How to Perform a Vulcan Nerve Pinch

Anyone who has ever seen Star Trek should be familiar with the famous Vulcan nerve pinch, which mr Spock and his Vulcan compatriots use to render their enemies instantly unconscious simply by squeezing the nerves in the correct place. I have always loved Star Trek and as a child the Vulcan nerver pinch was always one of those things that I really wished that I could do.

Of course the actual nerve pinch, as it is shown in Star Trek, is a piece of fiction. But yet it is also true that the idea for it was not simply plucked out of nowhere, but was based on something real. It's pretty safe to assume that the idea for the Vulcan nerver pinch was based on the Chinese art of manipulating pressure points. The same principles that are used for healing in accupuncture and accupressure massage are also used in oriental martial arts for fighting and self-defense. The system which teaches martial arts students to do this is called 'Dim Mak', and is sometimes known in the west as the art of the Death Touch, for its reputed ability to kill an opponent with just a touch of the right combination of points.

Drawing on the Dim Mak system of Kung Fu here is a technique for renderring an opponent unconscious which is actually very similar indead to Spock's famous Vulcan nerve pinch:

This technique actually consists of two different pressure point manipulations, either of which is capable of causing unconsciousness, and which can be easily combined to create a very reliable method.

The first part involves the application of pressure to the juggular notch, and it is this action which looks remarkably similar to the nerve pinch. The juggular notch is the indentation at the base of the throut underneath the adam's apple at the centre of the collar bone. This is one of the most effective and easy to use of all the pressure points. a brief jab of the fingers into his point causes a gag reflex and full body motor dysfunction, effectively stunning your opponent for anout 2-4 seconds. Sustained pressure to this point can causes unconsciousness in around 20 seconds or so. Approaching from the front you should press your thumb into the juggular notch and spread your fingers out over the top of the trapezuis muscle running from the neck to the shoulder, digging your finger-tips in for a good grip. This gives you a good control point over your opponent, and greatly reduces their ability to resist or counter attack.

The second part of the technique is a strike to the brachial plexus origin. The brachial plexus nerve runs down the side of the neck, along just behind the collar bone and down the front of the shoulder. The point you want to strike is at the base of the neck, on either side, one or two centimetres behind the collar bone, and around 1.5 - 2 inches to the side of the juggular notch. You can use a chop, or alternatively raise one knuckle out of a fist and strike with this. A good strike to this area will knock you out instantly, but it can be difficult to hit just the right spot in a real fight, which is why you use the juggular notch for an initial stun and to gain control. It it doesn't work first time just make sure you keep up a good amount of pressure on the juggular notch and try again. But with the accumulated effect of both attacks it should work first time anyway, as long as you hit roughly the right area with the strike.

Dim Mak is a fascinating subject and a powerful martial arts tool which is often overloked. I hope you enjoyed this short article, and that you will take the time to look further into the subject which I thinks would be of great benefit to you if you have any interest in martial arts.