Dim Mak, the Kung Fu Death Touch and the Squaring the Strange Podcast
Peter Huston appears on an internationally recognized podcast.
Greetings! First, some housekeeping. Thanks for still being here. It’s been a little over a month and a half, and pressure to maintain this schedule (one short and one long piece a week) is starting to build up. On top of that, while at the FDNY Search and Rescue Conference in early May, I made some contacts and have been given the chance to do some writing for a leading publication in that field. Now, I like both EMS (Emergency Medical Services) and Asian Studies, but writing for them pays better and if they publish it will be more widely read. So I expect to slow down a bit and will commit to just one good piece a week for this, until I determine how much I can handle. I might send more than one thing out a week, but I will commit to doing just one piece a week for the new few weeks and see what happens. FYI, this is one reason, I wasn’t pushing the paid subscriptions. I wasn’t sure that I was able to offer.
In the meantime, I am enjoying myself and plan to continue writing the sorts of things I do. Expect a few pieces on Chinese in the Old American West and the Tong Wars of late 19th Century San Francisco. (There are several of these that I started and just need to finish.) Expect a lot more on trying to understand where the modern conception of Ninja came about. (I could write about it all day.) I want to write some more pieces on things like the history of Chinese cosmology, protoscientific thought, and why I hate the translation “the five elements.” (It does not explain the concept well at all.) My master’s thesis was on the Peking Man Digs and the History of Paleontology in early twentiety century China, and I would love to write a bit about that. Oh and there is so much more.
Not to mention non-Chinese historical themes like more Russ Meyers films, Doris Wishman’s classic film, “Nude on the Moon,” and some pieces on American Revolutionary War history, an area where I enjoy visiting historical sites.
So there will be a lot here, just at a slightly slower piece. Again, please share what I write, please leave comments, and, if you wish, you can throw money at me, but if you do please understand this project adjusts and adapts as life changes and things slip and slide.
Meanwhile, I was a guest on a podcast recently where I got to speak about “Dim Mak” or “the kung fu death touch.” Check it out please. I appear about halfway or 45 minuttes in and I do hope to do some writing and commentary here in the future on some of the things they discussed without me. Peace, leave comments, share the writing, and please keep coming back.
Pete also does pod casts! Here’s one of me talking about “Dim Mak,” the Kung Fu Death Touch!
Greetings! For decades now, I have been contributing to a publication called The Skeptical Inquirer. The Skeptical Inquirer is one of the oldest and most respected (in some circles “most notorious”) magazines out there in the realm of taking bad ideas and explaining why they are bad and bashing nonsense and exposing misinfornation. Each issue takes a few controversial claims, examines them carefully, and explains what science and known facts have to say about them. Benjamin Radford is an editor there, as well as a prolific writer and author of several books aimed at educating the public and encouraging critical thinking and the careful study and analysis of fringe claims.
He is also a co-host of a podcast called “Squaring the Strange.”
Some time ago, I submitted a lengthy piece on Dim Mak, popularly known as “the kung fu death touch” to that publication. “Dim Mak” is an Anglicization of the Cantonese term, “dim2 mak6” ( 點脈 ), which means “press artery.” The Mandarin term is “diǎnxué” or “tian hsue” ( 點穴 ) which means “press vital points.” 1
Anyay, they invited me to come on this pod cast to discuss Dim Mak, the so-called “kung fu death touch.”
Squaring the Strange Podcast Logo. From Left to Right, Pascual Romero, Celestia Ward, and Ben Radford. Pascual Romero was not there the night I was a guest. Image is copyrighted and was stolen without permission. Kids, don’t do this at home. As for permission before reproduction of copyrighted images.
Not only that I have very lazily stolen their entire text without permission but I have not stolen the podcast itself. Please feel free to follow the links and give it a listen.
LINK —Episode 226 - Dim Mak "the death touch" with Peter Huston —LINK
RELATED LINK -- My Dim Mak and the Death of Bruce Lee Post -- RELATED LINK
Squaring the Strange
Episode 226 - Dim Mak "the death touch" with Peter Huston
Squaring the Strange brings evidence-based analysis and commentary to a wide variety of topics, ranging from the paranormal to the political.
Investigating ghosts. Debunking conspiracies. Dodging chupacabras.
If a claim seems strange, Ben and Pascual will try to square it with the facts.
Squaring the Strange is a fan-supported podcast. Please visit us at our Patreon page to help support as well as receive some great perks!
If not, please head over to iTunes and give us a review!
LINK— All Episodes of SQUARING THE STRANGE —LINK
Episode 226 - Dim Mak "the death touch" with Peter Huston
LINK — Episode 226 - Dim Mak "the death touch" with Peter Huston -LINK
RELATED LINK -- My Dim Mak and the Death of Bruce Lee Post -- RELATED LINK
May 4, 2024
Can a human being be killed with one well-timed blow? Without question, yes. But is the secret to this fighting style held by ancient Chinese monks, or a flamboyant guy named Count Dante who advertises in the back of comic books? We look at real situations where one punch (or slap, or chiropractic adjustment) can kill a person, either immediately or after a delay. Then we bring in author, paramedic Emergency Medical Technician, and martial artist Peter Huston to discuss the legend of Dim Mak and how propaganda, marketing, Chinese culture, the allure of the ancient, Kung Fu movies and suburban American kids fit into the creation of this idea.
LINK Episode 226 - Dim Mak "the death touch" with Peter Huston -LINK
RELATED LINK -- My Dim Mak and the Death of Bruce Lee Post -- RELATED LINK
AFTERNOTE — In some of the Squaring the Strange materials, I was referred to as a Paramedic. I am actually an Emergency Medical Technician. The Squaring the Strange people gave me an unintentional promotion, it seems. I did not refer to myself as a Paramedic at any time.
But first a non-Asian studies photo
of yours truly on vacation having fun.
At the FDNY Search and Rescue Conference, dressed for the active shooter in the subway training scenario. The FDNY has an amazing training facility out on Randalls Island in New York City. It includes a mock subway station with both a subway platform and an upstairs entrance with a ticket booth. Participants were divided into teams of eight and we were then dressed in SWAT style armor used by the FDNY Tactical Counter Terrorism Team, drilled a bit on stopping bleeding from bullet wounds, and then shown how to use their drag sheets to drag and carry badly injured people quickly from a dangerous situation. Inside the mock subway station, they had fake smoke, recordings of fake screams, and members of the FDNY Youth Group with fake blood on them, who joined in the screaming and yelling just to set the mood. It was an interesting Sunday afternoon, and, strangely enough, we all had a lot of fun. Turns out 5 of the 8 of us were young doctors as some areas recruit new emergency department physicians for this kind of thing. Two of us were EMTs and the third was a paramedic from Western Pennsylvania. Boy! Don’t I look kind of silly? Honestly, if you think the impostor syndrome that sometimes sets in when you tell the world you are a writer is bad, well, let me tell you, it gets worse if they dress you up in SWAT Armor and say “For the next two hours you are a SWAT Team Medic in training.” :-) Um, okay. Sure, sounds cool. So here, I am.
[1] “Dianxue” is he pinyin romanization system. “Tienhsue” is the older Wade-Giles system.While it works its way closer to publication, he and his co-host, Celestia Ward, invited me to appear as a guest expert on their podcast. You can follow the link and listen to it.