🥋 Killer Acupuncture Points?

Can acupuncture points be fatal?

I mean, of course if you needle too deeply into an organ, then that would be bad...

But are there martial arts applications, like the five point palm exploding heart technique?

Well, that's a question a got...

Fatal Acupuncture Points

So can acupuncture points be fatal?

This is a question I got on YouTube video:

Is it true that by tapping some acupuncture points you could kill a man like the final scene in the movie kill Bill?

Well, it turns out that there is at least one acupuncture point with a famous martial arts application.

If you get out your Deadman acupuncture book, you can find this passage in the commentary for the extra point (M-HN-9) Tai Yang:

[Taiyang] was first discussed in the Sagelike Prescriptions from the Taiping Era (10th century CE), although considering its importance in the martial arts tradition (as a vital spot where a blow may be fatal) it was almost certainly known much earlier than this date.

And it turns out that you can see this being used in certain Chinese martial arts movies like Wu Xia (Dragon, 2011) with Donnie Yen:

Donnie Yen striking a man in the Tai Yang in the movie Wu Xia. You can watch the clip here (go to 4:25): Donnie Yen Fight (Wu Xia)​

The subtitles say, "A direct blow to the vagus nerve..." but this is clearly a blow to the extra point Tai Yang.

(I believe he says Tai Yang in Chinese, but this is the cantonese version so it's hard for me to tell...)

Earlier in this clip (at 2:58), he also causes a heart attack by striking an assailant in the LU-2 (Yunmen, cloud gate). However, with LU-2, I can't find any sources that this was another important "vital point" in martial arts.

Anyway, this is a fun (and kind of ridiculous) martial arts movie. If you watch closely, you'll see certain TCM things pop up, like acupuncture points and herbs.

Maybe next time I'll talk about some other Chinese movies where TCM plays a role. It's kind of fun to see things from that perspective.