There is a common
misconception (IMO) about what a kyusho point
actually is. Over the past 30+ years, I've had the opportunity
to investigate, explore and experiment with most all of the
popular theories. Most all, I've been able to debunk, dismiss
and/or ignore as being irrelevant (as far as applicability for
a defensive situation).
Most every instructor (or
hack) that I had encountered (prior to my studying with Taika)
attempted to apply some irrelevant aspect to the application and/or
location of the kyusho points. Looking back in hindsight, it's
now obvious that those individuals hadn't a clue as to
the how, why or even where the points were
located where they were.
The most popular
(theory), has always been the meridians (utilized in
acupuncture). It was also the easiest to dismiss
(especially after having studied and learned about it). It's become
the biggest money maker for charlatan's looking to make a
quick buck off of part-time (if not wanna-be) martial
artists. This was one of the first things that Taika informed us
about after we began studying with him (it isn't the problem in
Okinawa, that it is here evidently).
From studying with Taika,
I learned to observe how we (as humans) move, walk and react. Kyusho,
or Pressure points (“PP”as
they're more commonly referred to) are located throughout the whole
body. They don't follow any meridian
lines, nor do they only work during certain times of the day
or season. The fact that some are located near to those lines
or points is (simply) coincidental. The vast majority
are not, and those locations hold no relevance
(to what we do).
There are many different
routes that can be explored when attempting to discern what does,
and what doesn't constitute a relevancy to what we do. And
I've been down most all of them. Fortunately, I was lucky
enough to begin studying under Taika (before becoming too
cynical about all the frauds that are out there).
The fact that there was
an obvious, honest-to-god expert on the subject, that
was saying that all the BS, was just that, BS! Was
refreshing (to say the least).
Taika's
manner of instruction, though oftentimes frustrating,
there was never any kind of implied mysticism,
or . When Taika exampled striking (or whatever) a location, he
simply stated “here”.
Over
the years, he has offered various guidelines to us (in relation to
performing certain actions/techniques). My associate and myself
correlated 6 of the most common ones, for use when learning Tuite
(which are our 6 Basic Tuite Principles). He has dropped similar
hints in regards to PP
use and locations.
Of
late, my associate and myself have begun correlating those hints, in
conjunction with known PP's and have begun cataloging them into an
instructional manual (for our student's). Our research into locating
both known and unknown locations, has enlightened much of our other
research (kata, tuite, combinations, even striking) and vice-verse.
Of
the numerous factors involved with what
constitutes a PP (and there are many),
it isn't one factor
that stands out. It is a collection of multiple
factors that need to be present for a PP to exist. The ingredients,
though varied, are not all,
always present nor even relevant. Many are situational,
and only applicable for/in certain circumstances.
There
are individual commonalities that can be used as a base guideline for
the simpler locations, but the majority have certain prerequisites
that need to be met before they would be considered usable.
In
our schools requirements, we've listed that our students have to
learn/understand the body's ROM and basic
anatomy (bones, muscles, nerves and organ locations). It isn't any
one of these subject's
that guides the student's understanding of PP's. It's a combination
of all of them. The
majority of proposed methodologies out there today, push any one,
or (maybe) two of
them. When listening to Taika, it becomes clear that there is no one
or two factor's that PP's are
derived by. It's dependent upon the point's location, and the
relevance of the associated limb's action and/or position. Those
points located upon the torso, are often associated to the actions of
the various limbs and their actions/positions.
It's
for this reason, that many of the “charts” previously composed
were dismissed as incorrect and/or
irrelevant themselves.
Of course without understanding the associated positions (necessary
to utilize the referred to PP's) those charts would be useless.
It
is our goal at present, to collect and list the PP's that we
presently know at this time, and to list their application and any
relevant factors required to their application. Having seen other
attempts at doing similar projects, we are familiar with the
shortcomings associated
with them. We are hopeful that these can be avoided when assembling
our listings.
The
more difficult task, will be organizing the instructional methodology
for presenting the information to students. In the past, various
locations where identified, then the relevant situations and
applications were demonstrated (which were then practiced by the
attending students). This worked well for the student's in
attendance, but anyone who wasn't present (at that time) was at a
loss to receive equivalent instruction.
If (when, LOL) we have completed our project, that will hopefully be alleviated.
If (when, LOL) we have completed our project, that will hopefully be alleviated.
1 comment:
Many years ago, when accupuncture was rather a big thing, new to Western medicine, I came across an older accupuncture book, written by a Chinese gentleman, and he stated quite plainly that the original reason for the existence of accupuncture "meridians" was just to organize the points in an easy to find fashion. Otherwise you had this ton of points just scattered helter-skelter across the body, making it quite difficult to remember all their locations.
Also, if one notices, that the names of the meridians don't always correspond to the organs they affect, another sign that meridians don't exist in terms of bodily functionality.
Also, and also years back, I was at a seminar (psychotherapy techniques, as I was working at a locked ward for mentally ill adolescents and was part of the treatment staff), my room-mate was an Australian psychiatrist who had been learning accupuncture from an older oriental gentleman in Australia. Seems that the traditional practice of accupuncture requires the accupuncturist to engage in dialogue with the person while the needles are being inserted and/or twirled to get information on what was actually going on in their life. This would also guide where the next needles went.
People don't realize that prior to roughly 1850, there was no such thing as psychology, psychiatry or counseling. Things were either physical or spiritual. And there was plenty of overlap between them all.
The mind can affect health, and the proper practice of accupuncture works with both, and it isn't very effective without both.
But that takes a lot of time and a lot of training and observation. That's old school, not easy enough for today's people.
BTW, that psychiatrist at that seminar used a seminar participant as a demonstration which I was allowed to attend. The next day that subject was literal glowing (like a bride glows, not a psychic aura). The guy was like that for the next few days.
Thought you might find this interesting.
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