I have read with some amusement articles reference the use or rather non-use of Pressure Points. Like any “part of the jigsaw” of Martial Arts, they have again been taken out of context by yet more uninformed bystanders.
PP’s are the last 5% of any given technique as I keep saying and keep teaching. They are a part and parcel of what you should be doing. If I punch someone in the jaw, I will punch them as hard as I possibly can (which is quite hard by the way) and try to land on a PP as well.
I or any PP practitioner worth his salt would never try to just use PP’s with little touches or taps in a real encounter. Taps and touches are for teaching and demonstration purposes only.
As for the effectiveness? I have no doubt. The hundreds of Doormen we teach have no doubt. The fact that Geoff Thompson invited me to be a guest writer on his website, should leave you in no doubt. The fact that I assisted Peter Consterdine and Geoff Thompson on their annual SD Seminar several times, should leave you in no doubt. Have Peter and Geoff been taken in?
Ronnie Green, Lee Hasdell and the esteemed editor of MAI Bob Sykes are just some of the more famous names I could mention who are aware of the effectiveness of PP’s for Combat. Have they been taken in as well?
In fact, Bob Sykes is on two of my PP videos extolling the virtues of what I taught him as regards PP’s. Bob was so impressed with what he had been shown that he offered to do the Introduction and also asked to appear in the videos.
Herol “Bomber” Graham, former professional Boxer, who was considered the finest Boxer the UK has ever produced in his day was so impressed with the effectiveness of PP’s that Herol and I have now taught many seminars all over the UK in the useage of PP’s for Boxers. Herol, who is now a Boxing coach, is utilising that information in his own teachings. Has Herol been taken in as well?
Paul Butlin, one of my ex students, is currently a pro Heavyweight Boxer, ranked 16th in the UK. He is able to confirm the effectiveness of PP’s in Combat, as we have had the odd tussle now and then. Steve Baker, 3 time UK Kick Boxing and Kick Jutsu Champion, has been TKO’d several times in the last year by yours truly in Boxing with PP’s.
I mention the above, not to inflate or promote myself, merely to point out that some good fighters without the blinkers and prejudice of the likes of many Martial Artists, or those with a self serving agenda are able to see the effectiveness of PP’s and then had the foresight to learn them and incorporate them into what they do as a useful addition to that which they know.
The people mentioned above and many others are not fooled by “hocus pocus” or something that does not, will not or can not be made to work. Fighting ability is of course up to the individual. PP’s are merely the best use of the weakest parts of the Human body.
My advice to anyone unsure as the effectiveness of anything in the MA is to seek out a great teacher in that aspect of the MA. People have gone on for years about how this art or that art will not work in the street. Or this technique or that technique will not work in the street. All correct and paradoxically at the same time incorrect.
Earn the right to land your technique and everything works. Bob Sykes has the best back kick I have ever seen. I have no doubt as to Bob’s ability to land it in the street. He would earn the right to do so.
Pressure Points are the same. Once you have earned the right to land your technique, why not land it on the weakest part of the body for the greatest possible effect?
Many of the people who train with us are those who need a Martial Art or techniques that work with a very high percentage of success. The vast majority of the people who train regularly with us are Doormen or ex Doormen who run door security.
These people know what does or does not work. They can smell BS in terms of useability a mile away. But it is these people that continuously train with us. It is the blinkered Martial Artists that deride the use of PP’s or dismiss them even though they have never trained properly in them.
Then you get that special breed of MA who says he will not believe in them till he sees them beat some of the top guys in MA today.
Well, applying that logic is ludicrous in the extreme. Using that logic you can prove that Mike Tyson’s hooks no longer work because he got K.O’d by Lennox Lewis. You can prove Boxing does not work if a grappler takes them to the floor and ankle locks them.
Similarly you can prove grappling does not work by K.O’ing the grappler before he gets the chance to grapple.
You can prove all of the MA do not work by shooting the opponent first!
Pressure Points work and work well. They are not a panacea for fighting or for the Martial Arts. They are a very useful addition to that which you already know.
Everything in your MA works if you know how to apply it. Some things work with a much higher percentage than others. It is these high percentage techniques that I personally give my time to. Then by adding the use of PP’s to these techniques, you greatly increase your chances of success.
PP’s are as simple as this, weak areas of the body. Is it better to hit someone in a weak part of the body or a strong part? The answer is blindingly obvious. So, if you want to improve your Martial Arts ability, why not learn where these weak areas are and how to utilise them in what you do?
I have detailed in this book some weak areas of the body and how to attack them. It can be made as simple as “hit here” and “X” will happen. Or “hit here” and most people are K.O’d. It is this making it simple that is the key to learning it properly.
Personally I spent a long time learning PP’s, to ensure that I really did know and understand how and why they work. As a MA, you do not need to know all that information. You just need to know where to hit and the best way to hit. That is now the bulk of my teaching, along with fight training.
