The Eye of Destruction: Self-protection in a World Spinning Out of Control Part Two Dr Gregory T. Lawton

Introduction

We are living in dark and perilous times. We are witnessing the moral decline of humanity, increases in mental illness, rising crime, escalating incidents of violence and assault, and “countries are burning with the flame of dissension, and the fire of war and carnage is blazing throughout the east and the west.” (1)

We are also witnessing incredible acts of courage and resistance against attacks intended to destroy the foundations of free nations and societies. Never has there been a time when people have needed the balance and strength that training in the traditional martial arts provides. Balance and strength that comes from the mental, emotional, spiritual, and physical aspects of these great training systems. People possessed of self-assurance and a sense of self-empowerment do not cower in fear in face of the aggressor or the tyrant, they arise resolutely and with courage. To everyone, everywhere, who is fighting for their lives, their families, their cities, and their nations, my thoughts and prayers are with you.

This article is offered as a small contribution to the self-empowerment of peoples and societies everywhere it reaches. To those of you who have been training for years in the martial arts, I offer these thoughts in the hope of enriching your knowledge and increasing your ability to withstand injustice. To those of you who are new to the martial arts, this material is intended to show you the true path to martial ability.

This article is a continuation of the concepts presented in Part One of this series. I recommend that the reader of this article (if they have not already done so) read “The Eye of Destruction: Self-Protection in a World Spinning out of Control, Part One” from the December 2021, Volume 20, issue of Lift Hands magazine. You may also want to review my previous three-part series entitled “The Medical Implications of Combat Tai Chi Chuan Techniques: Investigating Blunt Force Trauma,” which describes the medical consequences of combat Tai Chi Chuan and

contains practical descriptions of physical attacks to the most vulnerable areas of the human body.

Please note: There can be serious legal repercussions to defending yourself and inflicting injury to another person. The purpose of these articles is to educate and empower people in reality-based self-protection (RBSP) and not to promote unnecessary violence. Legal issues because of defending yourself may result in criminal charges and/or civil lawsuits. It has often been stated by attorneys that specialize in self-defense law that, “The first fight is for your life, and the second fight is for the rest of your life.”

In “The Eye of Destruction: Self-Protection in a World Spinning Out of Control, Part One,” we: discussed the growing interest in learning self-defense and self-protection skills; compared the difference between self-defense and self-protection; answered the question “Why learn self-defense?”; established that everyone has the capacity to defend themselves; explained that everyone has the legal and moral right to defend themselves; and taught that the first rule of self-defense is the avoidance of trouble and conflict when possible. We explained that situational awareness and threat assessment is not paranoia but is a positive behavioral trait for survival, and that selfdefense against a violent assailant requires a total commitment to inflict catastrophic injury.

In “The Eye of Destruction: Self-Protection in a World Spinning Out of Control, Part Two,” we are going to pick up where we left off in Part One. We are going to investigate the mental and physical characteristics needed to protect yourself and your loved ones from becoming victims of violence — at home, at work, at play, and in our city streets.

As a martial arts instructor who has been teaching students for over five decades, my biggest fear is that what I teach a student will not be effective and might get them hurt. For that reason, I only teach the techniques and skills that I believe will be the most effective for self-protection. For those of you who are new to my writing and teaching, please know that first and foremost, I teach situational awareness, the avoidance of conflict and violence, and when that fails, conflict resolution and de-escalation. When all else fails, I teach the delivery of catastrophic injury. I also teach that it is better to heal than to harm. Most of my days are spent with my patients or teaching biomedicine and healing arts classes.

The Eye of Destruction: Self-Protection in a World Spinning Out of Control Part Two

Learning Self-Defense and Self-Protection Skills is a Lifetime Effort

Simply taking a self-defense seminar, buying a book on the subject, or reading this article will not be sufficient to make you skilled at self-protection or able to answer the threat of a violent attack. Techniques that you may have learned in a typical martial arts program may not be the kind of techniques (or the correct mindset) by which to successfully address a violent confrontation. It is important that the knowledge and skills learned relating to selfprotection are specific for dealing with predatory violence, and that your skills are honed and sharpened throughout your lifetime through regular and realistic practice. Frankly, much of what I see offered in martial arts schools and self-defense classes does not reach the level of effectiveness needed when facing violence or a violent predator.

