Vital striking points

[WildWest.]

What are the best/easiest vital striking points you should aim for on an opponent in order to render them unconscious, or to assist in finishing a fight quickly?

I realise pressure points come into this but are you really going to fiddle around trying to push hopefully on someones body just to inflict them with some pain? Meanwhile they're punching you in the head. In other words, what are the vital striking points that are mostly accessible during the heat of battle. Here are a few that I've been taught and have heard about over the years. Please correct me or tell me I'm full of shit if you can prove I have been taught wrongly....and if you have any more please add them.

1. The hinge area of the jaw below the ear, supposedly a good area for KO's.

2. The point of the chin for KO's and the ledge area between the chin and bottom lip (more pronounced on some people).

3. The area between the top lip and the nose. Supposedly causes a lot of pain and disruption when hit.

4. The ears when slapped effectively, i.e. burst ear drums etc.

5. The eyes for obvious reasons

6. The throat which a strike can potentially collapse the trachea and kill, bullshit or not??

7. Striking the side of the neck to cause a KO, I think this has something to do with arteries to the brain. Maybe someone can clarify this one for me. I'm not sure it's like a carotid choke.

8. The back of the head for a KO.

9.The sternum. I'm unsure what a strong hit in this area can do apart from breaking bones.

10. The groin for obvious reasons.

11. The knees to cause unbalance or injury.

12. The toes/feet i.e. foot stomping.


I realise there are heaps of other points and I'm sure I've missed a few that are quite obvious, but these are ones from off the top of my head. Please don't reply with silly little pressure point strikes that take you 40 years of training to master.

Thanks for any contributions.

[Garland]

#1 is a good place to break the jaw, or **** up the ear as well...a hard hit to the ganglian process is mean, and a left hook to the jaw will drop somebody pretty quick.

2. Hitting the chin up to cause a KO works by creating a contra coup type injury. That means you pop them in the chin hard enough, or just right in order to make their brain swish back and hit the occipital lobe on the back of their brain box hard enough to make the forebrain rebound into the front of the skull. They wake up not being able to see right for a couple of minutes...similar to smashing them in the back of the head with a blackjack...only less likely to kill them.

3. This is a gung fu thing...it's a pressure point, for sure...and works probably as well in practicality as just smashing the nose open...which also causes pain distracts the opponent.

4...doesn't work, sorry. I had my eardrum ruptured by a slap...it threw my balance off a bit, but I went on to knock the girl's boyfriend out, with no real problems for about 45 minutes, when it really started to hurt.

5. Hella. Eyeballs are harder than you'd expect...focus on dislodging more than raking if you're really serious. Crushing the actual orbs may be more difficult than you'd expect.

6. Hitting the throat can kill...but who knows. Either way, a good chance they'll at least be gasping for air...but never stop with just one blow anyway...unless you're Mas Oyama and regularly off bulls barehanded.

7. I've heard the same explanation for this, but never seen it work. I wouldn't count on it.

8. see my reply to #2.

9. The sternum, technically speaking, is a bad area to hit. It's pretty damn solid with the exception of a little nudgle called the acromian process at the bottom end, and would be much harder to break then the actual ribs which are just two bones connected together with tendon. Hit the floating ribs and flase ribs the 2 last ribs down on the sides of the body...these break easier, and if they're unlucky, stand a chance of puncturing organs needed for living, such as the lungs.

Well your at body blows, solar plexus will knock the wind out of somebody, but to do damage, aim for the spleen, apendix, and LIVER. Or slap the shit out of their kidneys in back.

10. Tender-loin. mwah ha ha...so it the sciatic nerve on the inside of the thigh.

11. Knees are good.

12. toes, you might as well try to break their fingers.



(also go for collarbone, tailbone, if you can stomp and ankle (or any outstretched limb) when they're on the ground, that's good. Pretty much anything really hard to the spine is going to cause them problems.) There are more...read a Grey's anatomy.

[WildWest.]

Thanks for your reply Garland and I can't believe I missed the solar plexus! I think it was the first vital point I was ever taught.

I agree with you re: breaking fingers. I think techniques where fingers are the target or used to control a resisting opponent are underused.

