Touch of Death

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The Touch of Death or Death Touch refers to any martial arts technique that can, supposedly according to oral tradition, kill using seemingly less than lethal force targeted at specific areas of the body.

The concept known as Dim Mak, (simplified Chinese: 点脉; traditional Chinese: 點脈; pinyin: diǎnmài; literally "press artery"; Jyutping: dim2 mak6), alternatively diǎnxuè (simplified Chinese: 点穴; traditional Chinese: 點穴) traces its history to Traditional Chinese Medicine Acupuncture. Tales of its use are often found in the Wuxia genre of Chinese martial arts fiction. Dim mak is depicted as a secret body of knowledge with techniques that attack pressure points and meridians, said to incapacitate or sometimes cause immediate or even delayed death to an opponent.^[1]

The concept known as Vibrating Palm, originates with the Chinese martial arts Nei Jing ("internal") energy techniques that deal with the Qi energy and the type of force (jin) used. It is depicted as "a technique that is part psychic and part vibratory, this energy is then focused into a wave".^[2] It is said to incapacitate or sometimes cause immediate or even delayed death to an opponent.

[edit] History

Advertisement for Count Dante's 1968 World's Deadliest Fighting Secrets. The text reads "Black Dragon Fighting Society brings you the forbidden secrets of Dim Mak 'The Death Touch' in this exclusive book!"

The concept of Dim Mak (Dian Xue) appears among the fictional martial arts styles in the novels of Jin Yong from the 1950s.

Although Dim Mak originates in Wuxia fiction, there have been a number of martial artists claiming to practice the technique in real life, beginning in the 1960s with US American eccentric Count Dante, who associated it with the English moniker "The Death Touch".

By the 1980s, Dim Mak was well known in US American pop culture. The Black Belt magazine in 1985 carried the speculation that the death of Bruce Lee in 1973 may have been caused by "a delayed reaction to a Dim-Mak strike he received several weeks prior to his collapse". As well other authors have said the death of Bruce Lee may have been due to a "Vibrating Palm technique".^[3] alongside an article about Cai li fo instructor Wong Doc-Fai to the effect that "dim mak does actually exist and is still taught to a few select kung fu practicioners."^[4] A 1986 book on qi identifies dim mak as "one of the secret specialites" of wing chun.^[5] Dim Mak is referenced non-ironically in Bloodsport (1988), a film allegedly "based on true events in the life of Frank Dux", the founder of the first Neo-ninja school of "American Style Ninjutsu".

In ca. 1990, Taika Seiyu Oyata founded the style of Ryū-te which involves "pressure point fighting" (Kyūshojutsu). In the 1990s, karate instructor George Dillman developed a style that involves kyūshojutsu, a term that he identifies with Dim-Mak. Dillman eventually went as far as claiming to have developed qi-based attacks that work without physical contact ("no-touch knockout" techniques), a claim that did not stand up to third-party investigation and consequently denounced as fraudulent.^[6]

Also during the 1990s, Tai chi chuan master Erle Montaigue (b. 1949) has published a number of books and instruction videos on Dim Mak. Montaigue claims to be "the first Westerner to be granted the degree of 'Master' in taijiquan and dim-mak". According to Montaigue's own account, Dim-Mak is a style of Wudangquan which he learned in 1978 from a master called Chiang Yiu-chun.^[7]

The Vibrating Palm was revealed to the world by Kah Wah Lee in the February, 1972 issue of Black Belt Magazine.^[8] Ricky Pickens wrote an article titled "the Mysterious Vibrating Palm" in the November, 1991 issue of Inside Kung Fu.^[2] This was the first published articles to address the Vibrating Palm with details of the technique and scientific/conceptual explanations.

Paladin Press has other titles on the topic of Dim-Mak, including Kelly (2001) and Bauer and Walker (2002), both with a foreword by Montaigue.

[edit] Cultural references

Acupuncture chart from Hua Shou (1340s, Ming Dynasty).

