CAVITY # 14 Sonu

• Name: SONU; also soku; translation, bundle, this indicates a collection of points. St # 9 or Renying, St # 10 or Shuito, Li # 17 or Tianding and Li #18 or Futu.
• Strike point: St #9 & 10, Li # 17 & 18, A cluster of points.
• Location: The general location of this area is stomach # 9&10 and large intestine # 17 & 18. Note: if you place your finger on top of your Adam’s apple, and move your finger horizontally about an inch, a light pulse may be found indicating the anterior jugular vein and the common carotid art, this pulse is an indicator of were St # 9 is located, which is on both the right and left side of the neck. After St # 9. has been located, Li #17 is lateral from St #9, Li # 18 is vertically under it. St # 10 is lateral in the direction of the tip of the Adam’s apple form Li # 18, so a square form maybe mapped out.
• Direction of strike: Zero degree angle / downwards curve / strike in the same direction of the lowest cervical vertebrae.
• Depth:  The depths of these points are about 0.3 to 0.5 cun deep but the strike is much deeper.
• Vasculation: The branch of the retromandibular, facial, pasterior auricular, external jugular Veins and deeper, the common carotid artery.
• Innervation:  Superficially, a tree like nerve branch which consists of the greater auricular, Posterior branch nerves, deeper, transverse cervical, deeper, vagus nerve
• Technique: Best strike dog fist to strike two points and hammer fist to strike all four points.
• Element: All the above point are yang points so all there flow directions are the same. The large intestine meridian is a metal meridian that reacts strongly when it is hit after heart, pericardium or triple warmer point is hit. The stomach meridian is a earth meridian and reacts strongly after a small intestine or a bladder point is hit.
• Best strike time: Stomach, 7 am to 9 am, large intestine 5am to 7am.
• Weapons: Differing types of fists, type of hammer fists, elbow and dagger or spear hand.
• Effect:  Because of loss of motor organ function, caused by a severe change in blood Circulation, caused by irritated or damaged artery and nerves.
• Result: Each one of these points has their independent indications each one has it own Effects. Any combination of points will be fatal.

Commentary

This particular point has been the most talked about pressure point between all of the practicing twentieth century pressure point pioneers to date. To finally comprehend the point the first thing that we should understand is that, the old manuscripts and charts are very vague on the what, were, and how of these points. So first thing we need to figure out is, the were of the point and it will be the first thing to be addressed.

Most manuscripts have either no illustration at all or extremely poor depiction. The illustration that I am using for the 44 pressure point article was written for students of Grand Master Hohan Soken and these drawing are very poor. But I used them because I received them from one of my instructors who had trained under the grand master himself. And therefore I had been trained in the uses of the points understanding before hand that there is no use in striking an opponent/attacker with out the accurate knowledge of these points. If you have the drawing by the grand master, there is one dot/point on the right side of the neck, between the 2nd and 3rd cervical vertebra, this is the only indication of the area in which the strike must be made. So we can safely say that the point on this diagram is just to the right of the Adam’s apple, but the real key to complete understanding of this point is in knowing which type of strike was used by the old masters.

In Soken sensei’s manuscript for the Sonu point he states that the types of strikes for this point are, ken or fist, tettui or hammer fist, heiko hiji ate or elbow and dagger or spear hand. Now if you can imagine the area coverage of these strikes, three out of four of them cover a large area, Larger than a single point and would be very difficult to drive through the neck down to the depth of 3-5 cun, that is all but the dagger fist. This causes a problem, if this point is striking one point (St # 9), how can that be done with a fist or hammer fist or elbow; it may be done with a dagger fist but not the other three. To add to the problem, in the Shaolin tradition, in the form (kata) Gung li chuan the strike is made with the back of the forearm and in the Tai chi traditional long form, the strike is preformed with the palm heel. So we can safely say that for the most part this strike is a blunt (trauma) strike, to the side of the neck, and must cover a large area, on top of that a depth of 5 cun would be nearly impossible.

