Dim Mak Effectiveness When Using Pressure Points: How to make your dim mak effective

In dim mak or in sporting and martial arts, you often hear instructors and coaches talk about being efficient and effective. A pressure point technique is no exception so let's concentrate on your effectiveness first -- efficiency is not the same thing -- Effectiveness is about results, the end product.

Why effectiveness first?

Because one of the basic ideas on which ancient DM was built, is the notion of 'one shot, one kill'. It is grounded in effective. Dim mak is a finisher, not a starter. It does not promote aggression, it is not an art you use to prolong physical conflict; it is not about fighting or brawling, or even sparring.

DM is about finishing the fight, ending it so that you can get away. Although sparring is used to practice techniques and hone your skills; in real life situations pressure points stop the fight; the faster the better, preferably before it gets started. This art may save your life with one technique; as long as you are effective.

What is effective?

Effectiveness is about the result you get. For example; on the training floor you've been practising for weeks on one particular technique, it's quite involved, but you've been concentrating on getting it right; the technique looks good, you feel comfortable with it, it's fast becoming a move that you don't need to think about and it's fast. Effective right?

Wrong!

Why? Because while you've done a great job on getting the technique just right, you've forgotten to concentrate and focus on the point you're trying to hit! Your striking power is good, your speed is good, but you are hitting in the wrong place --- too high, too low, or coming in from the wrong angle so you're missing the point; or your trying to strike the wrong point with this technique.

Not all techniques can be used to hit every point. And because you've focused so hard on the technique and it's become second nature in the form you've practised, (if during your training your focus has not been on the right place, not on the right point), you'll begin to notice that you have a great deal of difficulty in adjusting your technique to strike the correct target. You will have programmed your mind memory and muscle memory to hit the spot you've been hitting, you have reduced the effectiveness, or put another way, weakened the result.

Now, this technique, as a self-defence technique, will still be powerful. Depending on the size and skill level of your opponent, it may well slow them down considerably; it may even stop them. Good. .....But it may not.

What makes dim mak effective is the combination of technique and pressure point. To stop a fight with one - maybe two - techniques, you need to be able to not only perform the technique, but also to know your pressure points.

Concentrating on technique alone will give you a nice addition to your self-defence repertoire; just as defensive front kick followed by a straight punch is a valid technique that may injure your opponent; but you better have a follow-up just in case it doesn't end the fight.

And depending on your opponent you may have to go at it a while before you can safely get away. Your martial arts technique, if not used in conjunction with pressure point knowledge, is just another technique; you may still have to go at it awhile.

Formula for Effective Dim Mak:

Correct technique + correct pressure point knowledge = Desired Result (conflict is over fast).

So...

How do you become effective using dim mak? In practicing the concepts together.

When you practice a technique, practice not only the technique itself, but also make sure it hits the point; making sure it hits the point means practicing your point location skills, and your focus.

Practising your focus means that your technique will hit the right target; hitting the right target with the correct technique means you'll get the result you want - conflict is over and you walk away.

(To see effective authentic Chinese presure point technqiues in action, have a look at my video, it will be uploaded shortly)

So, if effectiveness is about getting the result you want - what is efficiency in dim mak? We'll look at this in another article.

Back to Dim Mak Techniques