Page:Japanese Physical Training (Hancock).djvu/31

Rh "—a mishap so familiar to children. That may have set him to wondering if there were not in the body other nerves and muscles that could be attacked. Probably one of the first additional discoveries was that very severe pain may be inflicted upon the upper arm. Take a point about midway between the elbow and the shoulder, of some one else's arm. Employ the grip in such a way that the fingers dig into the muscles behind the middle of the bone. The thumb's tip should press into the muscles over the front of the bone. Without in any way relaxing the grip, both fingers and thumb should be vigorously pressed over the parallel lines of muscles and nerves. Any experimenter can readily find on his own arm the exact locations of these muscles and nerves, and a little practice with a friend will teach him rapidly how to seize an antagonist's arm and to render that arm momentarily helpless.

This is the starting-point of a study of jiu-jitsu. Any one, with a little investigation, may find points in the arms and legs at which very similar grips may be taken. Many of these will be described later on. Once the