When I begin to work with a new class or with an individual student, I very quickly ascertain their level of “reality” regarding violence when I introduce them to what I call “Dr. Lawton’s School of Pain.” My school of pain involves having a student show me how they might deal with a violent attacker intent upon maiming or killing them. Commonly, the techniques they show me (learned in previous martial arts training or by watching “John Wick” movies) are directed at areas of the body that would not cause catastrophic injury, and if they are directed at effective areas, they are delivered ineffectively (without proper follow-through or penetration).

I recently hosted and worked with a group of intercity teenagers who had a mixed background of experience in street violence. Some of these teens had training in western boxing, wrestling, and/or mixed martial arts. What I discovered is that their previous training did very little to prepare them for real violence; in fact, it appeared to hinder their understanding and ability to deliver effective attacks. For example, on one young man (a heavyweight wrestler), I applied a technique where I reached out to “tie up” as if we were in a sport wrestling match. I have found that many wrestlers conditioned through sports training rules will respond with an attempt to grapple from a standing position. When they do this, they leave their eyes, throat, and other key targets open to

In “Dr. Lawton’s School of Pain,” I quickly introduce students to the most effective targets for the delivery of catastrophic injury. These areas were partially covered in my three-part series (also published in Lift Hands magazine) entitled “The Medical Implications of Combat Tai Chi Chuan Techniques: Investigating Blunt Force Trauma.” In my school of pain, I expand upon the physiologically and neurologically vulnerable areas of the human body, and I add additional organs, glands, nerves, and arteries. Many of these anatomical locations cause severe pain, which may stop all but the most determined, crazed, or drugged attacker. Some of these points cause immediate nerve damage to the forearm, wrist, or hand that will temporarily weaken an attacker; others damage arteries and cut off blood flow to the brain; still others damage or sever the spinal cord, causing paralysis or death. (Some of these techniques and areas of the body will be covered further on in this article.)

Photograph Two: The author delivering a brachial stun to the side of the neck. Every attack to the body needs to strike or dislocate a vital area of the human body to shut down an attacker.

Building a Framework for Self-Protection

Like building a house, learning how to effectively protect yourself through the ability to deliver catastrophic injury to a violent attacker is a step-by-step process that begins with “pouring the foundation.” The foundation of self-protection is set upon a collection of mental skills and abilities. I have trained many students to be proficient in the physical skills of self-protection, but I have known few who possess the mental attributes needed to effectively utilize those physical skills.

In general, training in almost any martial art will help you to develop mental and emotional attributes, including healthy assertiveness, self-confidence, emotional stability, and the ability to deal with anger and aggression. However, not every martial art will prepare you for violence in the street, a home invasion, or a personal attack against your person for the purpose of robbery or rape.

Many popular martial arts have a very long learning curve, and the central premise or philosophy of a martial art may not be centered on reality-based fighting skills. There are no rules in reality-based combat martial arts, but many popular martial arts which focus on public entertainment or sports competition come with all the rules of wrestling, judo, jujitsu, boxing, karate, or mixed martial arts. If you want a good understanding of the most effective techniques used in reality-based combat, read the list of prohibited strikes and/or moves or actions that will result in disqualification in these martial arts.

The following strikes and/or actions are prohibited in the entertainment martial arts such as wrestling, boxing, or mixed martial arts, and they are prohibited acts in all sports focused martial arts. Committing any of these strikes or actions may result in the disqualification of a fighter, loss of a contest, fines, or other penalties. (This is not the full list of prohibited actions.)

1. Head butting 2. Eye attacks or gouging in any form 3. Biting any part of the body 4. Nose biting 5. Spitting 6. Fish hooking (the act of inserting a finger or fingers or one or both hands into the mouth or nostrils of a person, pulling away tissue from the midline of the body) 7. Pinching and tearing at the skin, nose, ears, or other areas of the body 8. Hair pulling 9. Grabbing, tearing at, or pulling on the ears 10. Spiking an opponent to the mat on his head or neck (Pile driver) 11. Strikes to the spine, vertebra, or to the back of the head 12. Throat strikes of any kind, and/or grabbing or crushing the trachea 13. Gouging the fingers or thumb into an opponent’s face or eyes 14. Sticking hands, fingers, feet, or toes into body orifices 15. Downward elbow strikes to the spine or any area of the body 16. Groin attacks of any kind including grabbing and crushing 17. Drop kneeing and/or kicking the head of a grounded opponent 18. Foot stomping a grounded opponent 19. Holding on to an opponent’s gloves, shorts, Gi, or clothing 20. Holding or grabbing the fence or ropes with fingers or toes 21. Finger dislocation, breaking, and small joint manipulation 22. Joint dislocation 23. Throwing an opponent out of ring, the ring fighting area, or into physical obstructions 24. Intentionally placing a finger into a cut or laceration of an opponent 25. Clawing, pinching, or twisting the skin 26. Using abusive language during a fight or attempting to anger or enrage an opponent with foul language 27. Unsportsmanlike conduct that causes injury to an opponent

