22. The Brainstem

After the explanation about the spinal cord in our previous blog, again you are closer to understanding the use of pressure points from a neurological point of view!

The brain stem is the a part of the spinal cord that is located at the bottom of the scull.
This little part in the brain stem is responsible for the vegetative body functions (heart, lungs, kidneys, etc.). The signals going from the spinal cord to the brains (and the other way around) are checked by it constantly, to make sure that the body is in good shape.

If any concerning signal enters this area, the autonomic nervous system responds. This can be by lowering the heart rate (if it gets a message that the blood pressure is too high) for example after correctly hitting ST-9; This could shut the body down (by passing out).

I hope you find this information interesting so far. In my next blog, I will wrap this information up and give an example.

Thanks for reading, in our next blog we proceed with techniques and video's. We will show the various pressure points followed up by a Hadaka Jime from a punch flow.

21. The spinal cord

In my previous blog, I explained in general how the various nerves systems work and what the impact of a hit on a nerve is.

This blog, I will go a little further into how the spinal cord works in relation to the pressure points and body parts. Again notice, this blog also is an extremely simplified explanation of an extremely complex system. It just explains what is interesting if you use pressure points in the martial art.

The spinal cord
As you can see, the spinal cord is fragmented in 4 parts.

• C = Cervical
• Th = Thoracic 
• L = Lumbar
• S = Sacral

These 4 parts are split in segments, called the vortices, they are all coded:

1. C5 to Th1: this is where the signals pass from the brain to the arms (and the other way around)
2. Th1 – Th4: are connected to the heart and lungs
3. Th5 – Th12: are connected to the stomach, liver, gall bladder, pancreas, adrenal gland, small intestine and large intestine. 
4. L1-L3: are connected to the Large intestine, kidney and bladder 
5. L1 to S3: this is where the signals pass from the brain to the legs (and the other way around)

In the last part, next time I will write about the brainstem.

20. Effect of a punch on the fibres

Now that we have seen the various fibers in our previous blog and we understand what the fiber in the nerve looks like, so it is time to look at the effect of an attack on the nerve.

Let's first show the effect of a punch in a picture:

1. With a soft imact, only the red (A fibers) are effected. 
You will feel some pain. The brain will send endorphin (painkiller) to the location that hurts and it will make adrenaline (fight hormone), to prepare the body for a fight.

2. With a medium high impact, both the red (A fibers) and green (B fibers) are effected. 

The pain will be more intense and last longer. It will keep on sending impulses to the brain.

3. With high impact, the impact will be such that all fibers are affected. 

The brain will do everything possible to limit damage to the body; it will shut the body down if necessary.

It depending on where the pressure point is located what the impact of an atemi will be. So if the

I hope it makes more sense how the nerve system works. I In my next blog, I will write about how the spinal cord works high level.

Now that we know how the nervous system works, we can move on to the spinal cord.

19. Fibers in the nerves

In our previous blog, I started writing about the neurological impact of pressure points. In this blog I will take you a little further into the nervous sytem. We are going to have a closer look at the fibers:
There are 3 kinds of fibers in a nerve:

1. Type A-fiber: red

• These are the thickest and fastest fibers (2-100 meters per second). 
• They sent the sharp pain signals to the brain. 
• They are easy to activate and are easy to revive after an attack. 
• They do not influence the autonomic nervous system; they will initiate a motor response at the most.

2. Type B fiber: green

• These are smaller and slower than the A fibers (around 10 meters per second). 
• They are connected to the reflexively part of the nervous system and some of the afferent nerves of the peripheral nervous system. 
• The nerve recovers less fast and remains sending signals to the brain. 

3. Type C fiber: yellow

• These are the smallest and slowest fibers (0.5 meters per second). 
• They only react to hard attacks 
• These fibers affect the autonomic nervous system directly 
• The brain (part of the brainstem) might assume that an organ is damages. Therefore it will react severely by for example lowering the blood pressure or by passing out. 

I hope you now understand what a fiber a kind of looks like. In my next blog, I will explain wat the impact on the fibers is during and after a punch.

18. The nervous system

Hi there, in this blog I start explaining (very high level) how pressure points work neurologically.

To be able to understand why the body reacts in a certain way, it is important to understand how the nervous system works. This blog give you an extremely simplified view of an extremely complicated organism.

The nervous system exists of 3 parts:

1. The Autonomic nervous system 
2. The Central nervous system 
3. The Peripheral nervous system

The Autonomic nervous system
This is the part of the nervous system in the brainstem that controls our internal organs; like breathing, hart rate, pupils, vain, digestion, etc.

