How to Perform a Vulcan Nerve Pinch

A Technique from 'Dim Mak' Pressure Point Fighting

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.