Photograph Three: Finger dislocation, breaking, and small joint manipulation is prohibited in the entertainment martial arts and in sport fighting contests.

If your training in the martial arts has conditioned you to perceive threats as a competition, has conditioned you to “fight fair,” or has taught you that violence is “bad,” then in any serious encounter you face, you will handicap yourself and contribute to your own defeat (mugging, rape, or worse).

The mental attributes needed for self-protection begin with learning how to achieve and maintain a steady state of mind that overcomes anxiety and fear and/or learns to channel those emotions into the intent needed to initiate violence against an attacker. We need to stop thinking about violence as bad and accept violence as state of mind and an activity that is sometimes necessary when facing a violent predator. You need to ask yourself why you are a student of the martial arts; if it is to compete in the entertainment martial sports arena, then do not delude yourself that the same skills will prepare you to face violence or a violent predator who will not be observing the same rules that you have conditioned yourself to follow.

Answer this question honestly: Have you, through your training and your sense of “fair play,” rendered yourself ineffective against violent attacks? Most of us have heard the common adage, “You fight how you train.” If you have trained yourself to selectively target and hit only the “approved targets” of sports martial arts, then those are the targets you will strike in a high anxiety situation (such as a mugging, attempted rape, or home invasion). If your martial arts training as a teacher or student trains you to “pull” your fa jing attacks, punches, kicks, or other strikes or techniques, then you will probably fail to execute the technique correctly (with correct force and penetration into the target).

The framework for reality-based self-protection (RBSP) includes, and is reliant upon, the following skill sets which must be deeply imbedded into your mind and body:

1. Use a laser-like focus into your target area. 2. Have a total mental intent to inflict injury. 3. Never face an opponent, whether in practice or in a real-life situation, without the willingness to inflict catastrophic injury. 4. When you “know” it is time to fight, strike first. “He who hesitates….” 5. Initiate your offensive strike with the commitment to cause catastrophic injury and to go all out in your attack. 6. Do not waste energy or time on strikes to areas of the body that will not inflict extreme pain or that will not immediately stop and drop an attacker. 7. Maintain a state of continual attack until it is clear that the attacker is incapable of a further threat against you. 8. Only select and attack the most vulnerable areas of the human body. 9. Do not hesitate, contemplate, ruminate, or “process”; act, and cause destruction.

Threat Assessment

In my classes, I teach my students five levels of threat assessment. I suggest that human-to-human conflicts may follow five stages, or they may suddenly begin with any of these five states as listed below:

Assertiveness – Healthy assertiveness is the personal expression of confident and affirming behavior. We may disagree with someone, but that disagreement does not necessarily to lead to aggressive behavior.

Aggression – Aggression is a demonstration of the beginning stages of physical and psychological threats, bullying, and intimidation. Aggression is a domineering pursuit of one’s opinions, aims, interests and/or needs.

Forceful Aggression – Forceful aggression is a psychological manifestation of hostile behavior or attitudes toward another person or persons. It represents a readiness to attack, or it may become an actual physical attack that does not have the intent to cause serious harm, injury, or death.

Violence – Violence is the intent to inflict direct physical and psychological harm to another person through behavior that results in injury or death.

Predatory Violence – Predatory violence is a form of violence that is inflicted on a person by someone who is psychologically developed by circumstance, conditioning, and/or mental illness. Predators include individuals with aberrant behavior patterns, career criminals, sociopaths, and psychopaths.

Photograph Four: An attack can appear suddenly and violently and when we are least prepared to defend ourselves.