The Central nervous system
This nervous system exists of the brain and the spinal cord. It is the red part in the picture. This part of the nervous system processes the stimuli.

The Peripheral nervous system
The peripheral nervous system contains nerves that go from the spinal cord into the body. In the picture, they are colored brown. This Peripheral nervous system connects our organs and body parts with our central nervous system.

The nerve highway

There are two ways a nerve carries the information from and to the brain:
1. Via the afferent nerve fiber (sensory fiber) - transports signals from the body towards the spinal cord. Information about what the body feels, like pain when you burn your hand or step on a little stone.
2. Via the efferent nerve fiber (motoric fiber) - transports signals from the brain and spinal cord to the body. Information like, you have to move your legs to walk or if the brain want to grab something.

In my next blog I will continue with the neurological explanation by writing about the fibers.

17. How do pressure points work?

Now that is an interesting question!

It is important to understand how pressure points work. What happens within the body?

A lot of pressure points are not that dangerous, think of the nerve in your elbow. When you bump your elbow against an object it hurts immensely. So what do you do? You grab your arm and rub with your hand on the spot that is hurt. Because of the rubbing the pain will slowly disappear. You are actually reviving the pressure point.

That and many other points on the body are annoying and can be restored by rubbing them. But there are also points or combination of points that cause more severe damage to the body. You need to be aware of that! What is it that actually happens with the body and why would you want to avoid hitting certain points on people over 35 years old?

Thanks for reading this blog. In my next blogs, I will try to explain why pressure points hurt from a neurological point of view.

8. Conception 22 (CV-22)

Hi there! Last time, I wrote about Triple Warmer 11 (TW-11) and how to combine this point with TW-12 and TW-17.  Today I am going to write about a pressure point that we use a lot! I am going to tell about the cough point Conception Vessel 22 (CV-22) as a hit point. Why do we call it a cough point? You will find out when you are going to practice this point. 

Conception Vessel 22 (CV-22) is both a press- and hit point. It is not a very dangerous point, but very effective. 

How do we attack the hit point CV-22?

We will hit CV-22 with the tip of the fingers or with the knuckles of the fingers. I prefer the fingers, because of the longer reach I get and I can choose to either go through the point (hit) or in the point (press down). You might find using the knuckles of the fingers more effective.

It is important to step in with the same leg as the arm that attacks CV-22; This way, the reach is even further and the impact more powerful.

In this video we will show how you can use CV-22 as a hit point to stop the attacker or to free yourself from a grappling hold (standing). In another blog in future, I will write about CV-22 as control or take-down pressure point.

Background information:

Conception Vessel 22 (CV-22)
Location:
The acupuncture point Conception Vessel 22 (CV-22) is located in the hollow in the throat between the clavicles.

Finding the point:
Press with your fingers in the hollow under the Adam's apple and between the clavicles. You will get a little nauseous feeling.

Direction:
You enter this point in and through; towards the neck. Or press it in and down, towards the back.

Impact:

When you use it as a hit point, the opponent will be stopped and he will move backwards. When you use it as a press point, his knees will buckle.

This point has an effect on the Lungs. You will start coughing. In acupuncture CV-22 is for example used in acupuncture against acute and chronic cough and asthma.

The Conception Vessel

This Vessel contains 24 Yin points. it is also called Ren-Mai or Directing Vessel.

The route of the Conception Vessel is:

• It originates internally from the uterus. 
• It appears on the surface at the perineum (CV-1). 
• Via many interesting points it runs through the middle in front of the body to the chin (CV-24). 
• From CO-24, it makes an internal detour around the mouth and to the eyes.

I hope you found this blog interesting, next time we will wrap up the introduction part by explaining what a pressure point is and does for us in Yawara Ju-Jutsu and what it can do for you in any martial art that you are practicing.

We cannot be held responsible for injuries
caused by practicing the techniques shown in the videos!

So, be very careful when practicing the techniques!

Respect the danger of locks and pressure points.

Only practice these techniques with

an authorized teacher or school (despite of the martial art)

7. Triple Warmer 11 (TW-11)

In previous blogs, I wrote about hit point Triple Warmer 12 (TW-12) and Triple Warmer 17 (TW-17). Triple Warmer 12 (TW-12) can unbalance and position the opponent. With Triple Warmer 17, you can release yourself. This is great for follow up moves with pressure point Triple Warmer 11 (TW-11).

