The martial arts world is rife with tales of ancient masters who could cause instant or delayed death or illness by attacking secret points on the human body. But to the Western mind, the concept of striking acupuncture points to disrupt the internal energy, or chi, seems like hocus-pocus. Thus, many serious martial artists dismiss the ancient art of dim-mak (also known as kyusho jitsu), which is literally translated as 'death touch,' as nothing more than fiction. Dr Michael Kelly, an osteopathic physician and experienced dim-mak practitioner, explains dim-mak's effects based on medical science. In layman's terms, Dr Kelly reveals the physiological basis for what is clearly a very real and dangerous method of fighting. In the process of unravelling the mystery of this legendary art, Dr Kelly makes the true genius of its founders brutally, and painfully apparent.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #384726 in Books
• Published on: 2001-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 184 pages

Synopsis
The martial arts world is rife with tales of ancient masters who could cause instant or delayed death or illness by attacking secret points on the human body. But to the Western mind, the concept of striking acupuncture points to disrupt the internal energy, or chi, seems like hocus-pocus. Thus, many serious martial artists dismiss the ancient art of dim-mak (also known as kyusho jitsu), which is literally translated as 'death touch,' as nothing more than fiction. Dr Michael Kelly, an osteopathic physician and experienced dim-mak practitioner, explains dim-mak's effects based on medical science. In layman's terms, Dr Kelly reveals the physiological basis for what is clearly a very real and dangerous method of fighting. In the process of unravelling the mystery of this legendary art, Dr Kelly makes the true genius of its founders brutally, and painfully apparent.

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Customer Reviews

Review of Death touch: science behind the legend
I've read quite alot of martial arts books in my time and overall I would have to say this is not one of the best. It is written in good enough english, with medical explanations for a variety (although not many) Dim Mak point effects. The same medical jargon is repeated over and over, occasionally reapeating what had been said only a paragraph before hand. I am sre that Dr. Kelly's medical knowledge is sound and it does offer an interesting insight into the theories behind internal martial arts, although I believe more explanation into the internal processes is needed as well as some clearer indication of the forces required to produce the explained effects.
The diagrams and illustraions of people in the book look like they may have been a relative of pac man (Think etch-a-sketch drawing). It is stated that the diagrams are not exact and the book should be accompanied by a more accurate map of the human body and dim mak points, but making an effort would have been nice.
Overall, I'd give this book about a 3/5... Its worth buying if you are well into your martial arts but is deffinately not any kind of introduction.

P.S - I read the 'other' review of this book and couldnt say it is farther from the truth... aswell as having an absurdly random screen name and praising the book from the point of a non-believer (who i doubt would have even bought the book in the first place), I think you can safely guess that that review is slighly biased and written by someone trying to endorse the sale of the book. ... LOL.

A real eye opener
I hate reading even if im interested in the subject, that was until i found this book. It is written extreemly well and once picked up very hard to put back down. The information given is very interesting and to the point, having read some books that give all the information on a subject exept that of use and interest, this book stood out.

Pressure points have alway been a fascination to me being able to strike points with little effort to cause various effects, when younger it could be considered 'cool'. This is partly the reason why i purchased 'Death touch', but once i started to read the book i realised not only did it give the information i had been wanting to find, but it also gave me a new respect for the body's pressure points, and that they are not something to be taken likely or to be 'messed around with'. As someone who is interested in the ancient martial arts, this is a priceless addition to my knowledge of self defence and the history behind many modern arts. Not only that, but one of the most important things to remember when having such knowledge, is that 'with great power comes great responsibility', and this is portraid very well.

All in all a great read and full of invaluble information on the points of kyushu jitsu. A must have for any serious and mature martial artist and physician.

Heavy Reading
This book was heavy reading and kept reffering back to the very limited illustrations so it was a constant back paging. Unless you are alraedy familiar with its content, it is quite confusing and keeps repeating itself over and over. I kept reading hoping it would get better, but unforntuantely for me, it did'nt.