Buzz
The concept of the death touch and its surrounding legends have traveled to the Western world. Even The Simpsons contributed to this mythos, with Bart boasting that he had mastered the lethal technique after just one karate lesson. Of course, he was lying. The idea of killing with a single strike is absurd! But if it were real, where could one acquire such esoteric knowledge?
Surprisingly, like most things, it seems you can purchase it.
This compilation highlights 10 experts and advocates of the dim mak (death touch). These individuals have played a significant role in popularizing the myth, which has been widely used in TV shows, films, and video games. Some on this list claim the dim mak is genuine, demonstrate it regularly, and even instruct others in its use. Others are revered figures in the field, inspiring martial artists to this day.
No matter your stance on the legitimacy and efficacy of the dim mak, be aware that the following list includes some astonishing and intense details.
Proceed with caution, dear reader . . .
10. Zhang Sanfeng
According to legend, Zhang Sanfeng, a 12th-century martial artist, Tai Chi Chuan founder, and medical expert, developed the dim mak technique. He merged combat skills, modern medical knowledge of pressure points, and Wu Dang philosophy regarding chi (often loosely interpreted as 'energy') pathways within the body.
It is said that targeting the same pressure points used in acupuncture for healing can lead to catastrophic outcomes. This might be the most extreme case of reverse engineering in history. Folklore suggests that Zhang Sanfeng, along with bribed guards, used prisoners as test subjects to identify the most effective pressure points. With claims that 108 out of 361 pressure points can be utilized in dim mak techniques, this experimentation likely took considerable time.
9. Masutatsu Oyama
He is the creator of Kyokushinkai Karate. UFC fans may recognize that former welterweight champion George St-Pierre trained in this discipline, but few realize its founder reportedly killed bulls by striking them in the face!
During the 1950s, Sosai (founder) Mas Oyama battled 52 bulls to showcase and test his skills. Three bulls died instantly, while the rest had their horns severed using his knife-hand technique. His 1952 visit to the United States saw him triumph in 270 consecutive open challenge matches. Most opponents were knocked out with a single punch, and no bout lasted more than three minutes. These feats earned him the title “Godhand,” embodying the Japanese proverb Ichi geki, Hissatsu, meaning “One strike, certain death.”
8. “Count Juan Raphael Dante,” also known as John Keehan
In 1960s Chicago, Illinois, Dante used American comics to promote himself as the “Deadliest Man Alive” and market his instructional booklet titled The World’s Deadliest Fighting Secrets. The booklet detailed the Dan-te system, featuring the “Dance of Death,” which he claimed was highly effective in real-world scenarios. Mastering all the steps theoretically made one a formidable combat expert.
The booklet also provided guidance on the “Poison Hand” technique, essentially a Shaolin Kung Fu adaptation of the death touch, introduced to Chicago by Shaolin warrior monk James Lee. While Master Lee, a World War II double agent with connections to both the Japanese and Chinese underworld, remained in hiding, Dante publicly promoted his school and methods. His comic book advertisements boldly stated, “An expert at DIM MAK could effortlessly kill multiple Judo, Karate, Kung Fu, Aikido, and Gung Fu experts simultaneously using only finger-tip pressure with his lethal POISON HAND WEAPONS.”
7. Erle Montaigue
Another master capitalizing on the death touch, Erle Montaigue, was the first Westerner to attain Master status in Taijiquan. He authored multiple books available on Amazon and other platforms for those who believe one strike is enough. Titles include Dim-mak: Death Point Striking, Dim-Mak’s 12 Most Deadly Katas: Point of No Return, and The Encyclopedia of Dim-Mak.
Additionally, alongside his YouTube videos, a comprehensive PDF titled “Erle Montaigue’s Dim-Mak Point Locations” is freely accessible online via the World Chen Xiaowang Taijiquan Association in Bulgaria. It not only pinpoints these pressure points but also explains how to strike them and the resulting effects. For example, targeting a specific neck point can leave an opponent’s brain “ . . . shocked. Even CPR won’t revive someone struck here.”
6. “The Human Stun Gun,” also known as Tom Cameron
Tom Cameron has showcased his abilities (or “performances,” as skeptics might call them) on Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Steve Harvey’s Big Time, and the History Channel’s Stan Lee’s Superhumans. Like other dim mak practitioners, Cameron attributes his skills to manipulating chi energy. However, he claims he can “stand six feet away and cause someone to die,” though it only works “on 40 percent of the population.”
Fox News reporters visited his school in Palos Hills, Cook County, Illinois, and filmed Cameron’s students collapsing with just a light tap on the head or a burst of chi energy from his arms, reminiscent of an invisible Hadouken from Capcom’s Street Fighter. While this appears to be a hoax, heart monitors on his students revealed a spike in heart rate after each strike, along with dilated pupils and clammy hands—classic signs of shock. However, Cameron’s techniques failed on the Fox News reporter and students at a downtown jujitsu school where he was tested.