In regards to your reply to No: 2, would an uppercut/upward palm strike/uppercut elbow be the ideal strike for this area of the chin?

I agree with you regarding the eyes. I think you're better off going for KO blows than relying on hitting them personally.

We have a doctor whose just started at our Hapkido club, I must ask him about vulnerable places on the body....cheaper than buying a Greys Anatomy but I take your point.

[Thai Bri]

The problem with these targets si that they are fairly impossible to aim for when another humnan being(s) is doing his best to cave your head in.

I like the concept of "generic" targeting, i.e. aiming for general areas where you know there are a good amount of weak points, and then you should have a great chance of hitting one of them.

So rather than go for the tip of the jaw, or the bit below the ear etc., why not just bang away at the lower half of the head? That way you may well hit all kinds of vulnerable areas on the head and neck.

Other target on the legs? Just hack at 'em. The body? I'm not too into body shots, as people seem to be able to take a massive amount of damage there, and you don't always know what protection their clohing offers. But aiming towards the chest can give a good solar plexus shot, and aiming lower down can get you a good bang in their floating ribs or kidneys.

When the Pressure Point guys prattle on about "Gall Bladder Point 6" and a whole host of nonsense, it makes me laugh a little. Sure, they can demonstrate on willing, nervous and compliant participants..... but none of these things seem to work in the middle of a war when, whilst aiming for Gall Bladder 6, another guy is booting you in the balls.

[Shoot]

I agree with Tai Bri. In the heat of an assault you are unlikely going to have the fine motor skills to aim for precision targets.

So consider aiming for broad targets:

Face,
Neck/Throat (in defense of life only),
Thighs,
Groin,
Forearms/wrists,
Knee/Shin/Foot.

I’m not a huge fan of body shots either. I think they draw your guard down as you try for them and they are low percentage strikes, especially when someone is wearing a jacket. Could they be used as a combination strike? Sure if the scenario allows for it, but unlikely. Assaults are rapid fire and not likely to involve stalking each other. Think more like an angry dog attacking an assailant.

However, if you have a striking weapon, the collar bone is a good target. Some claim you can strike this with your edge of hand blow or hammer fist too. I’m not sure these empty hand weapons are hard enough to break the bone

[WildWest.]

The last 2 replies are what I'm after. I understand that in the heat of battle you will hit whatever becomes available to you, so I guess what i was after was what areas of the body react the most when struck??

I think the only time I've ever heard of a pressure point being used effectively was from one of my training partners at Hapkido. He used to work as a bouncer and one of the patrons refused to be removed so he held onto the metal pole running along the bar. My friend poked him in a point by the elbow, he weakened his grip, and had his arm immediately wrapped up into an escort lock. Of course had the guy turned around and thumped him it would have been a waste of time.

[Shoot]

Pain compliance is what pressure points may be useful for. I've grappled with some people who used pressure point manipulation against me (which by the way is horrible BJJ manners and should not be used). All it did was annoy me and made me reciprocate when I got the chance. In a fight it would do nothing.

When it comes to real hand to hand combat you have to train as if you only have about 2, maybe 3 moves and less than a second to initiate them. That changes your perspective. The fewer your weapons, the better you'll be at them. You can't forget edge of hand, chin jab, knee, headbutt, elbow, and "boot." It's not like, "what do I do now?" or "what's the reversal to this?". It's more like, bam, bam, run.

[eXcessiveForce]

vital points.

well top down

Eyes
Temple
Nose
Behind the ear
Jaw
Throat
Side of the neck
collar bone
Sternum
Floating Rib
Solar Plexus
Bladder
Groin
Femoral Artery (inside of leg)
Common Peroneal (outside of leg)
Knee
Achilles tendon
Bridge of foot

[szorn]

The problem with these targets si that they are fairly impossible to aim for when another humnan being(s) is doing his best to cave your head in.

I like the concept of "generic" targeting, i.e. aiming for general areas where you know there are a good amount of weak points, and then you should have a great chance of hitting one of them.

So rather than go for the tip of the jaw, or the bit below the ear etc., why not just bang away at the lower half of the head? That way you may well hit all kinds of vulnerable areas on the head and neck.