An attack could begin with unexpected predatory violence. In my previous articles (already cited in this article), I discuss at length the nature of aggression, how it differs from violence, and how predatory violence differs from aggression and violence. Your ability to “read” a situation and to determine when you can talk your way out or avoid violence (as opposed to your ability to perceive a serious threat to your safety) marks the line of demarcation between your personal safety, injury, or death.

Assume the Worst, Prepare for the Worst

When I am training a 105-pound, 5-foot 2-inch female, I must assume that she will be facing a male aggressor five times her physical strength, twice her weight, more than one foot taller, with longer arms and legs, who is a violent predator and possibly armed. In other words, we all must train for our worst nightmare scenario. Do you think that your sparring techniques - when you trained in a dojo with rules and coaches and pulled your punches and kicks - will work against an opponent like the one described above? Against an opponent who will fight to maim or kill without rules? Your training must prepare you for the worst-case scenarios. Because you must assume that your attacker will be bigger, stronger, faster, armed, and predatory, you must train to deliver preemptive attacks to the most vulnerable targets on the human body.

Pain Does Not Hurt

When I accept and train new students, some of them have never faced a real threat; they have led comfortable lives avoiding discomfort or pain. These students are often the slowest to understand the concepts of realitybased self-protection. Many of them never understand the need for self-protection skills until they are faced with real violence. But I also have many students who are victims of domestic or random street violence. My school began as a free school for women who were victims of domestic abuse, rape, and incest. These students - survivors of abuse and violence - come to my school already understanding the need for self-protection skills. They have the anger, the fire inside, and the motivation to learn how to inflict violence rather than become a victim of violence again. They are natural survivors. I do not have to convince these students of the need for self-protection skills; they come to class already understanding the need.

I divide the self-protection skill sets that I teach into several groups based on how lethal they are. It surprises some to learn that I start new students with the most lethal techniques that I know. The smaller the student is physically, or the younger they are (I only train students 15 years old and above), or especially for women, I train them in the most lethal techniques and weapons first. This includes unarmed combat, the knife, and stick fighting.

In the previous articles that I have cited and which were published in Lift Hands magazine (especially the threepart series “The Medical Implications of Combat Tai Chi Chuan Techniques: Investigating Blunt Force Trauma”), I cover attacks to the eyes, throat, arteries, major nerve trunks and plexi, easily broken bones, and dislocated joints. These are areas where a catastrophic injury can be made to the human body.

Often, especially with attacks against women, a predator will grab and bring a woman closer to their body. Attacks against women often start from a grab and then continue with forcing or throwing the woman to the ground and mounting her. This the best position from which to execute an eye gouge, to crush the throat, or to grab the genitals. These attacks, when executed correctly, will result in catastrophic injury — they will “turn off” the central nervous system, interfere with blood flow to the brain, or will cut off air flow into the lungs. These kinds of attacks are painful and result in the inability of an attacker to effectively function.

There are other groups or kinds of attacks. These attacks originate from early martial art Chin Na techniques and seek to inflict pain. The reason I call this section of this article “Pain Does Not Hurt” is because these Chin Na techniques, while “painful,” do not always work to stop a determined, enraged, mentally ill, or drugged-out attacker. While you are attempting to use pain to control or stop an attacker, they may be choking you unconscious or stabbing you to death.

I am a former “full contact” martial arts fighter from the 1960s and 1970s. The typical schools and tournaments that I fought in (especially the schools) had few rules and no protective equipment. One school where I practiced judo had no mats. We practiced rolls, falls, and throws on a thin carpet over a concrete floor. The understanding in kumite was if you could not protect your groin from a kick, you shouldn’t be sparring. There were, of course, many injuries, and it was the numerous lawsuits against the various martial art schools and their owners that led to the invention and use of protective fighting gear.

Frankly, I preferred the days of no protective gear and the risk of injury that fighting without plastic and foam gear to protect your head, hands, feet, shins, ribs, and groin brought. Fighting without protective gear to absorb attacks made every encounter “real” and sharpened reflexes and alertness. Pain has a way of doing that. One of my early teachers taught me, “Never face an opponent without the willingness to kill or maim — but if possible, do neither.” That is the mindset that I took into every sparring match I entered.

