# "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:** 9\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/81 "2005-12-08T20:15:08Z")
> [@canyonoak](#): > > So if someone, wearing a chest protector or not, dies from a sudden blow, this is a little understood but documented occurrence of sudden death, given a latin name so we will all know that it is Important and Classified and Documented. > > But if someone who has studied the body intensely for several years, and same amount of time or greater, has developed physical speed, strength,timing,etc., says that s/he can reproduce the above phenomenon–this is a joke, worthy only of witticisms? > > Just trying to understand the basic assumptions, thank you. The basic assumption is that there is no on/off switch, as I stated. And yes, I have studied the body intensely for several years and have developed physical speed, strength, timing, etc. I’m a 5th Degree Black Belt. I teach Pressure Point Control Tactics on a regular basis. ---
**Author:** ![wolfman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/a8b319/32.png) [@wolfman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfman)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/82 "2005-12-08T20:19:26Z")
> [@](#): > > 8 P.M.-10 P.M. Between thighs and behind scrotum Oh great, so every time I’m settling down for some evening TV, I now have to worry about taint-seeking ninjas? ---
**Author:** ![Juan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a698b9/32.png) [@Juan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Juan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/83 "2005-12-09T17:48:08Z")
By now I am pretty convinced that there is no **practical** (that is, inmediate and reproducible) death touch, but what about the knocking-off pinch that Mr. Spock and TV-show Hypnotists seem to perform quite easily and 100% effectively? Are they all (at least the humans) just faking it? ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2005, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/84 "2005-12-09T21:19:49Z")
> [@Juan](#): > > By now I am pretty convinced that there is no **practical** (that is, inmediate and reproducible) death touch, but what about the knocking-off pinch that Mr. Spock and TV-show Hypnotists seem to perform quite easily and 100% effectively? Are they all (at least the humans) just faking it? Well, as far as Spock’s Vulcan nerve-pinch, I believe what we saw was _acting_. ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/85 "2005-12-10T03:03:34Z")
> [@canyonoak](#): > > But if someone who has studied the body intensely for several years, and same amount of time or greater, has developed physical speed, strength,timing,etc., says that s/he can reproduce the above phenomenon–this is a joke, worthy only of witticisms? You may want to re-read the part in **Clothahump** ’s cite about timing: “Commotio Cordis does not result solely from the force of a blow. It is largely the result of the exquisite timing of the blow during a narrow window within the repolarization phase of the cardiac cycle, 15 to 30 msec prior to the peak of the Twave.” If I’m reading that correctly, there’s a window of less than 2% of one second where you can strike a precise point in order to achieve the -er desired effect. Then there’s the matter of tracking your opponent’s pulse: [outside of fiction](http://daredevil.dreamhost.com/castsup.htm#daredevil) that seems difficult. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [December 10, 2005, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/86 "2005-12-10T03:51:36Z")
In honor of this thread, I have nicknamed my friend (whose last name is Mak) “Dim”; despite being a fan of “A Clockwork Orange,” she is less than thrilled. ---
**Author:** ![John\_W.Kennedy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_w.kennedy/32/1031_2.png) [@John\_W.Kennedy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_W.Kennedy)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2005, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/87 "2005-12-16T16:36:27Z")
Ummm… Am I the only one here who’s noticed that the original poster has publicly confessed to multiple homicides? ---
**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 17, 2005, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/88 "2005-12-17T13:27:57Z")
> [@John W. Kennedy](#): > > Ummm… Am I the only one here who’s noticed that the original poster has publicly confessed to multiple homicides? Now that you mention it, he is, at the very least, an accessory to such crimes. ---
**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:** [December 17, 2005, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601/89 "2005-12-17T20:26:35Z")
I’ll close this thread now. Naifu isn’t here to defend herself against misreadings of her posts, so I’ll do it. A reading of her posts ought to make it clear that Naifu claims to practice Dim Mak, not that she claims to practice murder. bibliophage moderator GQ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ninja-death-touch/332601.md?page=4)