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Eye-gouging is the act of pressing or tearing the
eye using the fingers or instruments. Eye-gouging involves a very high risk of
eye injury, such as eye loss or blindness.
Eye-gouging as a fighting style was once
a popular form of sport fighting in the
back-country United States, primarily in the 18th and 19th centuries.
Eye-gouging is prohibited in modern sports. It is a serious offense in rugby football codes where it occurs rarely. It is prohibited in
combat sports
A combat sport, or fighting sport, is a competitive contact sport that usually involves one-on-one combat. In many combat sports, a contestant wins by scoring more points than the opponent, submitting the opponent with a hold, disabling the oppo ...
, but some
self-defense
Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...
systems teach it. Training in eye-gouging can involve extensive
grappling
Grappling, in hand-to-hand combat, describes sports that consist of gripping or seizing the opponent. Grappling is used at close range to gain a physical advantage over an opponent, either by imposing a position or causing injury. Grappling i ...
training to establish control, the eye-gouging itself being practiced with the opponent wearing eye protection such as swimming goggles.
Yuki Nakai
is a retired Japanese mixed martial artist. He currently teaches Shooto and Jiu-Jitsu, and is the president of the Japanese Confederation of Jiu-Jitsu. He competed in Shooto, an early MMA promotion where he won the Shooto World Welterweight Champ ...
went on to win a bout in the
Vale Tudo Japan 1995 tournament after his opponent,
Gerard Gordeau
Gerard Gordeau (born March 30, 1955) is a Dutch former Savateur, Karateka, Kickboxer, and mixed martial artist. He is the 1991 World Champion Savate and holder of the Dutch Champion Karate title for 8 consecutive years, but foremost known inte ...
, performed an illegal gouge that
blinded him in his right eye.
See also
*
Enucleation of the eye
Enucleation is the removal of the eye that leaves the eye muscles and remaining orbital contents intact. This type of ocular surgery is indicated for a number of ocular tumors, in eyes that have sustained severe trauma, and in eyes that are other ...
*
Eye for an eye
*
Eye poke An eye poke, eye jab, eye stab, eye strike or poke in the eye is a strike at the eye or eyes of a human or animal. It is typically made with the fingers which may either be forked to jab both eyes or held together, like a bird's beak, to strike wit ...
*
List of rugby union players banned for eye gouging
Eye-gouging is a serious offence in rugby union where a player uses hands or fingers to inflict pain in an opponent's eyes. The game's laws refer to it as ''"contact with eyes or the eye area of an opponent"'' but such incidents are usually referr ...
*
Gouging (fighting style)
Rough and tumble fighting (Rough-and-tumble) was a form of fighting in rural portions of the United States, primarily in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. It was often characterized by the objective of gouging but also included other bru ...
*
Phantom eye syndrome
The phantom eye syndrome (PES) is a phantom pain in the eye and visual hallucinations after the removal of an eye ( enucleation, evisceration).
Symptoms
Many patients experience one or more phantom phenomena after the removal of the eye:
*Pha ...
References
Further reading
* United States Marine Corps (1999). ''USMC MCRP 3-02B Close Combat''. Department of the Navy. .
* Zorbas, Vagelis
Kino Mutai: The Art of Biting and Eye Gouging ''www.fullcombat.com''. URL last accessed January 7, 2006.
External links
Human eye
Grappling
Martial art techniques
Violence
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