Pressure point
Points on body used in traditional Chinese and Ayurvedic medicine
Pressure points are areas of the human body that may produce significant pain or other effects when manipulated in a specific manner. They are related to the supposed meridian points in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Indian Ayurveda and Siddha medicine, and martial arts.
01History
The earliest known concept of pressure points can be seen in the South Indian Varma kalai based on Siddha. The concept of pressure points is also present in the old school Japanese martial arts; in a 1942 article in the Shin Budo magazine, Takuma Hisa asserted the existence of a tradition attributing the first development of pressure-point attacks to Shinra Saburō Minamoto no Yoshimitsu (1045, 1127).
Hancock and Higashi (1905) published a book which pointed out a number of vital points in Japanese martial arts.
Accounts of pressure-point fighting appeared in Chinese Wuxia fiction novels and became known by the name of Dim Mak, or "Death Touch", in western popular culture in the 1960s.
While it is undisputed that there are sensitive points on the human body where even comparatively weak pressure may induce significant pain or serious injury, the association of kyūsho with notions of death have been harshly criticized.
Sources and credits
This article is adapted from the Wikipedia article “Pressure point”, written by its contributors and licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Fathomly has changed the layout, removed citation markers, navigation and maintenance notices, and adjusted punctuation. This adapted version is shared under the same license. For references, see the original article.
Images, from Wikimedia Commons:
- Chinese meridians.JPG by KVDP, Public domain
- USMC-100912-M-5332N-146.jpg by Cpl. Daniel A. Negrete, Public domain
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