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 with force and protect the fingers from damage. The attack became better known among the public due to its use in comedy; the idea of using it to entertain was likely invented by the

vaudeville Vaudeville (; ) is a theatrical genre of variety entertainment born in France at the end of the 19th century. A vaudeville was originally a comedy without psychological or moral intentions, based on a comical situation: a dramatic composition ...

duo of Joe Weber and

Lew Fields Lew Fields (born Moses Schoenfeld, January 1867 – July 20, 1941) was an American actor, comedian, vaudeville star, theatre Management, manager, and Theatrical producer, producer. He was part of a comedy duo with Joe Weber (vaudevillian), Joe We ...

Sports

In sporting events, a losing fighter will sometimes break the rules, and poke someone in the eye leading to the fight be ended as "no decision," thus preventing them from taking a loss. Some events try to prevent eye poking by having fighters wear gloves with webbing over the fingers.

Self defense

In a street fight situation, when one's opponent may be trying to inflict serious harm, martial arts expert

Kelly McCann Kelly McCann, also known as Jim Grover (as an author while he was still on active duty and operational but writing for Guns & Ammo magazine and publishing Combatives and shooting videos for Paladin Press). He has been a long time columnist for Blac ...

advises that the eyes should be a "persistent primary target". An eye poke needs little power to be effective, and it can stop even highly determined attackers. If the hand is kept at an approximately 45° angle to the opponent's face during the strike, there is less risk of hurting ones fingers, and even if they do not connect with the eye, the palm can impact on the opponent's face.''Combatives for street survival '', by

, Black Belt Books, , (2010, second edition) p 126

Comedy

The eye poke was a signature move in the

slapstick Slapstick is a style of humor involving exaggerated physical activity that exceeds the boundaries of normal physical comedy. Slapstick may involve both intentional violence and violence by mishap, often resulting from inept use of props such a ...

antics of the comedy and vaudeville act

The Three Stooges The Three Stooges were an American vaudeville and comedy team active from 1922 until 1970, best remembered for their 190 short subject films by Columbia Pictures. Their hallmark styles were physical farce and slapstick. Six Stooges appeared ...

, who mastered the technique. In reality, the Stooges poked each other on the eyebrows to avoid actual injury. The form of attack was well known among children who watched the show.

Sports

Self defense

Comedy

See also

References

Further reading