# "Ninja Death Touch" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [November 24, 2005, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601 "2005-11-24T16:58:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/41 "2005-11-29T18:11:40Z")
> [@](#): > > You should have used a different example, since I believe you actually are a freak alien golem Well, that’s what I’m hoping, at least. Because if I am actually a freak alien golem, then maybe there’s something to this Dim Mak stuff after all. And then, I can become a freak alien _ninja_ golem with a death touch! ---
**Author:** ![nd\_n8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/439d5e/32.png) [@nd\_n8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nd_n8)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/42 "2005-11-29T18:18:24Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > > [@The Dragon and the Tiger](#): > > > > Listed below are the times of day and the corresponding areas of attack Central or Eastern time? Adjusted for daylight savings? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/43 "2005-11-29T18:47:56Z")
> [@Naifu](#): > > … I cannot force you to believe it truely exists. However in my oppinion, you are all idiots. … Well, there’s one way you can prove it… …but I’m not gonna be the one to drop the spoon! ---
**Author:** ![alterego](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@alterego](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alterego)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/44 "2005-11-29T19:20:34Z")
> [@](#): > > I can become a freak alien _ninja_ golem with a 1920’s style death ray! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/45 "2005-11-29T19:21:17Z")
> [@picunurse](#): > > I’m guessing you practice a _belief system_ that includes Dim Mak, even though you can’t scientificly prove it has any validity, you have faith that it does. > No matter the touch point, it is merely coincidence that someone died 7 years after a touch. Of course, if that “touch” was a hard blow to the head causing a massive head injury, leading to a persistant vegative state, ending in death 7 years later, one might say the “touch” was the cause. However, the time frame would be arbitrary. > This can be proved by unasailable fact. I’m most inclined to agree with **Picunurse** on this one. This is reminiscent to me of the “Evil Eye” as practiced in Sicily and other parts of the world. A person makes me mad, so I put a “curse” on them. A while later they fall off a cliff, I am vindicated without actually having to kill a productive member of my small, agrarian society since it was my “curse” which got you. This Dim Mak business makes the same sense. I pop you in the noggin, 7 years later you’re waylaid with a jaw tumor and you die. I chalk that up to ninja mojo, and therefore vengeance is MINE. ---
**Author:** ![flight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/bbce88/32.png) [@flight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flight)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/46 "2005-11-29T20:45:31Z")
> [@Naifu](#): > > Yes I do know it really exists. Not only do I practice it, I have seen it done many times. Google it, there are even online classes and books about it. These are not particularly good arguments. There are classes and books about contacting the dead by people who have been conclusively proven wrong. There have been people who have seen it several times and truly believe it despite it being total crap. An example I have experienced: My martial arts instructor’s instructor comes by to give us a lesson. At the end of the lesson he asks for a volunteer and gets me. He asks me hold my elbow at a 90 degree angle with my forearm parallel to the ground and hold it there as strong as I can. I comly and he presses down on it wihtout moving it. He then wiggles his hand in front of me and repeats it, but this time he manages to move my arm! He asks how he was able to do it and I reply I am not sure but it seemed like he just pressed harder. I was trying to guess at what kind of leverage/full body motion/root he might be referencing but couldn’t figure it out. We repeated the exercise and this time I was able to say authoritatively, “You definitely pressed harder.” He didn’t like that as what he thought he was doing was reversing my chi flow with his hand and thereby making me weaker. When he did it to the other students they agreed that they definitely felt weaker the second time. They wanted to believe so they believed. Still doesn’t make it true. ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/47 "2005-11-29T22:59:03Z")
> [@Naifu](#): > > I may be back in the future, who knows. When come back, bring pie. I personally have a yen for lemon merengue. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/48 "2005-11-29T23:27:04Z")
> [@inkleberry](#): > > I personally have a yen for lemon merengue. NO! French Silk Pie! ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/49 "2005-11-29T23:44:24Z")
> [@Kat](#): > > NO! French Silk Pie! No! Key Lime Pie! Don’t make me… ::looks at clock:: … dim mak you in the inner thigh! ---
**Author:** ![dogbutler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dogbutler/32/428_2.png) [@dogbutler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dogbutler)\ **Post date:** [November 29, 2005, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/50 "2005-11-29T23:54:04Z")
> [@alterego](#): > > 8 P.M.-10 P.M. Between thighs and behind scrotum Why not just kick 'em in the balls and be done with it? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/51 "2005-11-30T00:30:29Z")
