Game Sports Realm

I am a Medical Doctor and have been an avid practitioner of the martial arts for years.

Dim Mak: A series of attacks on pressure points that when used in conjunction are said to incapacitate an assailant or result in immediate or imminent death.

Any fan of martial arts film and literature is familiar with the phrase Dim Mak (a.k.a  the Death Touch), but how credible are the claims?  Is there really such thing as "the touch of death"?  As a practitioner of medicine and the martial arts this question has often crossed my mind.  In this article I hope to help unravel this mystery.

Origins:

The roots of Dim Mak and acupuncture can be found under the same tree.  Acupuncture is based around the belief that the human body is covered with pressure points that lie along lines called meridian lines.  Various meridian lines correspond to the flow of "chi" (energy) and to the courses of underlying arteries and nerves.  The pretense behind acupuncture is that "chi" collects during different times of the day, at different pressure points.

These points in turn represent different organs or body parts.  The acupuncturist attempts to coalesce "chi" with the intent to relieve an organic ailment.  The Dim Mak practitioner at the opposite end of the spectrum attempts to cause an increased collection and stagnation of chi by blocking its outflow. This causes damage to the organs that the pressure points control.

Perhaps there maybe more to the legends than the manipulation of mystical energy flowing through our bodies. Is there an actual biomedical explanation for the devastating results of Dim Mak strikes?  In fact, the actual translation of Dim Mak is not "Touch of Death", but somewhat closer to "press arteries".  The Japanese style of Kyoshu Jitsu, often purported to be a death touch form,  means "vital point art". The Wing Chun form of Bil Jee has also worn the mantle of the death touch form while its translation mean : Bil - "dart in" and Jee - "point at".

The Claims vs. The Facts:

Dim Mak involves striking pressure points that correspond to vital organs which results in damage to vital organs and death.  This damage in turn is further heightened when striking said points at certain times of the day that correspond to the targeted organ or organs. Finally the legends cite that a Dim Mak practitioner has the ability to cause instantaneous death or delayed death.

Let us consider the above diagram of the Dim Mak pressure points that correspond to the liver and spleen as well as the below diagrams of the same points as they correspond to the vascular and nerves that  lie along the same lines.

If Dim Mak does cause death then the next logical question is - what is the cause?

The causation of death can be considered under three headings :

Direct Mechanical Trauma

Neurological Effects

Psychological Components

Direct Mechanical Trauma:

The effect of direct destructive force to an organ like the liver or spleen can be assumed.  A strike to the surface of the body that covers an underlying organ can cause rupture of that organ resulting in a massive hemorrhage, shock, and organ failure.

However what about the strikes to points on the leg?  Surely the leg is nowhere near the liver or spleen.  The meridian lines on the leg "coincidentally" correspond to the course of the long saphenous vein. While this vessel is not directly associated with the liver it is important to note that all venous drainage from the lower limb must pass through the "portal vein system".   This portal vein system travels into the substance of the liver and while not carrying oxygen does carry nutrients to supply the liver as well as toxins for the liver to breakdown.  A clot could easily form in the saphenous vein (secondary to a well placed strike), travel up, enter the portal vein system and in turn enter the liver. Once in the liver this clot could cause blockage and congestion, later resulting in ischemia (loss of blood supply), which would result in end stage liver failure days or weeks later.

The claim in Chinese medicine that the liver corresponds to 1am to 3am may hold water.  Today we know that the Liver performs its major detoxification functions during this time of day.  It is safe to say that this would be the optimum time to cause damage to this organ since it is working its hardest during those hours.  To the same token while the chances of a clot entering the spleen are unlikely due to its unique vascular supply; direct trauma to the spleen would also be most destructive during its respective Chinese medical time (9am-11am ).   It is during those hours that the spleen is performing its many hormonal and immunological functions.

Neurological Effects:

Sacral Plexus

Lumbar Plexus

Celiac plexus a.k.a Solar Plexus - Conceptor Vessel 14 (Lethal Pressure Point)

When the meridian lines are superimposed on surface marking charts of the human body a pattern emerges.  The meridian lines correspond to various nerves: subcostal, iliohypogastric, saphenous, genitofemoral, obturator, and femoral nerves to name a few.  These nerves are components of three distinct nervous plexuses: Lumbar, Sacral, and the famous Celiac a.k.a "Solar" plexus.

While damage do these plexuses and their branches can result in loss of motor supply to vital structures (ex. the diaphragm which is involved in respiration), damage that results in the sensation of intense and constant pain can be just as dangerous even if more insidious.  When the body senses pain, it assumes that an injury has occurred.  In response to pain, chemical mediators of inflammation are released and migrate to the site of pain.  If the site has been damage these chemicals are beneficial; stopping bleeding and destroying any pathogens.  Unfortunately even in the absence of organic damage, if the body perceives pain the same mediators are  released. Without any damage to alleviate these normally, beneficial chemicals attack the normal tissues, in effect causing damage.

If a Dim Mak practitioner can damage a nerve to the extent that a victim perceives chronic pain, the victim's own inflammatory mediators left unchecked will cause: irreparable organ damage, end in organ failure, and he will ultimately die.

Psychological Components:

The psychosomatic implications of Dim Mak cannot be ignored.  The mind controls the body - this we already know.  If for example, an individual believes wholeheartedly that he has been the victim of the death touch,  the mind may bring that belief into reality, killing the body even if the physical effects are not sufficient to do so.  Doctors say that once a critically ill patient has given up the will to live they expire rapidly. It is on this same principal that placebo medications work.  The patient, thinking some miracle drug has been administered, regains strength while the practitioner sits back and allows the mind to "heal" the body.

It is plausible that certain nefarious individuals might manipulate this principle for the delivery of death instead of the preservation of life.  In fact recent studies have shown that emotions are so strong that eliciting a negative emotional response does in fact create measurable physical damage at the cellular level.  This may be an explanation for why men (who are taught from a young age to hold in emotions) are prone to many more health problems than women; or why depressed people tend to have general ill health.  Strong emotions illicit real physiological changes. With this in mind, the hype surrounding the "touch of death" may be as devastating as the physical blow itself.

In Conclusion:

So what can we believe?  It's evident that there is some degree of science behind the lethality of Dim Mak but can we truly rule out that it isn't something more ephemeral?  The answer is simple: no, of course we can't.  Just like many of nature's mysteries, scientists will always find an explanation to tell the world but some theories  cannot be proven indefinitely.  The only thing that can be said for certain is that regardless of  whether the power of "The Death Touch" lies within the realm of the supernatural or under the banner of science; it will continue to baffle martial artists for many years to come.  Dim Mak will be one of the most highly sought after and closely guarded secrets of the fighting world, or remain one of the most controversial.

Dim Mak? :

References:

Kasper , Dennis L. , Eugene Braunwald , Stephen Hauser , Dan Longo , J. Larry Jameson , Anthony S. Fauci , Joseph Loscalzo. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine  17th Edition United States , 2008