Martial Arts Blog Articles By Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas is a pressure point fighting expert (Kyusho-jitsu) and author of 6 books and numerous articles on Pressure Points and other topics. He has been published in magazines all over the world, including Black Belt Magazine and S.W.A.T. in the United States, Blitz Magazine in Australia, Budoka in Finland, and Combat and Fighting Arts International in the UK.
He has studied in the martial arts for over 30 years and holds Master ranks in Isshin-ryu and Ryukyu kempo. He has also studied Tai Chi Chuan. He is the head of Kyusho-Jitsu Kenkyukai.
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Chris Thomas is sometimes asked, "How come you aren't a regular columnist for Black Belt or some other magazine?" The answer is that he has to be asked, and the magazine has to survive. From this you might correctly guess that for about two seconds he wrote a regular column. This was back in '02-'03. The column was an every other month piece which appeared in Martial Arts and Combat Sport under the title "George Dillman's To the Point, with Chris Thomas." He wrote 9 columns, but MACS went out of business before they were all published (6 were published). Anyway, he thought you might enjoy them. They will be posted one at a time below.

A few years ago I attended a seminar taught by a famous Japanese Shotokan karate Master. During the semminar a black belt raised his hand and asked about a particular kata movement; "Sensei, could that be a strike to the head?" At that moment I became somewhat hopeful. The question showed that this student was troubled by the woefully inadequate explanations for kata movements that he had been given over the years.
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People who don't know much about pressure points are often heard talking "knowingly" about them. It's easy to spot these "experts" becasue they will speak of pressure points as if they are isolated and independent targets - "Well, there's a pressure a pressure point here. And there's another one over here . . . " The real secret of pressure point fighting is that pressure points are used together to compliment each other. The simplest expression of this concept is, "one point causes pain. Two points cause the pain to meet in the middle. Three points cause a knock out."
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Using pressure points in combination is the essence of the art of pressure point fighting (which, incidently, is called kysho-jitsu). Previously, we have described the Meridian Principle, attacking pressure points on the same meridian to compliment each other. Another principle is the use of the five elements.
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Probably the most ubiquitous concept in the martial arts is the duality known as yin and yang. Yin and yang are understood philosophically as the primordial forces of balance and interplay. Yin is soft, dark, cool, calm, yielding, insubstancial, feminin. Yang is hard, bright, hot, active, forceful, solid, masculine.
The concept is widely applied in the comabative disciplines.
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One aspect of pressure point fighting most people have encountered is the principle of time of day. Many old accounts of pressure point techniques insist that points must be attacked at certain times in order to be effective. The theory is that certain areas of the body are especially vulnerable to attack during a specific zodiac-hour (a zodiac hour is 2 hours by a western clock) of the day. For example, the document the Bubishi contains a set of 12 drawings depicting pressure points to attack during each zodiac-hour.
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The essence of pressure point fighting is the coordination of points. Most pressure poing techniques utilize at least 3 points, each on increasing the vulnerability of the next. (A note here: points can be attacked either sequentially, or simultaneously, however, in terms of point selection, we generally think sequentially.) In preceding article, we have described four principles of pressure point fighting.
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When properly stimulated, a meridan pressure point will produce four results. These are: Area Control. Kinethetic Response, Systemic Compromise, and Relational Artifact. Consider as a n example, an attack to the point LI-10/Shousanli, located just outside and below the crease of the elbow. First, this strike would cause the muscles of the forearm to crampup, and the elbow to flex. This is the resule of Area Control. (Read Blog Article)

One of the most important secrets of pressure point fighting is called "angle and direction". This refers to the path which must be followed to effectively stimulate a particular point. Very few points are attacked horizontilly or vertically. Most are attacked on some diagonal. An excellent target to focus on as part of a discussion of angle and direction os the nose. (Read Blog Article)

Critics often say, "Yeah, pressure points may work, but you'll never hit them under the stress of a real fight. It's too complicated." Tell that to an airline piolet. Flying a plane is clearly a difficult and complicated task, so complicated that it should be impossible to actually fly under the stress of an in-flight emergency. yet, airline pilots are able to. Why? Realistic training. (Read Blog Article)

There are pastors who study martial arts, but not many who have studied for decades. So, I am among a rare few. (I am happy to say that I belong to that same small group of long-time martial arts practitioners/clergy as Black Belt Hall of Fame member Leo Fong. Rev. Fong is a retired clergy member of the same denomination of which I am a not-yet-retired clergy member.) This is why I am often approached with questions about Christianity and martial arts – usually, the phrase "how do you reconcile..." is used. (Read Blog Article)

(October 18, 2009) I was reading a military hand-to-hand (H2H) training manual, and recognized that the program had been influenced by the Filipino martial arts. One chapter covered the 12 angles of attack, showing the angles with knife, then fairly standard Filipino patterns for dealing with knife attacks bare-handed. The next chapter showed the 12 angles of attack with fixed bayonet. Then it showed defenses against those angles. But, here was the problem, the manual showed completely different ways of dealing with the bayonet than the methods for dealing with knife. In other words, they showed twelve angles of attack, and 24 different responses to attacks along those lines. And it got even worse. As I went through the book, I counted some 75 unique techniques. And this was supposed to be the basic military training manual.
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(September 26, 2009) Years ago, I was lifting my daughter from the floor. She helped by jumping as I lifted, and our combined energy drove her head into mine – head butt. She was fine. I, one the other hand, was staggered. That event (combined with a similar story when my son was an infant and my groin was much younger) led me to understand an important principle of combat: Anyone can beat anyone.
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(September 15, 2009) Let me continue a bit on the discussion of my last post: I had an interesting conversation with a member of my group (Kyusho-jitsu Kenkyukai, KJK for short). He was telling me about how troubling an experience it is when you realize that you have both the skills to take a life, and the will necessary to employ those skills. It is the moment when you become the kind of person who is actually capable of killing. (Read Blog Article)

