Ron Saturno - More on Hitting with the Elbows

Continuing Master Ron Saturno's series of articles on the Use of Short Weapons. Prior to reading today's post, if you haven't already - please read:

• Setting the groundwork for the use of short weapons
• Hitting with Elbows and Knees

We spoke about a few uses of the elbow. We spoke of hitting the neck with the elbow. The totality of the cervical vertebrae is only about 5 inches. We can then be assured that some, if not many of the important targets on the neck will be hit if the neck is struck. Even with the Adam's Apple and on both sides of the neck is ST9. If the elbow can strike either of these bilateral points, we can get a knockout. If we strike ST9 we are hitting the 10th and 12th cranial nerves, the Vagus and the Hypoglossal nerves. We are also hitting a cervical branch of the facial nerve. The vagus has filaments going to the heart, the lungs and even down to the stomach. The carotid also runs very near this point. It was called mans prognosis and was where the Yang pulse was taken at one time. A harsh strike to ST9 can break flack off the carotid artery and cause a stroke. We can also cause a signal being sent to the carotid plexus and then on to the brain, if we compress the artery. The carotid plexus could send a signal to the brain warning it of an extreme blood pressure increase.. The returning signal from the brain can sometimes cause the heart to reduce the rate and strength of its contraction. This has really bad effects on the respiratory system in general and can cause death. Located on either side of the sternocleidomastoidiuis muscle is LI18 and a little lower SI16. A strike to the neck hit "all" of these points. Of course striking the thyroid cartilage is a given, if you want to be responsible for someones death. The breathing tube is just the size of your smallest finger. There are also important nearby blood vessels that could also be damaged. Bad Ju Ju I tell 'ya, just all bad. Lets move on now.


Dragging the tip of the olecranon of the ulnar bone across the area of the temple is also capable of severely harming someone. The middle meningeal artery can be ruptured or torn if we strike hard enough in this area. We have three layers of protective tissue surrounding our brains, the dura, arachnoid and pia layers. These tissue layers can hold the escaping blood within the brain vault. The pressure can cause brain damage and or death. The shot pupil thing is from severe pressure upon a cranial nerve. If we see this, imminent death is near: So off to the Dr's we must go and go soon we must...


An elbow strike high upon the forehead is also quite capable of causing severe damage. Two weak points are the suture at the top of the skull and a little further back the spot where the anterior fontanel was (softspot). These areas are weaker than most other areas of the skull and can be damaged with a good strike with the elbow to these two areas.


An elbow to the base and back of the head. Strikes directed to the area of the medulla are life ending and I won't share this info online.


Strikes to the upper quadrants of the body are also effective. A strike to the clavicle can easily break this bone and cause a consequent rupture of the sub-clavian artery, besides damage to the nerves of the brachial plexus. We have a few nerves in this area. The anterior thoracic nerve, first intercostal nerve, which also serve Lunge 1.So we know that the point Lu1 is nearby. Lu 1 itself is also served by the medial supraclavicular nerve. You'll notice that I speak nerves. I could do the TCM theory, but the German's say that, "With Americans' everything is electrical". So by speaking electricity everybody is easier to get into the buy in.


A strike to the center of the chest between the nipples can cause damage to the right ventricle of the heart, besides a few more nerves. If we lay into the chest we can compress it like a spring while are damaging it and then the chest will decompress and we get to see the man fly backwards. This is an exiting blow to see performed.


I think that we have covered a lot. Many of you reading this will find my dribble pedantic. But, there may be a few who can get good mileage out of this information. Study my points carefully and we will continue soon. God Bless





Other articles by Master Saturno:

• Basic Movement Theory
• Basics in Defense
• Basics of Serrada
• Freight Training! (Body Alignment & Power Transfer)
• The Secret to Surviving Fights 
• "Your fight is with time"
• Vidclips of Serrada Basics and Angles of Attack
• Audio Interview (97 mins!)
• The Very Heart and Soul of the Filipino Martial Arts
• "A reason to live is the greatest gift that a teacher of FMA can ever give."
• "You have to teach everything you know, because this forces you to learn more."
• Espada y Daga
• More about Espada y daga
• Espada y daga, part 3
• "Espada y daga properly performed violates common sense." 
• Comparison of Short stick vs Long stick
• "Every hit 'must' have the potential of ending the fight, period."
• The firstest with the mostest is the bestest.

Notes

My deepest gratitude to Master Ron Saturno for his kind permission in allowing me to repost his articles to my site. 

You can contact Master Ron Saturno via:

Email:  5masterserrada@gmailNOSPAM.com (take out the "NOSPAM")
Phone:  209-513-8027
Facebook:  http://www.facebook.com/ron.saturno