Pressure Point Fighting

I recently had the opportunity to get a ten-minute sample of the controversial fighting system of George Dillman from an instructor trained in the Ryukyu Kempo karate style. For those of you who are unfamiliar with the man and his martial art, George Dillman teaches a karate style with a heavy emphasis on pressure point attacks. While this isn't exactly a new theory in martial arts, what makes this controversial are the claims of one-touch knock-outs which seem incredible. To keep things controversial, the explanations for these seemingly miraculous powers are wrapped in traditional Chinese medical theory, which is by no means widely accepted in the West.
My ten minute exposure to this system was tantalizing. The instructor offered a handful of techniques that seemed promising, but were not revolutionary to pressure point techniques I'd previously seen. Let me say this, all of the techniques would work. But I have to admit, I was skeptical of the truly devastating effects that promised to shut down organs.

The one-touch knock-outs, on the other hand, seemed to be a real possibility, because they would likely cause a concussion. (Now, allow me to digress for a moment... I was talking about the demonstration with some classmates, and there was some confusion about what is a concussion. I thought it was a "brain bruise." Someone else thought it was a hairline fracture of the skull. So I thought it best to look it up. One reference called a concussion a "traumatic vibration of the brain." Here's what Wikipedia says about a concussion. Despite my confusion, my assessment that the Dillman techniques would cause a concussion still stands.)

As I conclude, let me emphasize that a ten minute demonstration is hardly going to give a fair view of a full martial arts system, so I'm afraid that I'm not going to resolve any controversy over the issue of one-touch knock-outs, organ shutdowns, body meridians, chi channeling, or anything else. All I can say is, I was intrigued. Sure, the rational part of my brain grasped at reasonable explanations -- it even found some -- but that doesn't mean something else isn't afoot.

Actually, one of the things I've been working on in my own training is more careful listening and observation. It wasn't until sometime after the opportunity to see this demonstration that I realized I wasn't listening carefully enough because I was too busy thinking. Maybe I'll do better next time. But in the meantime, I'm going to retreat into my vast martial arts library to read-up on Okinawan karate, Ki, Chinese medicine, and pressure points fighting.