(September 7, 2009) Back in 1997, DKI member and physician Chaz Terry helped set up a small investigatory study of pressure point techniques which was conducted at University of Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. My account was published in Black Belt Magazine (click here to read the article) and as a chapter of Humane Pressure Point Self-Defense. I was present for the sole purpose of recording and writing about the event. So, I did not participate directly in the process. But, I had the best seat in the house. (Read Blog Article)

(August 28, 2008) In Isshin-ryu we have three bo (long staff) kata. About 20 years ago I was pondering a particular characteristic of one of them. Let me see if I can explain this for you – If you marked one of a bo “right”, the other end “left”, and held it so that you had the “right” half in your right hand and the “left” half in your left hand, you could do two of the kata (Tokumine-no-kun & Urashi-no-kun) and your hands would stay on the proper side. In other words, these kata treat both ends of the bo as equal – when left side is forward, the “left” side of the bo is forward, and vice versa. This is what is known as “double end staff.” (Read Blog Article)

(August 21, 2009) I recently was explaining our concepts to a man who had been training at a local martial arts school. It was almost as if the last 20 years never happened – as if the martial arts community had never heard of any of the things we teach. So, let me give you a way to explain and talk about one of the most basic aspects of our teaching – it's not a block! (Read Blog Article)

(August 14, 2009) A Buddhist friend showed me a video featuring some Tibetan yogis. These were people whom she greatly admired (some were her teachers). She saw masters, I saw ordinary men. In one of the old video-tapes sold by Taika Oyata, the voice over narration says, "Only master Oyata can properly interpret the kata." Clearly, these folks look at Oyata-sensei and see "the master." I just see a man.
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(August 11, 2009) I prefer "old karate." I mean this in three different ways. When I first used the phrase, I had been training for about ten years. At that point I noticed that my movements felt familiar, well worn, broke in, "old" like that most comfortable pair of jeans, or like my battered fedora. This was muscle memory.  Technique had become written onto the very fibers of my body. My nerves knew punching, kicking, moving, without any help from my brain. I remember thinking, at the time, how my karate had become old.  (Read Blog Article)

(August 3, 2009) Since I had originally trained in the Shotokan style, I decided to attend a seminar by Shotokan master Hirokazu Kanazawa. During the seminar, Kanazawa-sensei reviewed several kata; at one point during the discussion of a particular technique from the kata Jion, a black belt raised his hand and asked, “Sensei, could that move be a strike to the head?” At that moment I became somewhat hopeful. The question showed that this student was troubled by the woefully inadequate explanations for kata movements that he had been given over the years. (Read Blog Article)

(July 24, 2009) Last night we recorded a new video. This is an updated version of my already successful Self-Defense Made Ridiculously Easy. We were able to make two significant improvements. First, I have updated the conceptual material, the way in which we talk about what we do. Instantly, it becomes clear how the principles of self-defense transfer into principles of successful living. (Read Blog Article)

(July 14, 2009) In the early 80's, I wrote some articles about tai chi. After one of them, a letter to the editor from a tai chi master criticized me for treating tai chi as if it was "ordinary boxing." Since the editor of Inside Kung Fu assured me that the the letter-writer was a respected expert (and he had a Chinese name, which certainly implied legitimacy) I concluded that I didn't really understand tai chi. After that, I no longer wrote about tai chi, and concentrated solely on discussing karate. However, I continued practicing tai chi. (Read Blog Article)

(July 6, 2009) I practice karate (Ryukyu kempo and Isshin-ryu) and tai chi chuan. Most people think of me as a karate guy. So, I find it amazingly entertaining to be teaching kung fu practitioners. You may not know this, but, the usual criticism of karate practitioners by kung fu practitioners, is that karate practitioners are too stiff. So, I am so entertained when I teach kung fu guys, because what I usually tell them is, "You're too tense. Relax." (Read Blog Article)

(June 29, 2009) For some years before I met George Dillman, I had been trying to do interpretation of kata. I knew these movements must have some pragmatic and functional use, and that the practice of the old forms must hold deep value. I felt this for a logical reason (this practice couldn't have survived without a practical value), and for an emotional reason (I had invested lots of time in the study of kata).
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(June 19, 1009) I am not a martial arts school owner, and martial arts is not my primary profession. I am a member of the clergy and the pastor of a church. As part of my professional life, I serve on the board of a homeless shelter. Our shelter is 2 years old. It is currently only set up as a 30 day rescue shelter for women and families. This has two implications. The first is that men are rarely able to stay at the shelter. The second problem is that 30 days is rarely enough time for someone to move from homelessness to housing. (Read Blog Article)

(June 12, 2009) Me, blogging! I can't believe I'm entering the 21st century. People who know me, know that I am notoriously lax in using that 1980's technology, email. My wife is the one who has the texting component of the phone contract. And twitter and IM are completely strange and mysterious to me.
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