The Ryukyu's are a small chain of islands located between Japan and China. The largest and most famous of these islands is Okinawa. Because of their strategic location, as trading center for both China and Japan, the Ryukyu's were greatly influenced by both the Chinese and Japanese cultures.

     In Okinawa, there exists a martial art which is wonderful and could be boasted to the world. An art which is distinctly separate itself, and while not arming one's self with a weapon, he can defeat his opponent and protect himself at the same time. This is the distinctive Okinawa Kempo; what is otherwise called (To-Te) Karate.

     Ryukyu Kempo is a system of martial arts that has roots in both; the Okinawan "TE" (HAND) system and the Chinese Kempo (FIST WAY). Thus, Ryukyu Kempo is a blend of the old Okinawan and Chinese martial arts.

     The "distinctively-Okinawa martial art" has been praised all over the world especially in Japan, where karate is practiced at Kodokan and the Toyama Military School. Which are both considered to be the top two establishments of training in Japanese martial arts.

     The uniqueness of Ryukyu Kempo can be seen in the "hard style" training with power and emphasis on makiwara training. Everyone is weak in the same way, all of us have nerves, tendons, joints and muscles that will respond in a predetermined manner when specific pressure is applied to them.

     Kyusho Jitsu (nerve point manipulation) is the most advanced form of strikes in the martial arts. When properly used against selected anatomical points of the nervous or circulatory systems, it will temporarily disable the attacker beyond the ability to renew his attack. Here precision not strength is the key to the resolution of a threatening situation.

     Kyusho jitsu is the art of pressure points also knowed under many other names like dim mak, tien shueh, dim shueh, death touch, vital point striking,etc...

     It was created by Zhang Sanfeng, the creator of taijiquan. Because of his acupuncture knowledge he created the points in order to heal and later discovered the method for fighting applications. It is said that he practiced the outcome of the pressure point techniques on prisoners who waited for death sentences, in that way he could perform the technique and see the result on the human body. This is just one version of the story or history, of course there are more and who knows what will be the closest to reality? The true purpose of kyusho jitsu lies in the martial arts forms or kata. Every move in the form is a pressure point technique or tuite - chin na method. This is to let the student better understand the purpose of the movements. These methods all rely on the basic meridian knowledge (see other page) and the circle of creation and destruction. Never practice any of these methods without proper supervision and please do not knock anybody out just for training purposes.

     There are 361 regular points that are scattered across 14 meridian channels. There are 391 "extraordinary" points which have been identified, but which are not as widely used in medicine. The meridians upon which the points are found are related to the various organs of the body. These associations are determined through the clinical observation that stimulating the points on a particular meridian had a noticeable effect on the corresponding organ. Meridians are also classified in two other ways. In oriental thinking there are two polar opposites, which together make up all things. These are the yin and the yang. Then there are the five elements: water, metal, wood, fire and earth. To practice these methods there should always be the "revival" method like the one that involves gb 20 in the neck or gv 26. More can be found in some good books on pressure point methods throughout the net. This is just a basic intro in the art of pressure point fighting.

 

The Elemental Cycle as it applies to Kyusho-Jitsu

     One of the theories that governs the effectiveness of Kyusho techniques is based of the Five Elemental Cycle. To understand how this works we must first learn the Elements and how they relate to points, meridians and strikes.

Meridians and Their Elements:

Lung/Large Intestine - Metal
Pericardium/Triple Warmer - Fire
Heart/Small Intestine - Fire
Kidney/Bladder - Water
Liver/Gall Bladder - Wood
Spleen/Stomach - Earth

The Creative Cycle:
 This cycle is sometimes referred to as the mother/child cycle. In this cycle each element creates the next. It is as follows:

1) Wood Fuels Fire
2) The ash of Fire creates Earth
3) The Earth becomes compressed into Metal
4) The Metal as it condensates creates Water
5) The Water helps the Wood to grow

To apply this cycle to our Kyusho techniques:

1) Striking the Child (the element created) will weaken the Mother (the element that created it)
2) Striking the Mother will weaken the child

     This is accomplished because each element in this cycle will send its energy to the other to protect it. Therefore the first strike is to weaken the second strike.

The Control Cycle:
     This cycle is otherwise known as the destructive cycle and is most commonly used in Kyusho. In this cycle each element controls or destroys the next. It is as follows:

1) Fire melts Metal
2) Metal Cuts Wood
3) Wood penetrates Earth
4) Earth holds Water
5) Water puts out Fire

To apply this cycle to our Kyusho techniques:

Strike an element then strike the one it destroys.

 Click here to see the points on the meridians

Yin/Yang Theory as it applies to Kyusho-Jitsu

     The Yin/Yang theory is one of the simplest but most effective theories to apply in Kyusho. The body is broken up into Yin and Yang quadrants. They are as follows:

1) Front is Yin, Back is Yang
2) Left is Yin, Right is Yang
3) Bottom is Yin, Top is Yang
4) Inside is Yin, Outside is Yang

     The theory of Yin and Yang is that Yin consumes Yang and vice versa. When applied to Kyusho one would be striking a Yin point and a Yang point causing a destructive consumption.  Where this becomes complicated is that each body part is made up of Yin/Yang. An example is that the inner aspect of the arm is Yin while the outer aspect is Yang. This theory can be magnified by combining it with the destructive cycle. An example would be striking the Gallbladder 20 point on the back of the head while striking the Stomach 5 point on the jaw on the opposite side of the head. We have wood penetrating earth, front (Yin) and back (Yang) and left (Yin) and right (Yang). This would result in neurological shutdown.