I learn a Martial Art called Shorinji Kempo. The emphasis of this art is on wrist and fine joint Manipulation and strikes to 'vital points'.
Whenever I answer a question relating to these areas I am asked (not unreasonably) to explain how I know these techniques work.
"Vital points" is a difficult issue because of the unfounded claims made by 'alternative medicine' practitioners such as acupuncturists. While in effect this usually means striking the solar plexus at an upward angle or flicking the eyes with the tips of the fingers the use of the term "vital points" can also extend to points on the carotid artery on the neck or even just 'a place on the arm that is painful if you apply pressure "like so". It is rare that we actually, for example, strike to the side of the neck for safety reasons (although it is certainly less dangerous than giving someone concussion which some other martial arts are quite happy to do). There is a video where this is done https://youtu.be/vSkD7BPpVK4 but as it is done by an instructor on his students (and not by competitors in an octagon) many users here suspect that the people shown are merely acting.
Wrist locks I thought would be an easy subject. But here too other users ask for evidence that they are practical for take-down purposes. It doesn't help that there are plenty of examples of aikido practitioners (the most famous practitioners of joint locks) being defeated by other martial artists. Indeed, those times I have been to aikido dojos I have seen little that is practical, and it's easy to see how this can be taken as evidence that this form of technique is inferior to others (such as judo throws).
However even when I link video of a basic technique that I can do myself other users here (you know who you are but I'm not trying to continue the discussion here) claim that the clip is a fake, with a martial artist falling for no good reason. https://youtu.be/0P16QY-CHRM or https://youtu.be/qpPFwBdyMZg
Clips showing these against martial artists from other styles are impossible to find because there is no culture for entering competitions of other styles and such competitions ban many of these techniques in any case.
When I looked into entering such competitions myself for example Judo bans these techniques and BJJ does not permit them for low grades (below blue belt). Other styles of Jujitsu also seem to have this approach. UFC style MMA permits these techniques but as this is practiced without a gi and also permits striking techniques opportunity for wrist locks would be minimal and in any case I see no reason to risk concussion over this.
Most of the people on this site seem to be in a different country (I am in the UK) so we can't meet in order to film sparring match.
I wouldn't usually particularly mind leaving this sort of thing unresolved, but since SE aims to be an authoritative source of information this seems very problematic to me as it is, as I see it, spreading misinformation.
So as stated in the title, the question is what would I need to show to have techniques of this kind accepted as viable in 'real life'? Is there any substitute for competition footage in cases where the technique is banned in competition?