You’re out in public… maybe at an outdoor concert or shopping downtown. Suddenly, you are attacked. You have to defend yourself. If your mind is not frozen by fear, then you may have time for a few brief thoughts as you respond (and react) to the attack.
Punches, strikes, kicks, wrist locks and maybe even pressure points. But would a pressure point work in a fight with flying punches?
And that’s a key criteria: would pressure on a nerve work as you and you throw punches at it?
Good…
Pressure Point Timing
Will he have time with the flurry of blows to press on someone’s sensitive spot, near a nerve? Remember, all the action happens very fast.
We are not talking about nerve shocks, but pressure points. Apply pressure to a point, say an inch or two above the elbow, on the triceps, to cause pain.
In the middle of punches, you won’t have time to slowly find the exact spot and then apply pressure. I’m not saying that pressure points are useless. It’s simply better to tie a pressure point to the “control” phase of a fight, rather than trying to find a sensitive pressure point in the middle of speed punches.
Pressure point accuracy in fighting
Pressure points really require some precision. You have to press in the right place, with the right amount of pressure, in the right way.
Could you do this in the middle of a fight? While dealing with a barrage of punches and kicks?
While you’re nervous beyond belief… with adrenaline coursing through your body?
It may be more careful for you to punch and kick until you are in control.
Do pressure points work on a berserker?
Let’s forget about your adrenaline, what about the adrenaline that runs through your attacker’s body? Will he (or she) even feel a pressure point?
My answer is that it depends on what pressure point you are talking about and also how much “red” your attacker sees.
For example, the nose check from Wrist Locks: From Protecting Yourself to Becoming an Expert will work no matter how angry your attacker is. Your opponent will feel the pain, it is a sensitive and controlling point.
On the other hand, the wrist bending pressure point on the inside of the wrist never seems to work “for me”, when I “really” have to use it.
Pressure points are great, when used properly. I worry when a novice thinks it’s easy to stop a punching attack with a little bit of pressure at one point.