"Touch of Death" techniques appear in a number of kung fu films:

• In Bloodsport (1988), Jean-Claude Van Damme's character proves he belongs in the Kumite tournament by demonstrating the Dim Mak attack to the judges. Though the demonstration was conducted on a stack of bricks instead of a human opponent, the film does refer to the move as a "Dim Mak" and "Death Touch".
• In Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000), Jade Fox uses a Dim Mak attack on Bo during a fight which paralyzed Bo and prevented him from moving and further attacking her. The effects were quickly reversed when Li Mu Bai applied a similar Dim Mak move to counter it.
• In Kill Bill (2004) the Bride learns the "Five Point Palm Exploding Heart Technique" from her teacher Pai Mei. In the Shaw Brothers films Clan of the White Lotus and Executioners of Shaolin, the character Pai Mei/Bak Mei uses a Ten Point Exploding Heart Technique as well as a "100-step soul catching" Dim Mak which allowed the victim to take a certain number of steps before dying.

The concept has entered pop culture to the point where it has been referenced in diverse media, including the following:

• The fictional martial art "Hokuto Shinken" from Fist of the North Star (1983-1988) and Fist of the Blue Sky uses pressure point strikes to instantly kill.
• An episode of Batman: The Animated Series (1992-1995) titled "Day of the Samurai" was themed around the touch of death.
• The Street Fighter Video game series has a chinese character named Gen who uses "Dimmak" or "presure point" attacks exclusively. (1980's - Present Day)
• A third-season episode of Kung Fu: The Legend Continues centers on an assassin who uses this method to kill his victims, touching them with his middle finger which has a snake branded onto it.
• In the series Avatar: The Last Airbender (2005-2008), Ty Lee uses techniques akin to Dim Mak, stunning her opponents by striking at appropriate pressure points.
• In Thomas Pynchon's Novel "Vineland, one of the protagonists uses the "Vibrating Palm Death Touch", which kills the opponent one year after it is used
• In an episode of The Simpsons, Bart threatens Lisa with the touch of death move that he supposedly learned from karate class, but which was really the name of an arcade game he played while skipping the class.
• There is a record label called Dim Mak Records
• In some editions of Dungeons & Dragons, members of the monk class can learn a technique called the "Quivering Palm", which, once performed, can kill a target at the monk's will.
• In the series Quincy, M.E. (Season 3, 1977) an episode entitled Touch of Death was about a martial arts movie star that mysteriously died while making a new film. Jack Klugman as Dr. Quincy discovers that he died because he had received the dim mak 10 days earlier.^[9]
• In the Brentford Trilogy series of books by Robert Rankin many characters (e.g. Archroy) and the author himself (in one of his various Details about the Author sections) states that they are masters of Dim Mak.
• In The Men Who Stare at Goats, Larry Hooper purportedly uses the Dim Mak on Lyn Cooper, before he leaves the New Earth Army. Jon Ronson goes to meet Guy Savelli and oversees snapshots of a soldier karate chopping a goat to death with the "Quivering Palm."

[edit] See also

• Qi
• Neo-ninja
• Pressure point
• Hokuto Shinken
• Iron Palm
• Ryukyu Kempo
• Varma Kalai
• Vulcan nerve pinch

[edit] References

• Michael Kelly, Death Touch: The Science Behind the Legend of Dim Mak, Paladin Press (2001), ISBN 9781581602814.
• George A. Dillman, Kyusho-Jitsu: The Dillman Method of Pressure Point Fighting, Dillman Karate Intl (1993), ISBN 9780963199614.
• Erle Montaigue, Dim-Mak: Death Point Striking, Paladin Press (1993), ISBN 9780873647182
• Erle Montaigue and Wally Simpson, The Encyclopedia of Dim-Mak, Paladin Press (1997), ISBN 9781581605372.
• Rick Bauer and Flane Walker, The Ancient Art of Life and Death: The Complete Book of Dim-Mak, Paladin Press (2002), ISBN 9781581605747.
• Art Mason, Novice Kyusho Jitshu Certification Workbook [2]
• Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Dian Xue Shu (Dim Mak) - Skill of Acting on Acupoints /Tanjin, 1934/ [3]

[edit] External links

• Shaolin Dian Xue (Dim Mak): Jin Jing Zhong. Authentic Shaolin Heritage: Dian Xue Shu (Dim Mak) - Skill of Acting on Acupoints /Tanjin, 1934/