Triple Warmer 11 (TW-11) is a rub point that can help you force the opponent to the ground. TW-11 works best when you lift the wrist, rub TW-11 and step backwards at the same time. Please note: don't just rub the point on the surface, but through the arm, down to the ground!

How do we attack TW-11?

We attack TW-11 eighter with the knuckles of our fist or with the little knuckle on the wrist (Pinky side).

In this video, we show 3 examples of situations in which you can use TW11

Background information:

More information about Triple Warmer 11 (TW-11):
Location:
TW-11 is located just above the elbow.

Neurological:

TW-11 is connected to the median nerve. The median nerve is connected to the cervical vertebrae C5 - C8 and thoracic vertebra T1 in the spinal cord.

How do I find it?
Place your hand palm on Uke's elbow and make a fist; your knuckles point at TW-11 now.

Direction:
You rub TW-11 up and down, towards the elbow. You can also hit TW-11.

Impact:
The brain will think that there is a problem with the tendon and nerves connected to the elbow. As a result the brain will immediately relax the shoulder and elbow.

The triple Warmer meridian:

This meridian contains 23 fire points.

The route of the Triple Warmer meridian is quite a journey with a lot of interesting points:

• The meridian starts with TW-1 at the top of the ring finger. 
• It runs up from the wrist, between the Ulna and Radial where you find Triple V (TW-6, TW-7 and TW-8) up to the elbow. 
• Then it proceeds its way via the outside/back (Yang side) of the upper arm where you find TW-11 and TW-12 to the shoulder. 
• From the back of the supraclavicular fossa it takes an internal detour via the diaphragm to the abdomen. Then it goes back up the supraclavicular fossa in the front. 
• It goes to the neck; from there it goes to the hollow under the ear TW-17. 
• the meridian goes around the back of the ear to the front of the ear (to the level of the eye. There he makes a little internal detour up to the front of the head to connect with Gallbladder 
• The last point TW-23 is on the outside of the eye. 

There is a lot more information about meridians, like times, sounds, colors, etc. It is interesting and probably effective too. In my blog, for now I will stick to what I can use and what works in our Martial art.

I hope you found this blog interesting, next time we will show how you can use Conception Vessel 22 (CV-22) as a hit point.

We cannot be held responsible for injuries

caused by practicing the techniques shown in the videos!

So, be very careful when practicing the techniques!

Respect the danger of locks and pressure points.

Only practice these techniques with

an authorized teacher or school (despite of the martial art)

6. Trippel Warmer 17 (TW-17)

In this blog and the next, I will stick to the Triple Warmer meridian.

After writing about Triple Warmer 12 (TW-12) in my previous blog, I will now write about Triple Warmer 17 (TW-17). A great press acupuncture point that can be used to free yourself from a hold around the neck standing up or laying on the ground. There are more applications, I will write about those in future blogs.

There are 3 ways to manipulate this point:

• About 30 years ago I first heard about TW-17. I was told that TW-17 is located in the hollow under the ear. At that time we just pressed in that hollow. This is great for practicing.
• Shihan Jan the Jong taught us that it is better to press 45° to the middle of the head. Indeed, this was a lot more effective; especially when you wanted someone from the ground to stand up (use middle finger on both ears).
• Over the years we found out that TW-17 is lower than the hollow, under de bone; You can hit it 45° to the front (tip of the nose) or press it 45° to the middle of the head.

I feel that it is okay to stick to pressing TW-17 up to the center of the head for starting or wreck less students.

How do you attack TW-17?

Press point:

With the middle finger: Press on TW-17: when the hand is coming from behind the head; or hook (grab) with the fingers behind TW-17 when you are standing in front of the opponent.

With the thumb: Sometimes it might be easier to press with the thumb when the hand is coming from behind (metal on wood, because of the connection (meeting point) with gallbladder).

Hit point:
You can use a Tsuki (with the knuckle of your middle finger) or Tettsui (with the knuckle at the end of your pink finger). You can also use all knuckles of your fingers and knock toward you (especially with the middle finger). Please, please, please be very careful with TW-17 as a hit point !!!  

Background information:

Triple Warmer 17 (TW-17:

Location:
The acupuncture point Triple Warmer 17 (TW-17) is located under the ear at the bottom of the bone.

Finding TW-17:
Go with you finger down from the ear, you will find a bone. Press against the bottom of that bone.

Neurological:
TW-17 is connected to the greater auricular nerve. It is located where the nerve splits. It comes from the cervical plexus from the branches of the spinal nerves C2 and C3.