There are numerous pain point locations on the human body. These points will inflict pain, but pain is a subjective experience. When I sparred in past years as a martial artist, I did not feel pain from any attack from blunt force trauma that did not break a bone or cause a catastrophic injury. I attribute this characteristic to a physiological high tolerance for pain, to very high levels of the hormone adrenalin, and to the release of the hormone endorphin when injured. I typically did not feel pain for 1 or 2 hours after a sparring injury. Pain is a subjective experience, and different people have different pain thresholds; therefore, pain itself, without an accompanying serious injury, is not a reliable way by which to stop a determined, enraged, mentally ill, or drugged-out attacker. This why I recommend a hierarchy of attacks from the most catastrophic to the least injurious. I will point out once again that this article has been preceded by four other articles that go into great depth regarding inflicting catastrophic injury against the human nervous and circulatory systems. When you inflict pain and injury to the human body at the level described in the previous articles and in this article, your attacker will be unable to hurt or injure you because you have rendered them unable to function — they are unconscious, or decreased.

If I am faced with a violent opponent intent on inflicting harm or injury to me, I am going to use whatever techniques that will be effective in stopping the attacker. If the attacker is armed, I hope to be armed. If the attacker has an advantage by age, experience, size, speed, or other characteristics, I will use the environment, an improvised weapon, or a weapon that I may be carrying against them.

Doctor Lawton’s School of Pain

The name “Doctor Lawton’s School of Pain” is offered somewhat “tongue in cheek” and with humor, but also with the knowledge that the techniques (we hope we never to have to use) are very serious. The techniques that we teach are designed to inflict varying levels of pain — to blind, maim, tear, rip, dislocate, break, or otherwise destroy various areas of the human body.

There are several dozen of these locations on the human body and more than a dozen on the head, face, and neck alone. There are too many locations on the human body for me to cover in one article. As repeatedly mentioned, many of these locations have been covered in my previous articles. I have also cited my sources for these points and attributed many of these points and areas to ancient martial arts systems and more specifically to age-old Chin Na techniques. I also previously stated that what makes a contemporary martial arts system a “sports” martial art is the removal of its original Chin Na techniques.

Photograph Five: Never assume that pain alone will be an effective deterrent against a determined assailant. In many cases you will have to inflict serious biomechanical, circulatory, or neurological damage.

Personally, I cannot imagine studying a martial art like Tai Chi Chuan without learning fa jing strikes and Chin Na. Removing Chin Na training from Tai Chi Chuan transforms it from a combat martial art into a dance.

In this article, I want to present to you some points and areas on the head, face, and neck. (We will have to visit the points and areas on the extremities, trunk, abdomen, and pelvic area for another article.) A few of these points and areas on the head, face, and neck have been previously covered. A few other locations will be new points that I have not covered before. The points and areas that result in the most serious degree of injury will be the most effective. The points and areas that result in lesser degrees of pain, bone, joint or soft tissue damage will be less effective in generating pain or stopping an attacker. In any situation that you might be presented with, you will have to decide which points and areas are appropriate to the threats that you face.

Erle Montaigue in his book Internal Gong Fu, Volume Two provides us with an excellent exposition of effective attacks against critical and effective points on the human body and he references those locations to primary acupuncture points and the major meridians of traditional Chinese medicine. Bruce Tegner in his book Nerve Centers & Pressure Points published in 1968 was one of the first books in written in English to layout effective attacks to vital areas of the human body. Bruce Tegner’s book was the first book that I acquired and studies on the location and methods of attack on these key points and locations.

Photograph Six: Two excellent books that will improve your knowledge of where and how to effectively strike and attack the human body at its most vital and vulnerable areas.

Delivering Effective Injury to the Human Body

The human body is an amazing organism that is adaptive and resistant to injury and disease. However, while the body is not a “machine,” it is constructed in ways that involve movements and ranges of motion that are specific (and often limited) in terms of directions and degrees of extension, flexion, rotation, circumduction, adduction, and abduction. These limitations make the joints vulnerable to degrees of movement in excess of their mechanical capabilities or in directions that they were not designed to move.

Many organs, glands, and nerves are vulnerable to attacks that involve blunt force trauma or compression. For example, compression of an easily accessible nerve branch or trunk will cause pain and possibly damage the nerve. Damage to a nerve is dependent upon its location, accessibility, and the amount of force or pressure used against it. Some glands, such as the parotid gland, are easily accessible and vulnerable to direct pressure. Some major organs like the kidneys may be damaged by punches, elbow strikes, kneeing, or kicks.

