The vital point known as Tendo (the Way of Heaven) and is the crown of the skull. This pressure point was used by Miyamoto Musashi in his last ever duel. He defeated his long time rival with one strike with a bokken, which was carved from an oar on his journey to ganryujima island. This well placed strike was aimed at the Tendo, Musashi's rival, Ganryu Sasaki Kojiro, did not survive the blow. This demonstrates the value of studying pressure points and vital areas.
Useful Pressure Points - Head
- Komekami - Temple
- Seidon - Above and below the eyes on the eye sockets.
- Jinchu - Spot directly beneath the nose and above the lip.
- Gekon - Spot Beneath the lower lip.
- Dokko - Concavity behind ear lobe.
- Han Yen - spot between the outer corner of the eye and upper part of the ear, where joins the skull.
- Hichu - Base of the neck or Adams apple
- Matsukaze - spot on neck, 3 inches directly below the ear lobe (when head is looking forward).
The pressure points on head are good for both striking and applying pressure to. Learn where they are on yourself and practise with them on others safely in training. They will come in handy.
Next post on this series will be about Arm based pressure points.