Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #379446 in Books
• Published on: 1995-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Customer Reviews

Preasure points studies
I enjoyed this book it was well written and a good read, but after 20 years in martial arts I found the contenet a bit wanting. The first half of the book deals with the meridians and the basic strike points, however the second half of the book consentrates on one Karate kata and its bunkai, although useful to someone looking to understand kata, it has limited use to styles other than Karate and Tae Kwon Do.

As with a lot of other books on pressure points it is sorely lacking in how to deal with someone who has been struck at these points. Although it does state that these points should be studied under a trained teacher it is more than obvious that the people buying this type of book will experiment.

It also does not go into the effect of the points relative to the power applied therefore the assumption is that a large person hitting a small person would inflict the same damage as a small person hitting a large one.

In my opinion a better buy is Earle Montagues Dim Mak encyclapedia which covers the meridians, levels of damage and how ro heal the areas that have been struck, it also points out clearly the angles and risks involved with each strike.

Pressure Point Fighting
This is the second book in Mr. Dillman and Thomas' series on Pressure Point Fighting. It is much more in-depth than their first book, which the authors reference as laying the "foundations" of using Pressure Point Fighting techniques. This book covers significantly more material, and makes better use of charts and illustrations. Some of the theories presented by the authors on the basis of Pressure Point Strikes, as well as the reasons why Pressure Points work, are controversial within the Martial Arts and Medical community. The authors attempt to cover 78 of the 350+ classical Chinese acupoints (22 on the arms, 26 on the head, 13 on the torso, 10 on the legs and 7 on the back), and 7 "extra-ordinary" points (5 on the arms, one on the head, and one on the legs).

The authors have used a series of body photographs to illustrate the Traditional Chinese Medicine energy pathways and acupoint locations. While the illustrations are an improvement, in my opinion, over Mr. Dillman and Thomas' first book, there are a few problems too. Several of the photos have problems with incorrect lighting, occasional out of focus images and lack of detail in certain poses. As such, they are of varying degrees of usefulness. The authors have also elected to use a mixture of black dots and "bullseye" stickers, placed on the skin of the photo subject, to highlight pressure point locations.

The level of information given on each point is not consistently presented. In general, the authors give a description of the point location, and give what they believe is the anatomical structural association of the point (i.e., why it works in that area of the body). Then they usually (but not always) give a block of text marked "Method" in which they give some point activation instructions and occasionally discuss the results of the strike. This lack of discussion on the effects of the strike / rub / slap may leave some readers disappointed. For example, on page 98, they discuss hitting Small Intestine 16 (SI-16), by simply noting "...strike this point at about a 30 degree angle from the back to the front." No additional narrative is given regarding the martial effects of the strike, nor the effects to the body. This is concerning to me, since SI-16 is a very dangerous acupoint. If you strike straight into the point with sufficient force and intent, you can cause a knockout (KO). But there is also an extreme risk of producing emotional side effects. Additionally, with a slightly harder blow, this point has been known to be fatal! None of these issues or risks are discussed, nor are similar issues covered in the majority of the other points.

A great manual for the serious Martial Artist
As a third degree Black Belt in Taekwon-do there were many moves in my patterns (Tul / Kata) which I doubted the given applications for, as they did not seem practical or realistic. George Dillman takes common moves from all systems (Taekwon-do in particular has a common ancestry from Karate) and demonstrates realsitic applications which work! It is like a veil being lifted! Some of the moves take a little bit of lateral thinking to work out and apply but the theory I believe is sound. The presentation is little too in-depth in places as it is very difficult to follow the application of pressure points from a book and pictures - but then I don't know how I would do much better! I feel that I know two sets of Tul now. The original interpretations which are the Taekwon-do adaptations to moves - effective and dynamic. There is also a second 'hidden' interpretation using effective positioning and pressure points. An excellent book. Probably best suited for advanced students (perhaps Black Belt and above) who have a good understanding of and ability to perform their Tul