> [@dogbutler](#): > > Why not just kick 'em in the balls and be done with it? For _two hours??_ You fiend… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/52 "2005-11-30T05:39:31Z")
> [@Scruloose](#): > > No! Key Lime Pie! Don’t make me… ::looks at clock:: … dim mak you in the inner thigh! My husband might have something to say about that… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/53 "2005-11-30T08:56:27Z")
It doesn’t appear that the OP is planning to come back to this thread, so I’ll close it. If any of you feels you have something substantive to add, e-mail me and I’ll consider re-opening it. bibliophage moderator CCC ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/54 "2005-11-30T18:19:20Z")
I’m re-opening the thread by request. Let’s try to keep on topic. ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2005, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/55 "2005-11-30T20:24:11Z")
Mentioning some lethal points, some include thrusting a finger into the slight hole in the hip where the [whatever] artery enters the leg. If you do that, it would theoretically cut the artery and you’d bleed out internally quite quickly. As a practical matter, this is impossible. You might be able to do something similar under the arm, but I don’t think so. That’s actually about it. People are not terribly vulnerable to hits, even in small, specific spots. If we were, we wouldn’t last long. ---
**Author:** ![syoon15](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8baadc/32.png) [@syoon15](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/syoon15)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/56 "2005-12-04T01:57:35Z")
i really seriously doubt there is a dim mak. this is a interesting story. i think there are nerves that trigger some whatsit reaction… but no death touch. if you admit you were lying, ol’ ni, i’ll forgive you. ---
**Author:** ![dahumal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/da6949/32.png) [@dahumal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dahumal)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/57 "2005-12-04T04:18:26Z")
i dont know about this touch of death but you can stop the heart. My master (she is a 3rd degree in tae kwan do) learned from her master that there is a move where you hit the chest a certain way and it squzzes all the blood out of the heart and cause the heart to stop beating, but from what she told me it sounds like you strike infront of the heart and on the side of the rib cage with a palm heel but i dont suggest trying it out lol. Oh im a red belt in chung la kwan (which is just a style of tae kwan do for those who don’t know) by the way. Later ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 6:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/58 "2005-12-04T06:40:00Z")
Cite? Surely if such a thing exists, there’s a mention on a Tae Kwan Do related site… ---
**Author:** ![inkleberry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/f17d59/32.png) [@inkleberry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/inkleberry)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/59 "2005-12-04T06:55:55Z")
> [@dahumal](#): > > i dont know about this touch of death but you can stop the heart. My master (she is a 3rd degree in tae kwan do) learned from her master that there is a move where you hit the chest a certain way and it squzzes all the blood out of the heart and cause the heart to stop beating, but from what she told me it sounds like you strike infront of the heart and on the side of the rib cage with a palm heel but i dont suggest trying it out lol. Oh im a red belt in chung la kwan (which is just a style of tae kwan do for those who don’t know) by the way. Later _sigh_ This is NOT a well-guarded ancient Chinese zen master secret of the universe. It’s unfortunate physiology. IF you hit a very small point between two ribs you can, in fact, nail the heart’s capacitor, thus ‘short-circuting’ it momentarily. The blood doesn’t rush out, the heart basically skips a few beats. It has the effect of being deeply disturbing psychologically to the victim besides being painful. The best way to do it is with a punch with one knuckle slightly more extended- a palm strike is a flat strike, and you want to poke a small spot fairly hard. It’s very very hard to do, so good freakin’ luck doing it in a fight. But since it’s the holidays, feel free to try on younger siblings, and let us know if you had any success. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2005, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/60 "2005-12-04T11:39:52Z")
> [@dahumal](#): > > i dont know about this touch of death but you can stop the heart. My master (she is a 3rd degree in tae kwan do) learned from her master that there is a move where you hit the chest a certain way and it squzzes all the blood out of the heart and cause the heart to stop beating, but from what she told me it sounds like you strike infront of the heart and on the side of the rib cage with a palm heel but i dont suggest trying it out lol. Oh im a red belt in chung la kwan (which is just a style of tae kwan do for those who don’t know) by the way. Later There is a difference between lying & merely being mistaken. Please, be generous to the O-poster. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601.md?page=4)