Me and some mates were discussing the kimbo slice fight the other day and we started talking about how sensitive the chin is to punches especially if you breathe with your mouth open, and than one of my friends said that the reason to the chins sensitivity is that there is a nerve behind it and if you hit a guy over the chin you will damage the nerve and therefore he goes out cold.

Now I figured that this was complete bullshit because I have been in martial arts for a few years now and never heard about it, but I haven't been able to find out the truth about this so now I turn to you guys and hope that one of you have the answer. So is it bullshit or truth?

well without cheating and researching it to find out I have actually heard that it is true so many times and I have tended to believe it but sorry can't say for sure so I would say
TRUE!!!!

Ok, thats pretty awesome. It kinda explains why Kimbo got KOe'd so easy (i know he lost by tko but still, he got his ass kicked)

having done my share of research over the years, a sports med degree and multiple cadaver labs...it is one of those urban martial arts folk tales, sorry. Kind of like Dim Mak!

Yes their are nerves their...like every other part of your body. the reason however that you can get a KO from hitting the chin is because of what we call the cone effect! Strike the chin and it causes the force to shock the brain as it travels to the back of the skull. the brain rocking in its own juices will case alot of damage if dont right. A KO is a reletively small effect.

It is not because of the nerves, in fact the only nervous damage that could happen would cause Paulsey not a KO, in other words the lack of feeling and limpness int he face due to Trigeminal shock.

The reason for the KO is the shock to the brain and the best way to do this is to catch a guy off guard with the punch. KO's can occure from various angles and some are done with reletively light contact and others look like the head was removed! Nerves however dont play the role most think....oh, and for proof of this, smacking your "funny bone" or Humerous and impacting the ulnar nerve would cause you to be KO'd if the logic of the nerve KO was applied...I have yet to see a Ulnar nerve KO yet!

OK, it kinda seems that this is all theories and that nothing has been proven yet. Am I right or has it been proved that the theories about the nerves behind the chin is only myths??

I agree with Kensei about the so-called "cone effect". Isn't that what those BrainPad Pro mouth pieces are supposed to protect you from? By adding extra supported near the back of your jaw which in turn absorbs some of the energy? I could be completely wrong...1AM.

No, actually these are NOT theories. Everything Kens said is well proven and documented. It's what we call a "concussion". There are nerves in every single bone in the body and every single muscle. When hitting the jaw, you get KOed by your brain bouncing around, not hitting the nerve. Hitting a nerve only causes a reflex action (like striking the patella tendon on the knee) or some pain.

OK, good to know. Now I can go and bitchslap my friend and tell him that he is full of bullshit and that I was right in the first place

yup, be sure to refer to us when ya do it too!

Yesss, I am now responsible for someone bitch slapping someone else!!!! Just kidding. But I am happy that six years of Uni and four of collage could help...now anyone want to help me pay my Huge student loans off....Okay, they were paid off fifteen years ago...but donations are still welcome!!!

I do not mean to sound petty...even if I am, but the Patellar Tendon reflex has to do with the Golgi Tendon apparati not the nerves. Close and from a laymans point of view it would be right, but it is a Tendon reflex not pure nerve.

Most times you strike a nerve it causes numbness, paralysis and altered feeling. I once bashed around a guys elbow and got him to feel like his hand was in cold water...cool shit when you get to watch a surgery! Oh, and I once severed a nerve in my hand and my whole hand felt like it was packed in cotton!!!

You are, ofcourse, right.

There's two types of KOs.

First type is caused by brain trauma. This is what 95% of KOs you see in fights. What happens is the brain sends a signal down the spine to go limp for safety precautions. This can be caused by a hard blow that either causes enough trauma to make the brain shut down the body or repetitive strikes to the head.

Second type is blood pressure knockout. There are certain places of the body you can hit to cause one's blood pressure to drop and hence cause a "KO."

I have seen both happen and have been flash KOed by both.

Kenso -

what does the term 'Flash KO' mean? as apposed to a 'KO'?

Really it is a fight term that does not translate over to the medical feild. In trauma medicine thier is only one kind of KO...the kind that puts you out. The reasons are irrelevent.

Also the BP KO is a strange one. If you were to hit someone hard in part of the body and make the BP drop I would assume you are doing some major damage. The bodies blood pressure is monitored very well inside and normally it is someone being taken rapidly out of homeostasis that causes a drop in BP that rapidly....get thee to a MD!!!!