Many martial artists train, and understandably so, in a manner that avoids damage to a training partner’s joints; they repeatedly practice joint “locks” short of causing joint damage through hyperextension, shearing across a joint, or twisting (torque) of a joint. This repetitive training at sub-maximal levels of force conditions the martial artist to apply controlled joint locks. Controlled joint locks are a product of the training mat, sports jujitsu, other grappling martial arts, and martial arts systems that avoid inflicting the joint destruction caused by joint “breaks.” By not decisively destroying a joint when there is an opportunity to do so, the attacker is provided with an opportunity to escape and attack.

In terms of training and the correct application of joint attacks, there is a significant difference between 1) training for control but non-injury of a joint, and 2) training with the intent and penetration to destroy the structural integrity of a joint. Reality-based self-protection training involves training with the full intent to deliver enough physical force to destroy a joint (known as the joint complex) completely. The intent and force of penetration through the joint dislocates the joint and tears and rips away the ligaments, tendons, and nerves of the joint.

Anatomical Points and Areas of Attack on the Head, Neck and Face

The Hair – If your opponent has hair long enough to grab, then it can be used to control the head (and subsequently your attacker) so that you can execute an effective strike or technique, such as an eye gouge.

I was recently asked by a young female student with very long hair what to do if your hair is grabbed. My answer was to forget the hair; immediately counterattack to the attacker’s eyes or throat. If they want your hair, let them have it, but make them pay for grabbing it.

In the images below we see the application of a technique called Taking Off the Helmet which involves grabbing the hair at the back of the head and grabbing the chin and as the author states, “When you employ this method, it is necessary to act resolutely and fast, otherwise the enemy can break away.”

Photograph Seven: Taking Off the Helmet - By grabbing the face, in this photograph the chin, and the hair simultaneously and quickly and forcefully twisting and rotating the head and neck a very painful injury can be inflicted as a result of tearing the ligaments of the upper cervical vertebra — the Atlas and Axis.

The Face — Any part of the face or neck with loose skin can be grabbed, pinched, twisted, or torn.

The Eye — The eye is a primary target on the face. I have previously covered in detail how to insert a finger or a thumb into the eye socket, how to damage the eye in the socket, or how to remove the eye from the socket. Tearing and raking attacks using the Tiger Claw technique can be used across and into the eyes.

The Nose — The nose is a secondary target on the face, but it is a target that can cause pain, hamper breathing, and cause the eyes to water. In attacking the nose, the most effective techniques include a descending hammer fist at the juncture of the nasal bone and the cartilage of the nose. The nose is also a prime target for “fishhooks” and biting.

In one of my classes, I was challenged by a former Navy Seal as to the effectiveness of a technique I was teaching from the guard position — so I suggested that we test out the technique. He assumed the mount position and I was in my guard. Unfortunately for him, he placed his face too close to me - I tightly clamped down on his nose with my teeth. I did not release his nose from my teeth until he tapped out... I hadn’t had lunch yet, and I was hungry.

The Ears — The ears are another secondary target. Attacks to the ears generally consist of slaps or cupping slaps to one or both ears. The ears may also be grabbed, ripped away, torn, and bit.

Mastoid Process and External Auditory Meatus — The mastoid process is a bony projection from the posterior section of the temporal bone. The ear and the ramus of the mandible lie anterior to the mastoid process. At the point where the lower aspect of the mastoid process, the lobe of the ear, and the posterior edge of the ramus of the mandible converge, there is a “crevasse.” This point is pain sensitive, and the tip of a finger or the thumb can be inserted into this point to cause pain. When the fingertip is inserted, it is pressed upward (superiorly) with firm pressure directly towards the external auditory meatus (ear canal).

The Maxillary Bone — The maxillary bone is located below the nose and the cheek bones. It is a pain sensitive area. Other than directing a palm strike (such as the Tai Chi Chuan technique of High Pat on Horse), you may also rub or rake your knuckles across it or press a knuckle directly into the area under the nose (which is also known in acupuncture as Governing Vessel 26 or Ren Zhong). The maxillary bone is also vulnerable to fracture from strikes.

Photograph Eight: In this photograph of a skull, High Pat on Horse is demonstrated as a strike to the nose at the junction of the nasalis bone and the cartilage and soft fleshy part of the nose. A correct strike at this location can sever the cartilage from the bone

Photograph Nine: In this demonstration Adam Conley is pressing his finger deeply into the pain point located at the inferior aspect of the mastoid process and at the posterior of the ear where the external auditory meatus is located.

