Pressure Points and Meridians - Triple Warmer

Today I want to talk about pressure points and specifically, the Triple Warmer Meridian.

Triple Warmer (TW) is one of the most powerful and important of the meridians on the body.

The TW meridian has some very important functions. It controls the endocrine system of the body, as well as the respiratory system and even works on the digestive system. In other words, there is very little going on in the human body that the TW Meridian doesn't influence.

Indeed, no matter what pressure points you strike on the human body, you activate the TW Meridian. Depending on the force of the strike and other varying conditions, your impact may be debilitating, or can cause serious damage.

How to attack the TW Meridian

The TW Meridian is located on the upper extremities and is bilateral. There are 23 Pressure Points starting at the tip of the ring finger (on the nail), and ending at the temple near the corner of the eye. Most of the points are accessible, so this is a good meridian for martial artists. I will list two points and leave others for your future questions.

TW 15 is located close to the middle of the muscle of the collarbone, on the back part of the shoulder. Its about 2 inches lower than Gall Bladder (GB) 21. The strike should be downwards at a 45 degree angle.

TW-23 is in the depression at the end of the eyebrow, near the temple. This places it close to the Zygomatic process of the frontal bone. This area also contains Gall Bladder (GB) 1. So this is an extremely dangerous area to strike. If you do have to strike it, use the “Ji” hand for the best effect. The angle of your strike should be downwards at 45 degrees.

A strike to the area can break the ocular bone and cause serious damage to the eye.

Lastly for fighting purposes, the best time of the day to attack the TW meridian is the hour of the Boar, or 9 pm to 11 pm.

How to help the TW Meridian

Most of us carry a certain amount of tension in our heads, necks, and shoulders. So there are exercises we can do to alleviate this tension. Also, when moving into a situation of stress or into a fight, we can keep the stress and the tension it causes to a minimum.

1) Rub your hands together (like Mr. Miyagi in the karate kid!) When they are warm, place the palms gently over the eyes. Take a deep 2-2-2 breath, remembering to inhale fully and exhale fully.

2) move the hands past the eyes to the temples, gently rub the temples

3) then move your hands behind the ears and rub the depression behind and at the base of the ear lobe.

4) Then move to the trapezius muscles of the neck/shoulder. Take another 2-2-2 breath.

5) Cross your arms, left palm on right shoulder and right palm on left shoulder, and using your fingers like rakes (but not too hard), "rake" down from the left shoulder to the right hip, and alternate with the right shoulder to the left hip. Do this part of the exercise 6 times each side.

6) Take another deep 2-2-2 breath, remembering to inhale fully and exhale fully.

People tend to think that pressure points are a difficult subject to work with, and many folks, even martial artists think that it’s a lot of bunk. I don’t mind if you don’t want to practice the attacking part, but the relaxation exercise listed above is good for you no matter what you feel about pressure points.

Look for more info in future posts!