CAVITY POINT Shen Men

• NAME: Shen Men, translation, vessel of the house of shen.
• ACUPOINT: Bladder # 62 – Shenmai or Shen Men point.
• LOCATION: Out side of the back of the foot, behind outer ankle.
• DIRECTION: Strike against the bone, then turn in a downward direction.
• VASCULATION: The external malleolar arterial network, possibly a blood gate technique.
• INNERVATION: The Sural nerve.
• WEAPON: Kicks with toe or heel.
• BEST TIME: 3 to 5 PM.
• ELEMENT: Yang – water.
• INDICATIONS: Mania, epilepsy, infantile convulsions, back ache, pain in the external malleolus, motor impairment. Pain of the lower extremities.
• TECHNIQUE: Kick- kick into the bone and press down with the big toe or stomp with the heel.
• RESULT: Severe pain to the ankle. Stimulation of nerves of the foot and the arteries of the shin also Causing stimulation to the nerves of the bone. Lose of motor function.
• CURE: Message GV # 20 reverse circle downwards. With the Thumb.

Commentary

The bladder is located in the lower abdomen. It’s meridian connects with the kidney which is internally and externally related. The main function of the bladder is to temporarily store urine, which is discharged from the body through Qi activity, as it becomes necessary to do so. The function of the bladder is performed with the assistance of the kidney Qi. A deficiency in the Kidney will influence the bladder. There are 17 points in the bladder meridian that may be used in a combat situation, one of them is, Shen Men or BL # 62. The location of Shen Men, is found in the depression directly below and slightly to the rear at the external malleolus ( outer ankle bone ) on the outer portion of the leg. The medical cures which this point may be useful for are, Epilepsy, mania, headaches, aching of the leg. Striking Shen Men can also cause these same effect to slowly develop .The Shen Men strike can be intensified by combining it with Lu # 5. Also if GB #25 is struck before or after BL # 62. The kidneys maybe damaged or in the case of a unknown health problem, shut down, as well as having effects on the whole complex of meridians, and or there individual organs

The correct time to strike Shen Men is between 3PM and 5 PM. It is a Yang organ and it’s energy flow is in a downwards direction. Also because it’s element is water, it may trigger other effects to the heart, pericardium and triple heater points. The structure of those organs may deteriorate depending on the heaviness and or sharpness of the blow, and also heath conditions, it also can cause loss of motor functions, and may bring about knock out or ones death although it is not likely.

This strike has been rarely transmitted out side the Gung Fu schools, the reason is, it is a master level point strike, a very hard point to hit. The reason is, there are so many other points around it. Close by Shen Men point, there are GB # 40, BL # 61 and 63 to each side, as well as K # 6, which all have their own indications. A stomp or heel kick or a sweeping maneuver, may strike more than one pressure point at one time. The combination of points, makes this type of general targeting a very dangerous prospect, if a diagnoses is needed for a cure becomes necessary. This would mean that the follow up points as well as the preliminary points to say nothing of treatments are to numerous or to complicated to mention.

But as I look through all the charts at my disposal, these graphic representation indicate several discrepancies between one another, when it comes to Shen Men. The Bubishi, indicates this point as a blood gate strike. The acupuncture texts, medical books and the human anatomy texts, as well as the teachings of the majority of the charts indicate what I have explained thus far, a nerve strike. Charts like the Bubishi, do not give use the human weapon which would be used for any of there strikes, maybe the use of a literal weapon is applied to this point, because the Bubishi declares it to be a blood gate type of strike, done maybe with a bo staff, that maybe the reason for a more dyer outcome given in the text. Your guess is as good as mine, But I have used a toe kick to Shen Men in a instructional situation and have achieved an out come which has been listed above, one effect is a great deal of pain to the opponents leg. I used a picking kick, against a horse stance, as found in Naihanchi or a San Chin type stances, it is a real show stopper!

And example of the combat use of Shen Men as a striking point for example is, you may charge your opponent, he responds by fall back into a horse stance, ( Naihanchi Sho-dan or Gung Li Chuan ) you see the trap the opponent has set which is, (walk in and get some) and you retreat to a false stance or a cat stance and step forwards with a kick striking to Shen Men, as you block out any hand attacks. Why Shen Men, because that is all that has been immediately exposed to you and the closest thing to you, the out side of the assailants foot, game over!

There are several points around the outer ankle and foot like GB # 40,41,42, LV # 3 &4, K # 3, 5 & 6, SP # 3 EX # 9 & 40, as well as many on the inner ankle bone and foot . But for street purposes only, it is an ace up your sleeve. A general strike, like a heel kick, would be more comprehensive and useful in combat, because cures are unnecessary. That being said, there is little to no use for Shen Men in a sport karate sparring situation.