It is my belief that, “this is not a strike to a single point nor does it have much to do with the vagus nerve because the vagus nerve is buried much to deep in the neck to alter or effect the organs with out the complete destruction of all the muscles vein and arteries above and around the vagus nerve. So if it is not a strike to stomach # 9, or the Vagus nerve, what is the location of the strike? Is it large intestine # 17, maybe 18, stomach # 10? I believe that Sonu is a bundle that is located in the areas of stomach 9 and 10 and large intestine 17 and 18.

This bundle is hit only with the blunt fist strike listed above, the dagger types of fist strike are for individual striking to either the two stomach points or the two large intestine points. A prerequisite to using a dagger strike is to be able to do a partial hand stand from the floor on one or two fingers with out this training, it is impossible to perform a single or a double point strike. On the other hand, the blunt fist strike does not take a ton of practice and is very effective. But note that they are two very different types of strikes all together.

WARNING: all these points are deadly and must not be played with (a co student, years ago, died from the play practice of the side of the neck area, with another student) so don’t play around.
Stomach # 9, connects to the bladder and the large intestines* it is a Dim Mak point which mean that death can come in a delayed fashion, up to 7 year later. A shallow strike can k.o. easily and a deep strike can cause death by stopping the heart or lowering the blood pressure it is very dangerous to people over 35 years of age.  It also is a Dim Hsueh type of strike meaning it affects the above arteries. Stomach # 10, is just like Stomach # 9 only worse the likelihood of come back from a deep strike is slim to none.  Large intestine # 17 is a very dangerous blood gate point used mostly in the softer martial arts. If this point is hit correctly, there is little hope for survival, when hit the blood flow to the brain will stop shutting down all the major organs in the body. Large intestine # 18 is very close to stomach # 9 and unless you are using a single finger strike, it is impossible to strike one without striking the other. Large intestine # 18 when hit on its own, can cause instant emotional imbalances that may go on for many years.

Out of all the pp manuscripts that I have in my possession, Master Soken’s Notation’s on Sonu, Is probably the most dangerous of all point notations to date. The fist styles noted above shows that not only can each of the four point hit individually with a dagger fist, but all of these points can be hit in combination, using a hammer fist, fist strike or elbow, and if struck heavily, death would be inescapable. For the reason that the stomach meridian is in correct collection to the large intestine meridian, makes it a continues anti energy or destructive energy pattern and will ensue and persist until death occurs. Most commentators of the past, through lack of study in the field, have mist the fact that the stomach and large intestine meridians connect together and this makes this strike extremely unstable and will certainly cause death, either instantly or later on in life. Which means that anybody, practicing this point on another human being is criminally irresponsible.

The best strike to hit all four points at one time is the hammer fist strike. To strike the right side of the body the right fist would be used, and so no. Like the hammer fist, the flat fist or thrust punch can be use as well. The elbow strike (as shown in many Kata such as Nahanchi) may also be used to strike al four point as well as the back of the forearm. The dagger fist, can strike one or two points simultaneously, but only a one-finger strike will hit a single point at a time.

If by chance certain pressure point were inadvertently struck previous to Sonu (St # 9& 10 and Li #17 & 18) for example, the stomach meridian is a yang meridian and its element is earth. If a prior hit happens to be of the wood element (liver or gall bladder meridians) it would increase the effectiveness and or damaging effects of Sonu. The large intestine is also a yang meridian and its element is metal, effectiveness would increase if a fire point were hit prier to the large intestine. Because stomach and large intestine are yang meridians, the energy flows in a downward direction, on all four points. Sonu is an excellent example for the inner workings of all pressure points in the human body. Although other points may not be as dramatic as Sonu, they all work in a similar fashion.  Very rarely is a single point ever hit alone. It can only be done with a single or double finger strike, which must reach a depth of 3 –5 cun, to reach most of the points and that will take a lot of training, and a lot of work. But the other strikes listed above work well within a shorter period of training.