All of the techniques listed here are for information only. They were all developed in an earlier age, before bombs and guns, when martial arts techniques such as these were used by the military in battle situations, or in lawles societies where private groups needed to demonstrate their ability and resolve to deter bandits and other criminal. In these situations knowledge of the deadliest martial artstechniques were essential to a persons survival, but in the modern world this no longer the case.

I cannot stress enough that none of the methods described here in my list of the top 5 deadliest martial arts techniques are appropriate to use today for street fighting or even for self defense.

Having said that, I hope that you enjoy reading everything that I have put together for you on this page, and if you think you know a deadly technique that desevers to be  included on this list then please use the comments module towards the bottom of the page to let us know about it. All suggestions are welcome.

This is drawn from a very rare martial art practiced by a Chinese clan called the Lin Kuei (literally translated as forest demons), who are probably the predecessors of Japans famous Ninja clans. The full technique is actually a little bit excessive, as the second half of it alone is fatal if done correctly, but the Lin Kuei depended for their survival on perpetuating the myths which surrounded them, describig them as demons, and because of this they would often use very cruel methods designed both to cause suffering and to leave a disfigured corpse.

To begin with the arms are crossed, the attacker steps forwards an places both index fingers into the corners of their victims mouth and then forcfully pushes their arms forwards and outwards, splitting the victims cheek from the corner of the mouth up towards the ears in what is now called in the UK a chelsea grin (after the area of London in which a simlar method was used by infamous gangsters the Cray brothers as a form of punishment). The hands are then turned around to grab hold of the ears, and then forcefully retracted and uncrossed, aiming to tear or even pull of the ears.

Next comes the deadly part. The Link Kuei would strike down and slightly across the body onto the bridge of the nose with the heel of one hand, thus breaking the nose. With the palm of the other hand they would then strike upwards onto the tip of the nose, driving shards of broken bone back into the brain and causing death.

 Moving on from the ancient predecessors of the Ninja to the actual Ninja themselves, this technique is actually a counter attack for when someone tries to hit you.

Let's say, for example, that someone has tried to punch you with their right fist, and it is therefore coming in towards the left hand side of your head. You would step in towards them with your left foot, whilst dropping down onto your right knee and using your left forearm to block the punch and push it up over your head. At the same time your right hand swings out and upwards to strike up into the groin with the palm. As this strike makes contact you would immediately grab hold of your opponents testicles and squeeze as tightly as possible, and then pull your hand back towards your waist, whilst standing back up and moving your left foot back in line with the right one. This will cause the scrotum to tear, an injury which is not only incredibly painful but also causes a great deal of bloodloss which would be fatal without relatively quick intervention by modern medical care.

 The same principle that is used in CPR to restart a persons heart by compressing the chest can also be used to stop the heart of a healthy person. The most effective method for doing this is to keep an open palm and to strike with the outer edge of the hand (the opposite side to the thumb). In kung fu this is called a 'sword hand'. The strike must land in front of the location of the heart, and it should be an 'internal force' strike.

When performing an ordinary punch you will be using your full power already at the point of contact, and immediately as you land the strike you will tense up. This disipates the maximum energy at the point of contact and is best for causing superficial injuries and pain. With an internal force strike however, you make contact with perhaps 75% of your full power, and then increase this to full power as you hit to push them back and follow through. To do this well you must learn not to tense your muscle and go rigid at the moment of impact. This causes more compression to the body and transmits more of the the power of the strike into the body to cause damage or interupt the function of internal organs such as the heart.

 This is another one of my deadliest martial arts techniques that is often used as a counter attack against a punch to the head. This is not the only situation it can be used in, but it is probably the most obvious one.

Assuming that someone has tried to hit you with a jab using their left fist. You would dodge to the right and use your left hand to parry the strike away from you. You would then step behind their legs with your right foot whilst bringing your right arm across their body in front of the neck.  From here you would just close your arm in a circle around their neck so that their body is bent backwards in front of you and their head behind your armpit in a kind of headlock. You would then drive your knee up hard into their spine whilst pulling backwards to bend them backwards as much as possible. If done right this will break their spine, leaving them paralysed (and prior to modern medicine most definitely killing them).

 This is by far the simplest, but yet also amongst the deadliest martial arts technique - a simple stamp onto the head of a person that is on the floor. To perform a powerful foot stomp you should bring your arms up in front of you in a crossed position at the same time as you raise your knee up as high as you can without affecting your balance, and then as you stamp down you should throw your arms down at out (uncrossing them) at the same time. This channels momentum down from the upper body into the stomp, as well as helping to make sure that you put your full weight into it.  This can be used in a very slightly modified form for modern self defense simply by stamping on the stomach or solar plexus area to wind an opponent and make it hard for them to get back up and continue fight.