lack of awareness to work. There’s a whole lotta Youtube videos that show the “effectiveness” of point striking, but most use compliant fools. You will not be able to kill me by poking me in the throat, because I, like you, will move. (One can force compliance…but that’s another story.)

There’s lots of points. For my own part, most are far more accessible under duress than one would think. They can become visible to the eye and to the touch. How many? That I trust (including neck points)…

17.

By: S.Smith

S.Smith — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:23:43 +0000

Matt, no doubt you utilize similar drills, philosophies, and methods to acquire good self-defense and good inner principles. I read your articles… good stuff. I dig your showing of Gojushiho.

In internal arts there’s a specific and peculiar way to combine hard and soft: soft on the outside, hard on the inside. Not hard on the outside: no knuckle hardening, for example. It’s as they say…iron wrapped in cotton. And it’s a close approximation to what you’d feel when you press on someone who has IT.

It’s like they’re really quite nice, soft people that feel as if their skeleton’s bolted into the earth.

Very strange, indeed.

By: Josh Young

Josh Young — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 03:05:47 +0000

Without naming them all, how many instant death points are there?
Ones that work quickly and effectively that is.

Not counting attacks to the throat or other well known weak spots that even dogs know about. (dogs go for the throat and the groin arteries)

Thanks!

Matt, your comments were highly interesting to me. I find that one of my largest flaws is I am not soft enough, I present far too much to my duifang to push on.

I’ve had drunk people, even friends, try to hit me in the face to see how I would react. I’ve yet to find a drunk who can make his fists arrive at my location before it has changed.

By: S.Smith

S.Smith — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 16:30:10 +0000

Yep. You bet. Smash sounds scarier than the razor precision of dim-mak finesse.

In the late eighties, late one night, I tried to break up a beach party fight. I took one accidental punch right on the tip of my jaw, and that was it… I woke up a few minutes later, bitching that “I’ll get that guy!”

He didn’t know point striking on purpose, but he got it right: straight in and slightly downward on CV 24.

Death Points is dramatic, eh? Pressure points or acu-points is more accurate, I suppose.

By: Nate

Nate — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 06:08:25 +0000

Maybe a death smash

By: Matt

Matt — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 03:21:05 +0000

Those who train in softness must experience hardness. Those who train in hardness must experience softness!

Even though I am a karate stylist I try to utilize similar drills and modes of study as you describe because all of what you say is true. The methods of combat through Taiji, including death point striking and the focus on naturalness, are critically important to real self defense.

On the other hand I make sure to maintain the hardness of the real world and not lose grip of what its like to have a slobbering drunk trying to punch you in the face. Something like that can’t be talked about, and must be approached in training in the form of resistance, tightness, and a lack of boundaries during freestyle drills. If you don’t experience failure from time to time during your training then you are still too far inside of your box.

By: Rick Matz

Rick Matz — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 02:40:09 +0000

If you hit somebody hard enough to kill him, does that count as a death touch?

By: Nate

Nate — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 23:34:37 +0000

This has been my favorite article since I first set eyes on it over a year ago.

Since that time I have studied in the ways mentioned above through Steven Smith and the WTBA system. This article still says it perfect for me.

“Study Death Point Striking. It’s a fragile art of war and a hearty study of peace.”