First of all, Welcome to the Straight Dope, Golden Child.
It’s usually considered pretty bad form to NOT read all of the posts in a thread before contributing. In the posting that appears JUST before yours ( the fact that I wrote it is only slightly relevant here ), the scenario you described is debunked. If you were to strike a blow as you describe, then the injuries I described above would result.
“Knocking the wind” out of someone isn’t really a medical possibility by striking the Cricoid Cartilage. If you were attacking with a partner, and that partner were to approach from behind and suddenly and forcefully apply a Heimlich thrust, you would expel a lot of air. It wouldn’t kill them.
This Site give you a detail of the larynx and cricoid areas.
Additionally, you might want to check out the formats used for quoting other members. At the very top of this screen, look for the small icon that says “FAQ”. Click on it, and look around. It’s very thorough and helpful.
How cool ! I’d never heard this. And, I agree with your sentiments totally. It’s pretty rare to find such dedication to the finer points being depicted. Writers? YOU BETCHA. They’ll research up the yin-yang. But when that script hits the budgeting process, a lot of the details go out the window and it begins to be distilled.
As for the handgun use? Being technically accurate is a great extra step. Simply being careful and SAFE is not always the case. I’ve been on quite a few sets where firearms were used. I’ve been shot at by everything from Glock’s to authentic Civil War rifles, to your basic .38. Only once did I have to really let loose on someone, and that was a prop man who took it upon himself to allow an extra to fire a rifle RIGHT NEXT TO ME, slightly facing me. The powder projection alone might have damaged my eyes and the lens. I got all pissy, got the 1st Ass’t Director over by me and explained that the shot was NOT going to happen any time soon, and why. The actual Armorer who was on set was livid to find out this almost transpired. Bottom Line? Prop man fired, Armorer made a real friend in me that day for backing me up so fully. Full load blanks are incredibly dangerous. ( Being a devout pacifist and gun-hater doesn’t help). I know how to take proper and safe precautions when working around full-load blanks. I just never assume anyone else does.
I bet “Thief” isn’t the only example. The one that leaps to mind is “ER”. Not only do I have a friend who shot that show for several years ( Dave Chamiedes ), but I worked with Julianna Marguiles about a year ago on a Saturday Night Live spoof that involved reviving a dead hamster. God…we all lost it on the first rehearsal. FUN stuff. Anyway, she and I talked a bit about the show. She said that the technical consultants are always in the mix, making sure the nomenclature is right on. Aside from being accurate, it’s SO much easier than throwing together totally inaccurate words to flow out of an actor’s mouth rapidly.
And, I’m SO sorry to hear about you and your wife’s injuries. It sounds awful. Full recovery? Yes?
Back to the original question… I seem to remember a short bit of a Mike Tyson interview in the ring after he mauled some guy (years ago before he went totally nuts) where he was saying that he was trying to smash the guy’s nose into his brain and kill him in the last few moments of the fight; didn’t work - and if THAT GUY with his power, nasty nature, and somewhat of a “legal opportunity” (don’t quote me on that) couldn’t do it, it’s not likely that yer average Joe sixpack with no training and a few too many beers under his belt could either.
When I was training in martial arts a few years back, they were talking about punching or kicking someone in the throat and how it could kill. We were severly warned how dangerous this was, and to be very careful about doing it; ie: never do it unless your gonna get killed yourself. If you did it right, it could collapse/damage the cartillage in the throat and kill someone pretty fast (not instantly), and they also said that there is the danger of the area swelling up later and cutting off your air supply; hence the advice to go to the hospital quickly if you ever got hit in the throat, even rather lightly.
The problem with questions on types of killing techniques is that you can’t really practice them (tough to find training partners that will let you kill them); so very few people really have any experience with actually performing these things, and most of those who do are either in jail or on the run. The rest are either so ashamed or crazy that it’s difficult to get an authoritative answer.
Another hurdle to the truth here is that those trained in martial arts or nasty fighting of any kind are hardly ever trained to the same degree or at all in anatomy/physiology/first-aid and the likes. So their description of what happens to the body when it’s hit really hard is at best a theoretical guess. (my own instructors were by day: a salesman, a glazier, an engineer, um… one was a farmer, there was also a landscaper too, and so on) Those who are versed in both doctor-type stuff and martial arts are exceedingly rare, and usually very selective about who they teach… so it’s likely that you won’t ever here from them.
Some years back, in Fort Myers, Florida, in a crowded dance club, a guy smacked another guy. The smackor, according to witnesses, smacked the smackee with the heel of his hand. The smackee immediately collapsed and later died. I don’t remember the specific cause of death as determined by an autopsy. Witnesses were about evenly divided as to whether the smackor landed the blow on the smackee’s chin or nose. Both guys were described as being martial arts students.
I remember the newspaper accounts and the TV news stories, but I can’t remember in what year this happened, hence I cannot provide a cite.
