The no-touch knockout.

How to make it work (it’s not what you think).

Some time, probably in the 1990’s, there was a new bandwagon in town. Many people developed an appetite for magic in the martial arts. It came on the back of the ‘magic touch’ of vital point striking.

But the magicians got a bit carried away, and whether they became drunk on celebrity status, or they started believing their own propaganda, buoyed up by an ever-more compliant audience, they decided to push the whole thing into a wacky world of pseudo-science, mind-control and flim-flammery.

The most bonkers extreme was the so-called ‘no-touch knockout’. Yes, that is the essence of it – I can knock you out without even touching you. Of course this had to be seen to be believed, and better still, felt to be believed.

A wave of the hand, a harsh guttural Kiai (shout) and that’s it,… you end up falling backwards into the waiting arms of a couple of trusted ‘helpers’, to then have to be massaged back into consciousness.

A bit of digging around and I came across some very credible explanations of how this is ACTUALLY done. Here is one of the recipes of how to become a Ki-Ball Master.

A breakdown of how it works; a glimpse behind the wizard’s curtain.

The hook.

One of the most perplexing things for me was how these minor miracles happen at seemingly open seminars. But that’s the thing; the seminar advertising has its own persuasive hype, trumpeting the Master credentials etc. This is the beginning of the manipulation (potential punters are then realising that to attend the seminar with the International Master is going to be costly – but secret knowledge comes at a price…surely?)

The sting.

When you get there, here are the list of factors that could well convince you that what is happening is real. Some very subtle manipulation going on here:

·       The first thing you realise is that the master is not like you. His keikogi may be a different colour, so he stands apart from everyone else in the room. Even his belt might be loaded with symbolism (non-standard colour etc.). He might even be the only one in sports clothes, while everyone else is in keikogi.

·       He not only gives you his credentials but he mixes martial arts speak with medical pseudo-science, in an effort to convince even the hardened sceptics that he knows what he is talking about.

·       Quite often, everyone will be sat on the floor while he is standing up, this underlines his authority in a very physical way, but also, it is a set up for the next factor.

·       The master needs to choose an appropriate stooge, and when he finally invites them to stand up (to practice a particular move), he takes note of who stands first; he is looking for the most suggestable person in the room.

The straight knock-out.

He needs to convince them of his ability to knock out an opponent in the most traditional standard way. Only it isn’t standard.

·       He will offer the privilege to a seemingly random person (but it will be the same suggestable person chosen earlier). He is unlikely to refuse because he won’t be able to resist peer pressure – he’s a big tough martial arts guy AND he has been singled out for special attention.

·       The crucial convincing factor will be the magician’s assistants, who seem to come out of nowhere to act as catchers and stand behind the patsy who is about to get suckered. This is a further hint to him that whatever happens he is going down.

·       The master then takes a free shot, claiming that he is using very little energy (the reality is different). The blow is aimed at a medical weak point, which most doctors are aware of and sometimes use to lower blood pressure. There is actually more than one point, which I will avoid mentioning, not because it’s some kind of secret knowledge; just that I would hate for anyone to try to ‘experiment’ with it.

·       The way the victim is standing can also put him in a position where he has little choice but to go backwards (into the waiting arms).

·       Does the blow actually render him unconscious? Is he perhaps just a bit stunned after being sucker punched? Does he feel compelled, at a subconscious level to go along with the whole charade? Does he somehow come out of this with hero credentials? Does he want to avoid embarrassing the ‘master’ by just toughing it out? A combination of most of those things will contribute to the final act, the no-touch knock out. Also, it’s not a fight, if it was, ego would prevent the compliance.

·       There is actually a lot of jiggery-pokery involving the ‘restoration of ki’, the patsy will be massaged back into consciousness by the expert fingers of the master himself or the magician’s helpers.

The final act – the no-touch knock out.

·       “Hey, you know what it feels like to be actually knocked out. Do you want to experience the no touch knockout?” the master will again address the most compliant guy in the room. How can he refuse?

·       So up he comes again. This time, much more talk, much more heavy suggestion, the magician’s helpers put on their catcher’s mitts, it’s game on!

·       The master asks the guy to take the same standing position as before, feet parallel, not the best position for him to control his balance without putting a foot back, but, occupying that space (reassuringly) is the magician’s helpers.

·       What happens next has variations, but this is how it was described. A suitable theatrical build-up, lots of psyching-up, gestures, hand waving. The master approaches the patsy, but avoids actually touching him. With a Kiai and a sudden gesture towards his face, provoking a flinch response, from a direction that causes the head to want to move back, thus, with the head being so heavy and the stance being as it is, and his rear position occupied by the ‘helpers’, he takes the easiest way out and falls backwards.

·       Has he been knocked out? Of course he hasn’t. But any bemusement or other gestures on his part, are masked by the frantic ministrations of the helpers. This gives him thinking time to weigh up his options; it’s a smoke screen for him to temporarily hide his embarrassment. He takes the path of least resistance and, to great applause, admits, yes, he was knocked out.

And there we have it – or at least a version of it. I haven’t witnessed it myself, but there are notorious versions of it out in YouTube Land; including when where the most famous of the snake oil salesmen is confronted by a journalist who is prepared to be a guineapig and be ‘knocked out’.

The same stories seem to come round regularly; a new fad, a new obsession in martial arts. I remember the introduction of kick boxing, Ninjutsu, and then Kyoshu Jutsu (vital point fighting), the ‘no-touch’ guys killed that one stone dead, as it gave the critics full agency to call it out as ‘Bullshido’. But it’s worth remembering in the more distant footnotes of martial arts craziness.

As American showman P. T. Barnum is supposed to have said, ‘There’s a sucker born every minute’.