5. The Man Who Killed Bruce Lee
A 1985 Black Belt magazine article titled “Kung Fu Pressure Point Attacks,” by Jan Hallander, speculated that Bruce Lee might have fallen victim to a genuine death touch. While Lee’s conflicts with Chinatown leaders over teaching martial arts to Westerners are well-documented, less known is his open challenge to any opponent. This challenge may have been accepted when he fought an elderly Chinese man two weeks before his death. His final film, Game of Death, seemed eerily prophetic.
According to accounts from the article or his students, the fight lasted over an hour and was exceptionally brutal. Some believe Lee was struck with the dim mak, and the old man was an assassin sent by the Chinese Tong. Following the fight, Lee’s body began to deteriorate, with severe headaches later diagnosed as brain edema. This legend inspired the exploitation film Fist of Fear, Touch of Death and sparked endless debates among fans and forums.
4. Dr. Michael Kelly
A Master in Okinawan Shorin Ryu Karate and a practicing osteopathic physician, Dr. Michael Kelly has authored numerous articles on the medical uses of pressure-point healing and the tactical advantage it offers in combat. Fortunately, Dr. Kelly has had ample opportunities to test his techniques. A demonstration of a lighter version of this attack can be viewed in this video (around the 4-minute mark).
After only brief study, Dr. Kelly recounts an incident at a bachelor party where he got into a fight with a heavily intoxicated, larger guest. A double palm-strike to two stomach pressure points knocked the man unconscious. As a State Police Officer, Dr. Kelly once struck a crack-addicted karate black belt on a gall bladder point, disorienting him enough to apply handcuffs.
To share this knowledge with Western practitioners in both medical and combat fields, Dr. Kelly has published several books, such as Death Touch: The Science Behind The Legend Of Dim-Mak. He has also written articles for magazines like Combat & Healing and Black Belt, with the latter detailing cases of fatalities from dim mak strikes during training and sparring. Tom Cameron, take note.
3. Steve Burton
A Tai Chi and Chinese kickboxing expert, Sifu Burton, has made the ancient art of lethal strikes accessible through an exclusive eight-DVD collection. This set can be purchased on his website for around £300 ($493). A brief preview of these videos is available on YouTube, where Burton translates Master Liming Yue’s insights on the “iron shirt” technique, which involves toughening the body by enduring repeated strikes (introductory video). The key is rigorous conditioning.
Regarding dim mak, Master Yue explains that strikes with an elbow, finger, or single knuckle to the xiphoid process can be fatal, shocking the heart into paralysis and ending a life. Intriguingly, the xiphoid process is also the pressure point used in CPR to save lives. If readers find it unsettling that the same points can both save and end lives, rest assured, you’re not alone.
2. LeRoy Alsup
A Tai Chi instructor from the St. Louis Tai Chi community, Sifu Alsup hosts free workshops annually to promote his art and the health benefits of Tai Chi. In 2010, he intriguingly offered a dim mak seminar to “reveal the secrets of this deadly art.” He reasoned that mastering these techniques requires dedication, and a free seminar could serve as an introduction without risk.
Similar to the exploding heart technique in the Kill Bill films, Alsup claims the dim mak involves a sequence of strikes rather than a single blow. It’s only lethal when executed in the correct order. Fortunately, he shared three photos of himself demonstrating the technique on his son. A top comment on Examiner.com, from a friend of Alsup, respectfully expressed opposition to publicizing and demonstrating the dim mak, urging reconsideration of the workshop’s coverage due to its extreme danger and potential lethality.
1. George Dillman
The Master who trained and certified Tom Cameron promoted his teachings extensively. His website features news updates, summer camps, DVDs, books, seminars, and affiliated schools where you can enroll to experience knockouts on camera. National Geographic showcased Dillman and his students demonstrating their abilities, with students collapsing after light taps to the arm, throat, and chest. He claims to defeat even the largest opponent with a single finger and achieve no-touch knockouts from a distance. Students also create invisible chi balls and pass them around, while Dillman uses his chi energy to knock down students and move entire lines of people behind curtains.
While impressive, skeptics question why these techniques failed on a volunteer scientist. Critics argue the no-touch knockouts are merely hypnotic suggestion. Dillman attributes failures to minor details like tongue position or a raised toe, which supposedly block the attack. Despite skepticism, Dillman’s credentials are notable: 327 trophies in nine years of competition, recognition as Black Belt magazine’s “Instructor of the Year” in 1997, 150 schools worldwide, nearly 25,000 students, and training with Bruce Lee and Mohammed Ali. He may be a showman, but his achievements are undeniable.
