Looks like either the point where the sciatic nerve or an artery runs under the muscle??.

Ok I can see your point but in a fur flying self defence situation then any specific target that small is going to be difficult to hit.

I suppose drilling to strike in a specific place might be one way of doing it.

Anyway I am going to reserve judgement untill I know a bit more about it.

If the protective gear you are using is good enough to stop damage that will be a bonus. Still cant imagine what it looks like

Jude

i think its worth pointing ot that "when the fur is flying" does not really tipify most self defence situations. if a self defence sitation carrys on for longer then it takes for someone to sucker punch you, then its a fight and not self defence. i don't mean to rear the "one punch ko" sh!te storm again, but i like paul vunak's concept of self defence. which is BAM, run. in other words pre-emtive striking makes hitting these points easier because there is no fur flying, just your victim standing in front of you thinking he has an advantage.

something to consider in favor of vital point striking.

*edit*

if you want to see what im talking about youtube oyata, alot of his demos begin facing someone with their arms down, and in a kind of quick draw type thing, when his attacker moves in to touch him, oyata digs in his little meat hooks and bodies hit the floor.

i teach old style jiu jitsu. mukashi no jutsu. the style includes pressure point atemi and some of the so called DIM MAK points. very effective and many are easily accessible.

im of the opinion that to strike vunerable areas is clearly a good idea for effect, it's seen in combat sports and real life violence often. (a good clean shot always works)

however the skill is in the application against someone who is pumped up and in your face/attacking,

this is where many of the modern, expensive commercial groups fall down, kid themselves that their lethal and also kid the students, but its magic you see...........

and groups like Rauls, who practise Bogu really have the advantage, the application becomes live and requires experience and resilience to have effect. (often not in the boju gear, thats not the sole point, its tool development).

Any good Okinawan karate is full of Kyusho and Tuite (the older family systems more so),

granted Oyata Sensei really was and is the man in the public eye, but it is in all the systems via the classical kata, just gotta find it and work it.

I really struggle with many of the other organised PP groups to be honest, far to much science, bull and sales

not enough good, basic Karate training.

Another element is 'tool devleopment' delivered by traditional conditioning, done heavily it makes a REAL difference to strikes effect,

but that is a little hardcore for most including me, I work steady with this element.

I've found that pp study is not worth the time and effort. I mean I don't believe there are great benefits from it that are beyond theory when it comes to actual self defense application.

My own 2 cents:

In the Goju i've benn taught using any kind of "nerve strike" is secondary to striking an actual vital point where you can likely cause anatomical damage.

Fas as pain compliance and nerve strikes I personally see them as an extra tool that might work in some situations, but definitely not something to be relied upon.

You can test the efficacy of just striking nerves on a variety of people and get reactions ranging from extreme pain to your partner laughing at you, due to lack of effect.

That alone is enough to make me feel they shouldn't be one's main target.

get the adrenalin/fear running and them attacking you - then see how Kyusho works...........

It's a real skill/experience led art that shouldn't be relied on for self defence, training it has benefit for sure,just don't forget the other stuff.

Why were kyusho jutsu and tuite usually described together? One reason is it is hard to hit points against an opponent who is moving. The grappling/immobilization aspects of tuite were designed to go hand in hand with kyusho jutsu. Its like the early american shorin ryu fighters were fond of holding and hitting in tournaments. This is tuite and kyusho jutsu at its most basic level, but the principles are there. If you have no tuite then you have no kyusho.