Touchless knockout or no-touch knockout is a fraudulent practice by con artists who claim knowledge of techniques by which an enemy combatant can be rendered unconscious solely by application of '' qi'', ''

kiai KIAI (93.9 FM) is a commercial radio station that serves the areas of Mason City, Iowa and Austin–Albert Lea, Minnesota. The station broadcasts a Country format. KIAI is owned by Alpha Media, through licensee Digity 3E License, LLC, which ...

'' or similar methods, without making physical contact. This differs from

pressure point derive from the supposed meridian points in Traditional Chinese Medicine, Indian Ayurveda and Siddha medicine, and martial arts. They refer to areas on the human body that may produce significant pain or other effects when manipulated in a specific ...

techniques which involve light or slight contact to specific areas of the body causing unconsciousness.

Skeptics Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the pe ...

believe apparent demonstrations of touchless knockout techniques to be

hypnotism Hypnosis is a human condition involving focused attention (the selective attention/selective inattention hypothesis, SASI), reduced peripheral awareness, and an enhanced capacity to respond to suggestion.In 2015, the American Psychologica ...

of, or acting (

collusion Collusion is a deceitful agreement or secret cooperation between two or more parties to limit open competition by deceiving, misleading or defrauding others of their legal right. Collusion is not always considered illegal. It can be used to att ...

) on the part of, the apparent victims of the technique. One notable practitioner of the fictitious touchless knockout is

George Dillman George Dillman (born November 23, 1942) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is an American martial arts instructor who popularized the use of pressure points (also known in Japanese as kyūsho jutsu (急所術)) among the United States' martial arts ...

; he attempted to demonstrate the technique for a

National Geographic Channel National Geographic (formerly National Geographic Channel; abbreviated and trademarked as Nat Geo or Nat Geo TV) is an American pay television television network, network and flagship (broadcasting), flagship channel owned by the National Geograp ...

program about him and was unable to knock out volunteers previously unknown to him. Another martial artist who claimed but was unable to prove an ability to knock out without contact is Harry Thomas "Tom" Cameron, who was featured in episode eight of season one of ''

Stan Lee's Superhumans ''Stan Lee's Superhumans'' is a documentary television series that debuted from August 5, 2010 to September 17, 2014 on History. It is hosted by Marvel comic book superhero creator Stan Lee and follows contortionist Daniel Browning Smith, "the ...

'' and, unusually for that program, judged not to have any superhuman ability whatsoever. Cameron was also debunked in a

Fox Foxes are small to medium-sized, omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull, upright, triangular ears, a pointed, slightly upturned snout, and a long bushy tail (or ''brush''). Twelve sp ...

news investigation. Other people who have claimed, but been unable to prove under controlled conditions, an ability to perform a touchless knockout include Yanagi Ryuken of

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(sometimes misidentified as Kiai Master Ryukerin); Jukka Lampila of

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

; and numerous practitioners of the Yellow Bamboo school of martial arts centered on

Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

References

{{reflist Martial art techniques Mind–body interventions Fringe science