The Mystery and Challenge of Dim Mak Pressure Points

Contribution by Clive Hall, dim mak pressure points student

Many of us learn Chinese kung fu to defend ourselves should we run into trouble with "bullies" in the street. Some of us learn DM to defend ourselves from "bullies" who know martial arts!

For me dim mak is both a challenge and a mystery.

The challenge is to apply correctly the teachings of our Grandmaster, the Dai Sifu. The applications that Dai Sifu demonstrates at lightening speed and pinpoint accuracy unfortunately don't come easy to one of the more senior students (in years anyway) of the DM class. But as we all know 1,000 repetitions leads to perfection, so every Thursday I am at Murrumbeena for another class - wishing that I had spent more time during the week practising and hoping that I can put into place correctly tonight's lesson.

Because of the potential to cause serious and permanent injury to classmates, there is a personal challenge to control my actions at all times. After all, if you actually hit your partner on a point that causes intense pain, you are likely to run out of training partners very quickly! Even worse, they might remember when it's their turn to demonstrate on you!

Despite the huge potential for injury, there is less contact and damage than in most kung fu sparring sessions as all dim mak students regardless of their level apply their concentration tomoving as fast as lightening, hitting with laser point accuracy but still rising to the challenge of applying just enough force to demonstrate the required technique without causing pain or injury. Grandmaster Tsui-Po teaches you how to do that.

The mystery of dim mak is the use of selected pressure points to cause injury to parts of the body nowhere near the point that was struck. For example a strike to Colon 10 - located on the forearm, can cause paralysis of the forearm and the inability to extend the elbow.

This is a fairly predictable result that any student of Golden Lion kung fu could easily understand. What is less easily understood is that this same blow can equally cause digestive disorders including abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and even ulcers!

Of course the clue to solving the mystery is in the name of the pressure point - Colon 10 Shou San Li.

Chinese acupuncture and dim mak have identified lines or "meridians" along the body that "connect" to the various organs - heart, lung, spleen, colon, etc. In the case of the Colon meridian, there are 20 points beginning at the tip of the index finger and extending up the arm to finish at the corner of the nose.

This is a very simplistic explanation of a complex subject and there is nowhere near enough time or space to delve into thissubject here. If you are interested try reading the Dai Sifu's "The Two Dragons of Dim Mak". The subtitle of this book both clarifies and deepens the mystery at once - "Pressure Point Techniques for Healing and Martial Arts."

Which points are useful in dim mak, which are useful in acupuncture pain management and which seem to have no specific relevance at this level of my training is just another part of the mystery. Fortunately the Dai Sifu and the senior students are only too happy to share their knowledge with the beginners among them.

To quote my fellow student and long suffering training partner Paul who says "We are only dabbling in the shallows while the Dai Sifu, and students like Sifu Craig Rayner and Si Hing Michael Pringle are swimming out past the breakers."

While he is 100% correct, just being on the floor with students of this quality makes the blood pump and focus our minds to rise to the challenge to really apply those lessons and take one more step along the road to understanding the mystery.

Who knows, perhaps after reading this you are tempted to "take the plunge" and join us for training under THE Grandmaster, Dai Sifu Dr. Pier Tsui-Po.

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