We all remember the scene from our favorite kung fu costume epic. The bad guy with the silvery hair, spotless robes, and white eyebrows that trail down past his cheeks strikes one of our hapless heroes in the chest with what appears to be a simple open palm. The doomed man rips open his shirt to reveal a smoking handprint, then staggers off to die. Another victim of Dim Mak. The Death Touch.

As familiar a vision of cinematic evil to eastern audiences as our western version of the black-cloaked, mustachioed villian tying a school marm to the railroad tracks. And about as believable. Jumping over buildings is bad enough, but this--

This smoking handprint, like many tall tales and modern day myths, has a basis in reality. In this case, the Chinese theraputical practice of acupressure.

Acupressure, and its more famous cousin, acupuncture, have been in use in China for hundreds of years as treatments for various illnesses and injuries, and are gaining Western adherents as legitimate examples of the healing arts. How can a therapy meant to cure sickness and relieve suffering be used to kill with just a touch?

To answer that question, we need to look at the Chinese theories of how and why acupressure works. Our guide for this exploration of an important part of traditional Chinese medicine is Kwong Wing Lam, of Sunnyvale, California, who teaches Northern Shaolin, Hung Gar, Wing Chun, and Sun style T'ai Chi. He is also an expert in pressure point therapy, having studied the traditional healing arts with his sifus in Hong Kong.

Simply put, acupressure and acupuncture are ways to aid the circulation of qi throughout the body. But nothing is as simple as it seems, and here the complications rest with qi itself, its powers and properties. Qi, a concept at the heart of Chinese medicine, is variously translated as "life's motive force," "that which motivates life," "original vital essence." Impossible to quantify, and thus difficult to integrate into Western science, qi nonetheless is the basis for acupuncture, acupressure, and Dim Mak, or the death touch.

Lam seeks to demystify qi, to give substance to the essence. "Body energy," he says, when asked for his definition of qi. A serviceable definition, retaining a flavor of something unseen, and yet skirting the mysticism so discomforting to many Westerners.

This energy cycles endlessly through the body along fourteen channels, called meridians. "Twelve run to different organs and different parts of the body, plus there are two special meridians" says Lam. Acupuncture and acupressure points are points where the meridians are accessible to outside stimulation.

According to Lam, there are currently over 360 points charted along the meridians, and new ones are still being discovered.

Lam likens the meridians themselves to train tracks, while the points are "switches," either governing the flow of qi along a meridian, or regulating the transfer of qi from one meridian to another.

Any imbalance in the flow of qi, any build-up or lack, is harmful. Injuries to muscles, bone, and connective tissue, such as are common in the practice of martial arts, are a prime cause of imbalance. The site of an injury grows congested with blood and fluid, impeding the flow of qi. Scar tissue forms, damming qi behind it.

Acupuncture points mark locations, or "gates," through which the therapist can gain control of the flow of the patient's qi. Often, this entails opening a blocked gate to relieve a build-up of qi in one area, or stimulating the flow of qi to an energy-starved area. Acupressure points, Lam explains, are a subset of acupuncture points--gates large enough to be affected by external manipulation, such as rubbing, massaging--or striking.

This brings us back to our original question: how can a therapeutic treatment such as acupressure be used to cause harm? Simple. A gate can be opened wide, or shut all the way. The first heals, and the second can indeed kill. A well-trained martial artist knows how to do both.

The difference between acupressure for healing and acupressure for attack is all in the hands. The amount of force applied to the gate, the duration of the application, and the size of the area over which the pressure is applied all govern whether the treatment will help or harm.

ACUPRESSURE FOR HEALING

It's not surprising that, to Western eyes, acupressure can seem suspect. No pills, no needles, no knives--even chiropractors make more of an effort. According to Lam, this is one of acupressure's chief strengths--it is a simple, non-invasive procedure that works with the body's own resources, instead of trying to supersede them.

"Your body has a system that will heal your own injuries," he says. That system is based upon your circulation--the constant flow of blood, body fluids, and qi. The circulatory system washes away toxins and brings nutrients for rebuilding damaged tissue. Everything that Lam does is designed to aid in the body's own natural irculation.

Lam starts with clean, warm, dry hands and neatly trimmed fingernails. Depending on the size of the area to be treated, he can use the ball of the thumb, the fingertip, the heel of the palm, and even the back of the hand.

Not surprisingly, different injuries call for different techniques, but generally Lam begins by massaging the affected area with gentle, circular strokes. "Massage warms the area and treats the muscle and tendons", according to Lam, as well as helping the patient relax.

