Whats up
I have been thought alot about fighting from my dad who is a blackbelt in karate from some big school in ny, and i m currently learning Tae Kwon Do at a local TKD school.
My question is this
If you strike someone in the nose could it really kill them?
My dad thought me from from when i was young to attack the nose, but my TKD teacher tells us not to strike the nose cause it could have fatal results.
I have attacked the nose twice before in fights, once with a punch and one with a palm heel strike, and it just puts the attacker in alot of pain and a bloody broken nose.
I would appreciate the replys

If you are striking upward such as a heel palm then yes it can be fatal but it isnt something that happens alot. A straight blow to the nose is safer. There is always a chance that you could break the cartilage or bone loose and it travel into there sytems it is rare but does happen. If it did I would count it more as a freak accident unless it was from a upward strike.

The nose isn't bone.

It's cartilage. Think of a skeleton...do you see any bone at the nose?

There are NO DOCUMENTED CASES OF PUSHING THE NOSE "BONE" INTO THE BRAIN AND KILLING SOMEONE! That comes from bad 70s bullshit kungfu/karate movies. It may be possible, as Chen said, but has NEVER happened in any documented situations...and trust me, lots of noses get broken every year.

The reason your dad taught you to attack it, because it HURTS LIKE HELL and causes the eyes to water. Most assailants will back off for a second, buying you time to run away.

Regards,
CrimsonTiger

The best direction to attack the nose is down or from the side. This will assure a break and make the assaliant "cross-eyed" so you can leave or finish him.

Scott

I've resurrected this post from an old discussion that took place on this forum on the same issue. THIS IS A MYTH! IT APPEARS IN FILMS AND BAD LITERATURE!

Fragments of cartilage from the nose (it isn't bone other than right at the top, hence the "skeleton" comment above) cannot enter the brain because there is more bone in between your fragments and the old grey matter. It is not just cartilage with your brain floating happily behind it. I am 100 % convinvinced that this is impossible to achieve with an anatomicaly normal human. If it were possible, professional boxers would be dropping dead like flies from taking uppercuts that connect with the point of the nose. I am willing to concede that if you used a sledge hammer you might have some joy, but otherwise i dont think you can hit hard enough to break through the intervening bone mass.

Regds
Mr V



[This message has been edited by MrVigerous (edited 03-26-2003).]

Playing Devil's advocate/ "Dragon Touch by Mater Hei Long "Page 30-33Paladin Press 1983(Using first horizontal to break the cartilage , then 45 degree upward to drive it in) "forcing the septal cartilage through the crista galli into the brain. Death would be instantaneous largely due to the compression of the brain"

The crista galli is a thick piece of bone projecting from the Cribiform plate which you would have to smash through to do as you describe. The Cribiform plate does I believe have small "holes" in it, which is where I believe this concept of reaching the brain comes from. To clarify therefore, one would have to splinter the cartilage in the nose into literaly tiny fragments which would then have to pass through minute holes in yet another piece of bone (with a triangular piece of bone attached to the front (crista galli))and thereafter travel with considerable force into the brain. Whilst there it would have to lacerate a vital portion of the brain to cause death. Most of those to my knowlege are not located in the area which would be effected by the million to one shot cartilage projectiles. Now i perfectly concede that you are playing Devil's advocate [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG] but Master Hei Long is to my mind a clear product of the early 1980's as both the title and the publishing date of that work suggests [IMG]http://www.fightingarts.com/forums/ubb/smile.gif[/IMG].

Kind Regards

Mr V


[This message has been edited by MrVigerous (edited 03-27-2003).]

Thank You, now I understand!

The biggest risk would be from the fragments entering the blood stream I would think or infection but thats all I could thin of.

BAM!

You broke my nose! AUGH! I'm gonna KILL you now!

No you won't, you're already dead!

Huh? You're crazy. That's it, I'm gonna pound your scrawny kungfu ass!

That may be, but just wait and see how you feel in 3 days when that nasty blood infection sets in. *rolls eyes*

Regards,
CrimsonTiger