Direction:
You press or hit TW-17 below the ear, up against the bone 45° towards the mouth or middle of the head.

Impact:

You can use press point TW-17 to free yourself, to position the opponent or in a take-down. You can use hit point TW-17 to cause confusion in the head.
TW-17 is close to ST-6 (agains the jaw), this might dislocate the jaw of your partner, Be very careful with these hit points!

The Triple Warmer meridian:

This meridian contains 23 fire points.
The route of the Triple Warmer meridian is quite a journey with a lot of interesting points:

• The meridian starts with TW-1 at the top of the ring finger 
• It runs up from the wrist, between the Ulna and Radial where you find Triple V (TW-6, TW-7 and TW-8) up to the elbow 
• Then it proceeds its way via the outside/back (Yang side) of the upper arm where you find TW-11 and TW-12 to the shoulder 
• From the back of the supraclavicular fossa it takes an internal detour via the diaphragm to the abdomen. Then it goes back up the supraclavicular fossa in the front 
• It goes to the neck; from there it goes to the hollow under the ear TW-17 
• the meridian goes around the back of the ear to the front of the ear (to the level of the eye. There he makes a little internal detour up to the front of the head to connect with Gallbladder 
• The last point TW-23 is on the outside of the eye.

There is a lot more information about meridians, like times, sounds, colors, etc. It is interesting and probably effective too. In my blog, for now I will stick to what I can use and what works in our Martial art.

I hope you found this blog interesting, next time we will show how you can use Triple Warmer 11 (TW-11).

We cannot be held responsible for injuries

caused by practicing the techniques shown in the videos!

So, be very careful when practicing the techniques!

Respect the danger of locks and pressure points.

Only practice these techniques with

an authorized teacher or school (despite of the martial art)

5. Triple Warmer 12 (TW-12)

As you might have read in our previous blog, there are 3 kinds of acupuncture points:

1. Rub points (like LU-8 from our previous blog)
2. Press points (like H-6 from our previous blog)
3. Hit points, TW-12 is a hit point

How do you attack TW-12?
I suggest attacking this point with Triple V. These are 3 Triple Warmer points 6, 7 and 8 on the under arm. When you attack with these 3 points, you align the Ulna and Radius; two bones in the forearm, which will make your arm stronger.

TW-12 is a great point to stop or unbalance the opponent with.

In this video we show two techniques with TW-12.

Background information:

Triple Warmer 12 (TW-12)
Location: The acupuncture point Triple Warmer 12 is located approximately in the middle on the back of the upper arm; in the middle of the triceps.

Neurological:
TW-11 is connected to the median nerve. The median nerve is connected to the cervical vertebrae C5 - C8 and thoracic vertebra T1 in the spinal cord.

Finding the point:

Slide slowly with your finger (hand under your arm) from your elbow up to your armpit. Half way up, you will feel a big hollow. When you press and rub forward and back in this point you will sense an annoying feeling. This is where the hit point Triple Warmer 12 is located. Please note, not everyone is sensitive on this point!

Direction:
You strike this point against the bone; in and through

Impact:
The brain will think that there is a problem with the bones in the upper arm. As a result, it will release shoulder and lock the elbow.

The Triple Warmer meridian
This meridian contains 23 fire points.

The route of the Triple warmer meridian is quite a journey with a lot of interesting points:

• the meridian starts at the top of ring finger 
• It runs up from the wrist, between the Ulna and Radial where you find TW-6, TW-7 and TW8 up to the elbow 
• Then it proceeds its way via the outside/back (Yang side) of the upper arm where you find TW-11 and TW-12 to the shoulder 
• From the back of the supraclavicular fossa at takes an internal detour via the diaphragm to the abdomen. Then it goes back up to the supraclavicular fossa in the front 
• It goes to the neck; from there it goes to the hollow "under the ear" TW-17 
• the meridian goes around the back of the ear to the front of the ear (to the level of the eye). There he takes a little internal detour up to the front of the head to connect with Gallbladder. 
• the last point TW-23 is on the outside of the eye. 

There is a lot more information about meridians, like times, sounds, colors, etc. It is interesting and probably effective too. In this blog we will however stick to what we can feel and what works in our Martial art.

I hope you found this blog interesting, next time we will show how you can free yourself with Triple Warmer 17 (TW-17).

We cannot be held responsible for injuries

caused by practicing the techniques shown in the videos!

So, be very careful when practicing the techniques!

Respect the danger of locks and pressure points.

