There may be an urban legend, or martial art myth, that seems to never go away. Though there are those of us who write about it being a myth, or urban legend, it still pops up in various forms in numerous novels, movies, and tv shows. I even remember it being told in one among the newer martial art documentary shows with two martial artists traveling the world to experience martial arts from many cultures. (There have been two such shows, I like them each, and forget witch one added to the spread of the parable.)
So, what myth am I talking about? The famous legend that for those who punch someone within the nose hard enough, you will drive the bones of the nose into the brain and kill the person. Sometimes it’s told with a punch, others wish to say you utilize the palm heel smash to drive the bones up into the brain. I’ve also seen it told that you could use an upward directed blow for max effect and to make sure the bones go up into the brain. One other version requires two strikes, the primary slam into your opponent’s nose is to interrupt the bones, and the second blow to drive the bones into the brain.
No matter the best way it’s described, the final result is all the time nose bones into the brain leading to the death of the person at the tip of such a devastating technique. Unfortunately, it’s a myth and it isn’t possible for a blow to the nose to drive bone fragments into the brain. The nose comprises mostly cartilage, not bone, and there isn’t any direct way for this cartilage, or any small nasal bones that fracture into pieces from blunt trauma, to penetrate into the brain. It just cannot occur.
So what perpetuates this martial myth? It will be the proven fact that any sufficiently hard enough blow to the pinnacle could be fatal. This doesn’t must be to the nose, but to anywhere on the pinnacle. That is one among the explanations martial artists are instructed to guard the pinnacle in any respect costs when falling and when being struck at. The brain is positioned in the pinnacle, and it doesn’t take bone matter being driven into it to cause serious damage and even death. Any sufficiently hard blow to the pinnacle could cause brain damage and death, and it varies from individual to individual as to what makes a blow sufficiently hard enough.
So the following time you hear the martial myth of driving the nose bones into the brain, do not forget that it isn’t the bones being driven into the brain that causes death, however the proven fact that any significant blow could cause serious consequences to the person being struck.