The Dreaded, Super Secret, Asian Death Touch

Factual Questions
1

On last Wednesdays’ “Ripleys” they showed a demo of a martial arts instructor applying a “death touch” on his students.

The students, rigged up in wires to test vital signs, would allow this dude to lighlty touch their arms. They would then collapse. The instructor would then revive them by doing something to their necks. The students vital signs would show signs of erratic heartbeat, etc…

Before the demo, the martial artist explained that what he was doing was very dangerous, and what his hold did was mess up another human’s energy fields. He warned the paramedics mear by that only he could revive the students, that there was little they could do. And if they were not revived in time, they could die or be permanently AWOL. They even had a psychologist or a doctor who said she was very very nervous about the demo.

I smell a rat here. Four theories:

a. The students were in on the act.

b. It is all similar to a hynpotists power of suggestion trick. This big scary martial artist, after applying this evil death touch on one of his studesnt, and making him collapse, then applies it to you. Wouldn’t you already be freaking out? Then the usual symptoms of increased heart rate, dizziness, mass hysteria kick in. Of course you collapse! Why . . .I’d collapse just looking at this goon!

c. It is a sneaky nerve hold that causes the muscles in the victims body to tense up, and what he does later to revive the victim is a massage of assome sort. (I noticed on one of the students he hit the inside of the elbow. The dreaded Funny Bone Hold?) But it appears the hold can only be applied to a willing or unprepared subject, and is generally ineffective in combat.

d. This guy is the scariest human being on the planet, and should not be allowed in poublic without a straight jacket.

I have a book, “Secret Fighting Arts of the World”: in which the writer, a judo black belt, describes an Asian instructor applying a death grip on him that made him deathly ill for days. OK whatever. Maybe it was the food.

And we all know the popular legend that Bruce Lee was killed when jealous martial artists had a “death touch” applied to him, causing a fatal brain aneurism in 1973.

And, of course, there is Mr. Spock and the dreaded Vulcan nerve hold.

“Belived it Or Not”? I say NOT but are there any martial arts experts out there that can add any insight to this? If it’s legit, how do I apply it?

I need a promotion.

2

It’s a trick. Stick a rubber ball under your arm and tell everybody you are having a heart attack. When the paramedics come and hook you up to the blood pressure pulse thing, squeeze the ball. Omigod! No pulse! I would recommend lightening up on the ball before they take out the paddles and zap you though.

I do this all the time at parties. Great fun.

3

I read about this a while back. There is a “death touch” that is a hard blow somewhere on the chest that, if applied at a precise moment in the heart’s rythmic cycle, will stop the heart. Since the attacker cannot monitor the attackee’s heart it’s more a matter of luck than an applicable martial art. The television demonstration you describe sounds like the usual sensationalist horseshit. Anything to get you to sit through an advertisement or two.
There’ve been some very knowledgeable martial arts experts posting here in the past. I expect you will get a professional opinion here shortly.

4

Sounds like the instructor could have been George Dillman or one of his followers. His site is http://www.dillman.com (but don’t expect an objective representation.)

I’ve never seen a demonstration where the subjects’ arms are “lightly touched.” I have seen him administer some pretty good blasts to the chest and kidneys, and manipulate the neck. I’ve also seen boxers ko’ed by body blows (didn’t de la Hoya’s recently go down to a kidney shot?), and it’s no big deal to choke someone out with pressure on their carotid, tho I’m not sure that’s what he is doing.

Most fighters are very aware of nerve attacks, whether gunting (nerve strikes) in the Filipino martial arts, or joint locks and manipulation in aikido and various stand up and grappling styles. In fact, talking to many accomplished fighters you might be surprised at their depth of knowledge of anatomy. Knowing how someone is put together helps you take them apart. But it can be pretty hard to accurately target a joint or nerve in an actual fight situation, or even in decent level sparring. (One that is relatively easy to hit is the sciatic nerve, on the outside of the leg right above the knee.)

I dug out the Sept 98 Black Belt Magazine which had a report of a supposed medical study of the effects of a Dillman KO. Tho I was not able to locate that article in a quick search of their site, I did turn up this: http://www.blackbeltmag.com/searchdb/bbm/1994/june/3.html

Next ask about projecting your chi! :smiley:

5

Last year while talking to a friend at an outdoor party, I noticed his attention wandering and tapped him on the chest. He immediately fell to the ground for about 2 seconds, then stood up dazed and confused. It was very odd and everyone was a little worried about him, but he was fully recovered in about 10 seconds. So maybe I came close to the dreaded “Death Touch” spot. Haven’t been able to duplicate it, tho.

6

't’s a trick. Stick a rubber ball under your arm and tell everybody you are having a heart attack. When the paramedics
come and hook you up to the blood pressure pulse thing, squeeze the ball. Omigod! No pulse! I would recommend
lightening up on the ball before they take out the paddles and zap you though. ’
Tried that once. The nurse simply took the pulse at the neck after she tried the arm.

There is a book:
The black and terrifying world of the ninja, history’s most diabolical assassins,
is explored here. Certain ninjutsu ryu specialized in the Death Touch, the
ultimate perversion of the beneficial Chinese art of acupuncture. Ninja Death
Touch reveals the principles of this unholy science, which can induce death
with the wave of a hand! Through interruption of the body’s nervous system,
circulatory systems and chi flow, the three Death Touch styles are capable of
terminating any human life.

from:http://spytechagency.viamall.com/spytechagency/12007.html
Actually most of the time here I just input the question into the search at snap.com & it spits out the answers.

7

I saw on TV fairly recently that this was the cause of death of a Little League baseball player who was hit in the chest by a pitch. I wish my memory for these things was better. I cannot remember if this was a local or national news story. It might even have been one of the news magazine type shows.

8

Little League boy- 6 yrs old and killed by an underhand toss. Doctor’s cleared the father of any wrongdoing- it can happen that easily. I forget what State this is from though