There is an urban legend, or martial arts myth, that seems to never go away. Although some of us write that it is a myth or an urban legend, it still appears in various forms in different novels, movies, and TV shows. I even remember one of the newer martial arts documentary shows featuring two martial artists traveling the world to experience the martial arts of many cultures. (There were two such shows, I like them both, forgetting that one added to the spread of the myth.)
So what myth am I talking about? The famous legend that if you punch someone in the nose hard enough, you will drive the nose bones into the brain and kill the person. Sometimes it’s said with a punch, others like to say you use the heel of your palm to drive bones into the brain. I have also found that an upward blow should be used for maximum effect and to ensure that the bones enter the brain. Another version requires two hits, the first hit to your opponent’s nose is to break the bones and the second hit to drive the bones into the brain.
Regardless of which way it’s described, the end result is always nose bones in the brain, resulting in the death of the person at the end of such a devastating technique. Unfortunately, this is a myth and it is not possible for a blow to the nose to introduce bone fragments into the brain. The nose contains mostly cartilage, not bone, and there is no direct way for this cartilage, or the small nasal bones that are fractured into pieces by blunt trauma, to enter the brain. It just can’t happen.
So what perpetuates this martial myth? It may be the fact that any hard enough blow to the head can be fatal. This does not have to be on the nose, but anywhere on the head. This is one of the reasons martial arts practitioners are instructed to protect their heads at all costs when falling and being struck. The brain is located in the head, and bony matter does not need to be introduced to cause serious harm or even death. Any hard enough blow to the head can cause brain damage and death, and it varies from individual to individual as to what makes a hard enough blow.
So next time you hear the martial myth of driving the nose bones into the brain, remember that it is not the bones being driven into the brain that causes death, but the fact that any significant blow can cause serious damage. consequences for the injured individual. .