Photograph Ten: Maya Aldred is shown raking her knuckles across the upper lip of her attacker. Applying pressure below the nose and above the teeth may be an effective deterrent for a poorly motivated attacker but it may be ineffective against a more aggressive assailant. The maxillary bone can be fractured by a strike like High Pat on Horse.

The Throat — The anterior aspect of the throat, the trachea, the hyoid bone, or what is commonly called the windpipe, is a primary area of attack on the neck. The striking point is generally below Conception Vessel 23 (located just above the hyoid bone) and in the area between CV 23 and CV 22.

Conception Vessel 22 is also a point location for attack with the fingers or the thumb and is known to result in an uncomfortable choking sensation. Attacks to the throat may include a grab, punch, hammer fist, a chop, “Dragon’s Mouth,” or a half-fist strike. The half-fist strike is also known in some martial art systems as “Leopard Paw.”

Photography Eleven: In this photograph Kate Millett is striking the throat of her attacker while her other hand is grabbing his hair and pulling his head back to expose his neck to her hammer fist attack to his throat and airway.

Photograph Twelve: This is the location of the right carotid artery in the neck. If you are on the correct spot, you will feel the artery pulsation under your fingers. Damage to artery can cause swelling that cuts off the blood flow to the brain.

The Carotid Artery — The main point of attack on the carotid artery is called acupuncture point Stomach 9 (where you can easily feel the carotid pulse). It is located directly over the carotid sinus, at the bifurcation of the carotid arteries. Attacks in the form of finger or thumb attacks, knuckle strikes, or punches to the carotid sinus are associated with vasovagal fainting and damage to the artery (with swelling that cuts off the blood supply to the brain on the side of the damaged artery).

The Collar Bone and the Supra Clavicular Fossa — In previous articles, we looked at how and where to effectively fracture the collar bone (clavicle). This involves a descending blow on the lateral aspect of the clavicle. The area above the collar bone (known as the supra clavicular fossa) is pain sensitive. The fingers can grab behind the collar bone and press deeply into this hollowed out area (called a fossa). The acupuncture point found here is in the center of the supraclavicular fossa and is called que pén.

Photograph Thirteen: Sifu John Aldred is demonstrating the insertion of fingers into the hollow of the supraclavicular fossa.

Photograph Fourteen: The mandible because of its location and structure is very vulnerable to attack, fracture, and dislocation. Downward traction on the ramus of the mandible and twisting the jawbone at the same time towards the opposite of the head will cause the temporomandibular joint to dislocate.

The Jawbone or Mandible — I have previously described in detail (and with photographs) attacks to the mandible or jaw. These attacks involve palm strikes to the jaw — especially palm strikes to the anatomical angle of the mandible from below the jaw and driving upward into it. These attacks also typically break the teeth that are jammed together.

Another attack involves dislocating the mandible through a grappling maneuver. This technique (as is shown in

the accompanying group of photographs) involves wrapping the hands and wrists around the mandible, drawing down on the bone with contact on the ramus of the mandible, and twisting the mandible towards the opposite side of the head. This movement can be executed quickly, is very painful, and will tear the ligaments that comprise the temporal mandibular joint (or TMJ), thereby dislocating the joint.

Photograph Fifteen: In this photograph Adam Conley is drawing downward on the ramus of the mandible and twisting or torquing the jawbone to the opposite of the head. This technique will dislocate the jaw and rip away the ligaments of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ).

Photograph Sixteen: The first time that I was introduced to attacks directed into the submandibular gland was in a Kosho Ryu Kenpo Jujitsu class in 1963. I was 14 years old. In the photograph above we see the fingers pressing upward into the submandibular gland.

The Submandibular Gland — The submandibular glands are salivary glands and are located on the inside (medial) aspect of the mandible in the submandibular fossa and just in front of the angle of the mandible.

The submandibular glands are easy to access, and they are very pain sensitive. Attacks to these glands, usually on one or the other side of the jaw, involves pressing the fingertips or the thumbs into the glands and pushing against the glands laterally into the body of the maxilla bone and/or superiorly towards the floor of the mouth.

The Cervical Spine — I am going to describe three main approaches to attacks to the cervical spine.

