Do pressure points work?

You hear a lot of hype about "pressure points" and various super-secret martial arts that exploit these mysterious areas on the opponents body to achieve a quick, humiliating victory.

But is this all a bunch of hogwash?

The answer is: yes.

A knowledge of pressure points and/or how to attack them is useless for self-defense (or for anything else, really).

What is a pressure point?

The real term for pressure point is plexus. You've probably heard of the most famous of these areas, the solar plexus. It's a collection of nerves and blood vessles that happens to be near the surface of the body, just below the point where the ribs come together.

If you strike this area, your opponent will experience pain and momentary shock-like symptoms.

Similar areas exist in the body. They all share the common characteristics that several nerve groups come together at a point near the body surface.

Are pressure point attacks worthwhile for self-defense?

Other than Mr. Spock from the old Star Trek television series -- who was able to disable the bad guys with his patented Vulcan nerve pinch -- nobody has ever used a pressure point attack for anything worthwhile.

It's just not a viable option for self-defense.

After all, why fool around with stuff like that when you can do something that's guaranteed to work? There is no secret that eye pokes, groin shots, neck/throat strikes, and the like are all highly effective for self-defense. Use what works and leave the mystical mumbo-jumbo to Hollywood.