Only practice these techniques with

an authorized teacher or school (despite of the martial art)

4. How do you attack a pressure point?

That is a good question!
After writing about the importance of a good attack, it is time to talk about the various ways in which we attack an acupuncture point. Therefore you need to know 3 things about each point.

Where is the acupuncture point located?
You can find this information on acupuncture charts or all over the internet.

How do you manipulate the acupuncture point?
There a 3 ways (or a combinations of them):

• by rubbing the point 
• by pressing the point (with a tumb or a knuckle) 
• by hitting the point 

What is the direction in which the point has to be manipulated?".
That varies per acupunture point.

A rub and a press point:
Lung 8 (LU-8) and Heart 6 (H-6)
In this blog we will show 2 points on the wrist. They are is called Lung 8 (LU-8) and Heart 6 (H-6). They both open the hand.

• Lung 8 (LU-8) is a rubbing point towards the hand 
• Heart 6 (H-6) is a press point towards the hand

Why these points? 

Firstly, because these are good points to feel the impact of a rub and press point.

Secondly, because in most cases, the arm is the first part of the body that will come to you in an attack. The opponent can attack with an Atemi; but he can also grab your wrist, clothes or even worst, the troat. For that reason I start with arm points.

Background information:

More information about Lung-8 (LU-8):
Location: 

The acupuncture point Lung-8 (LU-8) is located on the tumb side of the wrist.

Where can you find it:
Slide slowly with your finger from the thumb root onto the arm. You will feel a bone. LU-8 is located right behind that bone, the rub point is located.

Neurological:

LU-8 is located on the radial nerve; which is connected to the spinal nerves C5, C6, C7, C8 and T1.

Direction:

You rub LU-8 in and towards the hand

Impact:

The brain will think that there is a problem with the arm. It therefore will release the hand.

The Lung meridian:

The Lung meridian contains 11 metal points.
It starts at the hollow in de shoulder. It runs via the inside (Yin side) of the arm to the last point, which is located next to the tumb nail.

More information about Heart-6 (H-6):
Location: 

The acupuncture point Heart 6 (H-6) is located on the pink side of the wrist.

Where can you find it:

It is located on the opposite side of the wrist at the pinky side. Slide slowly with your finger from the pink root onto the arm. You will feel a bone. H-6 is located right behind that bone, this is where the press point is located.

Neurological:

H-6 is located on the ulnar nerve; which is connected to the spinal nerves C8 and T1.

Direction:

You press H-6 with the knuckle of the thumb in and towards the hand

Impact:

The brain will think that there is a problem with the arm. It therefore will release the hand.

The Heart meridian:

The Heart meridian contains 9 metal points.
It starts under the armpit. It runs via the inside (Yin side) of the arm to the last point, which is located next to the pinky nail.

I hope you found this blog interesting, next time we will show hit point Tripple Warmer 12 (TW-12).

We cannot be held responsible for injuries

caused by practicing the techniques shown in the videos!

So, be very careful when practicing the techniques!

Respect the danger of locks and pressure points.

Only practice these techniques with

an authorized teacher or school (despite of the martial art)

3. The role of the attacker

After you have seen what the reaction of a pressure point can be, I would like to talk about the crucial role of attacker. You probably did not see this coming, but it actually is a crucial subject.

The idea of using pressure points is that you would like to use as little effort as possible.

Therefore keep in mind, the stronger the hold or punch of the attacker, the more painful your attack to the pressure point will be. That is because of the fact that the nerves will be stretched.

Let's show this in a short video: I use pressure point LU-8 here.

When someone just holds you bij the wrist, you do not have to react. There is no aggression in that particular hand, the danger might come from the other hand. If that same person would grab you hard on the wrist, now you can easily use pressure points to get out of the grip in a relaxed and "friendly" manner.

The same goes for attacks with Atemi-Waza. When the attacker comes in with a soft punch, he will feel a "block" (read attack) to pressure points. But when he comes in with a true hard punch, the impact of the "block" will be a lot harder! The defender uses the same effort, but the harder the attack the more impact on the pressure points there will be.

Only a real attack leads to a real defence

It actually goes for all attacks in martial arts. Let's give an example:

When your partner attacks you with a punch tot the chin, you truly want to hit the chin every time! Even after practicing the same punch 20 times. You often see the hand stops just in front of the face, or that the strike is next to the face after a couple of times. As from that moment, the attack is not realistic anymore and you will not learn from it anymore.

I hope this is helpful in your mindset as an attacker. In my next blog I will write about how to attack a pressure point.