Other target on the legs? Just hack at 'em. The body? I'm not too into body shots, as people seem to be able to take a massive amount of damage there, and you don't always know what protection their clohing offers. But aiming towards the chest can give a good solar plexus shot, and aiming lower down can get you a good bang in their floating ribs or kidneys.

When the Pressure Point guys prattle on about "Gall Bladder Point 6" and a whole host of nonsense, it makes me laugh a little. Sure, they can demonstrate on willing, nervous and compliant participants..... but none of these things seem to work in the middle of a war when, whilst aiming for Gall Bladder 6, another guy is booting you in the balls.

Well said! I break the targets down into general regions. Region #1 is the head & neck and region # 2 is the groin / bladder area. Everything else is considered secondary targets. I teach my students to focus on these general regions with simple gross-motor movements and to forget about targeting specific quarter-sized areas such as the eyes, nose, etc. Also, I steer my students away from targets that require lots of power or that are less likely to be effective. Body shots fall into this category. While it is possible to take someone out with a body shot it isn't always probable. As for targets such as the sternum, ribs, and collar bones; I wouldn't bet my life on any of those. I had my sternum broke during a blitz attack and it didn't effect me until after the altercation was over. I took a hard shot to the ribs from a hockey stick during a game of field hockey. It knocked the wind out of me and broke a rib but didn't put me down. I should add that I am far from being big and strong! Also, had a friend brake a collar bone during a fall. It limited the use of his arm but he was still functional. Stomping on feet isn't as easy to do during a chaotic altercation as it is during a training session and isn't likley to have much effect anyway. Finger breaks are good appetizers (if you can even grab them) but should not be thought of as fight stoppers.

We must remember that the responses of effectively contacting a target will vary from person to person. Some people are just plain big, strong, and mean and can take some punishment. If they are having an adrenal dump it could increase pain tolerance. They may be high on drugs which could decrease their physiological responses to pain. There are people often called "non-responders" because they don't feel pain like everyone else. It will also depend on their state of mind, among other things.

In short, focus on targets that have the greatest potential for creating an effective response or injury and keep blitzing those targets until the threat has stopped or until you can retreat to safety.


Steve Zorn, ICPS

[jeff5]

The only way to really target specific or small areas is to get someone in a position via grappling/locking where they're static and you can focus power on that specific area. Not easy to do.

My goal is always the head in some fashion. Body shots do work, but its different for different people, and if I'm hitting to the body, its to get to the head. I want to short circuit or disortientate my attacker so that I can finish him and/or get away. The head and neck, front, side and back, all have some pretty nasty vital spots.

Striking the side of the neck, the artery, right in the center, has something to do with affecting the blood pressure to the brain. That's why people can get knocked out by it. I don't pretend to know exactly why, just what I've read.

[white devil]

has something to do with affecting the blood pressure to the brain. That's why people can get knocked out by it

that sounds a little extreme...usualy only a good shot to the chin will bring down almost anybody..

And i agree with Thai Bri on general areas..seems down to earth

[Sagacious Lu]

I think you guys may be underestimating body blows. Even well conditioned, trained fighters get doubled over by a body shot all the time, and if the person ISN'T conditioned the chances are it's going to leave them too busy gasping for air to be much of a threat. I think there are a lot of scenarios that can be easily ended with a good hard punch to the body.

[gregimotis]

Striking the side of the neck, the artery, right in the center, has something to do with affecting the blood pressure to the brain. That's why people can get knocked out by it.

When I was boxing, I sparred an old pro turned trainer - a huge man with bowling balls where his hands should have been. He hooked me several times in the side of the neck (said later he was trying to take it easy on me). The result:
I don't know if it was the arteries or nerves or what, but those hits just turned me off for a split second each time.
I think hitting me in the jaw would have been more effective, but it was an interesting effect.


Outside of that digression, as an occiasional ring fighter, I'm going with the 'hit the general area and hit it lots' philosophy. It's pretty rare to see a ring knockout from just one perfect punch . What usually happens is somebody gets hit six times in two seconds and one of those six punches finally pushes him over. It stands to reason that the same will work 'in the street'.

[white devil]

I don't know if it was the arteries or nerves or what, but those hits just turned me off.

hahaha..id say the problem woud be bigger if thoses turned you ON.

[gregimotis]

LOL Good one.