When the area is warmed, steady, even pressure is applied to the appropriate points. Lam usually applies the pressure anywhere between thirty seconds to a minute. The patient is the best judge of how much pressure to apply. Unfortunately, "It's supposed to hurt," Lam says with a faint smile. The pain is a confirmation of the injury, telling Lam that the area is swollen and congested with body fluids and qi.

Generally, pressure is applied to more than one point during treatment. Lam works with the point or points closest to the injury first, then extends his treatment to the points known to influence the area. The pressure at the closer gates serves to open blocked channels; at the farther gates, to help restore impeded circulation of qi and relieve congestion.

For example, when treating a sprained wrist, Lam will begin, not with the wrist, but with the points at the base of each fingernail. Then he moves on, applying pressure to points in the webbing of the hand between thumb and forefinger, to points near the elbow, to points near the shoulder--extending his treatment all up and down the affected limb.

When you receive a combination of massage to help the circulation of body fluids and acupressure to help the circulation of qi, Lam says you can expect to feel a lessening of the pain with the first treatment. Even old injuries that are supposedly healed but still cause a twinge now and then or get stiff in cold weather can be helped with acupressure, says Lam, but, the older the injury, the longer it takes to heal.

Lam prefers to treat injuries with acupressure where possible; acupuncture, as its name indicates, is an invasive procedure and can have side effects.

ACUPRESSURE FOR ATTACK

Dim Mak is the dark side of acupressure. Instead of helping the body use its own resources, Dim Mak in effect turns the body against itself, shutting down vital energy flow--numbing, paralyzing, even killing.

Great strength, speed, and precision are required for attacks to the pressure points. An attacker must be able to concentrate a tremendous amount of force over a tiny area--the tip of a finger or the outthrust knuckle of a phoenix-eye fist. When using pressure points during grappling, grip strength is a key component.

In a few instances, the pressure points are large enough and close enough to the surface to be affected by a strong chop or kick. Such points include the top of the forearm, just below the elbow, and the outside of the thigh.

Also, some areas, such as the hand and wrist, have several acupressure points clustered over a small area. These points are often used in conjunction with joint locks to control an opponent. This added -- incentive -- increases the effectiveness of the hold. "Pressure point techniques make your other techniques much better," says Lam.

Yet, whether you prefer strikes or grappling, strength and speed are essential. "I will always point out," says Lam, "it is not 'Death Touch.' It is 'Death Strike.' You need the power."

Attaining the necessary power and the precision to apply it requires years of training. In Lam's words, "Knowing the point, finding it, and applying the technique are all different things." First, time is spent learning to direct energy to the hands and focus this energy in the fingertips. Next, the student practices striking at pressure points on a dummy until he can strike them accurately and without hesitation. Then the dummy is moved, and the student must follow. When the student can follow a moving target, clothing is added to further obscure the targets.

This process, as described by Lam, can take a decade of intense training to master. In fact, according to Lam, in the old days sifus would not even speak of such techniques. Today, they are much more openly discussed--not because they are any less deadly, but because it is growing more difficult to find, and commit to, the level of training necessary to master this dangerous technique.

There's another reason for the openness with which Dim Mak is now discussed, and it brings us back to our smoking hand print. Many of the claims made for it--masters who could strike their opponents and weeks later, watch them drop dead, right on schedule; masters who didn't even need to touch their enemies--are dismissed as outlandish.

How far does the reality go? Thus far the strikes discussed have been of a debilitating rather than deadly nature--is "Death Touch" itself a misnomer? To some degree. "It's really not a touch, it's a hit," Lam says again. "Instantly, you feel the pain."

But can it kill? Yes, says Lam, a strike to the right point is, indeed, fatal. The temples and the dan tien, or solar plexus, are two such vulnerable areas.

As for the rest of the claims, he shrugs. The belief does exist that there is a correlation between specific pressure points and specific times of day. According to Lam, the flow of qi through the body is quite regular and cyclical. It reaches certain points at certain times of the day. "If you strike and block a pressure point at a time of day when the energy is supposed to flow through it," says Lam, "the blockage is very severe."

One thing is certain. The extent to which acupressure can heal, and the Death Strike can kill, are dependent upon the exact properties of something that cannot, as yet, be measured, and which many people do not believe exists. The mystery of the smoking hand print promises to remain a mystery, one that can only be solved by each one of us, for ourselves.