The first attack involves strikes from a hammer fist, chop, or elbow at the base of the skull and directly striking at the spinous processes of the first and second cervical vertebra.

The second technique is designed to provoke pain and is known as a side choke. This technique involves applying pressure with the sides of the hands, wrist, or forearm directly into the transverse processes of the vertebra of the cervical spine. This is a highly pain sensitive area.

The third technique is designed to tear apart and rip the ligaments that connect the cervical vertebra, damaging the nerves that supply the upper extremities — the arm, forearm, wrist, and hand. This technique is like the “side choke” applied on the transverse processes of a vertebra, but rather than applying a painful pressure to the lateral aspect of the transverse processes, the contact point for this technique involves applying pressure to, and hooking with your palm, the anterior and lateral aspect of the transverse process and rapidly rotating and pressing into the transverse process with an explosive movement (fa jing).

Photograph Seventeen: A side “choke” is applied by Adam Conley to the lateral aspect of the neck and directly into the vertebral transverse processes of the cervical spine. If this technique is combined with a rotation force against the transverse process significant damage can be caused to the ligaments of the affected cervical vertebra.

Conclusion

In this article, I have attempted to expand upon the concepts offered in my previous article “The Eye of Destruction: Self-Protection in a World Spinning Out of Control, Part One,” as well as the concepts and techniques covered in “The Medical Implications of Combat Tai Chi Chuan Techniques: Investigating Blunt Force Trauma” parts one, two, and three. This collection of articles could serve as a basic training manual for learning practical self-protection skills.

As we daily witness the events of a world rapidly spinning out of control, individuals and families increasingly need the skills gained through learning situational awareness, avoidance of violence, and reality-based selfprotection. Also increasingly, the governmental and social safeguards we have traditionally relied upon are failing to provide adequate or timely protection — individuals are having to prepare for social breakdown, upheaval, conflict, and war.

It is my hope that these articles, written over the last year or so and published in Lift Hands magazine, will help to protect you and your family. If so, my purpose will be realized.

Footnote

Bahá’í Prayers: A Selection of Prayers Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, the Báb, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Author: ‘Abdu’l-Bahá Source: US Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1991 edition, Pages: 268

References:

Jiasan, Yang. The Way to Locate Acu-Points. Foreign Languages Press, 1982. Translated by Dr. Meng Xiankun and Dr. Li Xuewu.

Montaigue, Erle. Internal Gung-fu: Volume 2. Moon-Ta-Gu Books, 1999.

Sheng, Liu Jin. Shaolin Chin Na Fa: Art of Seizing and Grappling. Shanghai, 1936. Translated by Andrew Timofeevich, 2007.

Sheng Liu Jin. Chin Na Fa: Skill of Catch and Hold. Shanghai, 1936. Translation: Wang Ke Ze and Leonid Serbin

Tegner, Bruce. Nerve Centers and Pressure Points. Thor Publishing, 1968.

Photography Attribution and Editing:

My deepest thank you to and appreciation for the expert assistance from photographers Abass Ali and Kate Millett. Thank you for your help in making these techniques come alive! Thank you as well to the editor of this article, Krissy Dawn.

Technical Assistance and Technique Demonstrations

Thank you as well to Abass Ali, Adam Conley, Kate Millett, Maya Aldred, MJ Jabateh and Sifu John Aldred for their assistance in demonstrating the techniques in this article and for enduring the pain that was unnecessarily inflicted on them by me.

About the author:

Gregory T. Lawton, D.C., D.N., D.Ac. is a chiropractor, naprapath, and acupuncturist. He is the founder of the Blue Heron Academy of Healing Arts and Sciences where he teaches biomedicine, medical manual therapy, and Asian medicine. Dr. Lawton is nationally board certified in radiology, physiotherapy, manual medicine, and acupuncture. He was the vice president of the Physical and Athletic Rehabilitation Center which provided physical therapy for professional athletes, Olympians, and victims of closed head and spinal cord injuries.

Since the early 1960s Dr. Gregory T. Lawton has studied and trained in Asian religion, philosophy, and martial arts such as Aikido, Jujitsu, Kenpo/kempo, and Tai Chi Chuan. Dr. Lawton served in the U.S. Army between 1965 and 1968 achieving the rank of Sergeant E-5.

Dr. Lawton’s most noted Asian martial art instructor was Professor Huo Chi-Kwang who was a student of Yang Shao Hou.