{{Short description|Act of pressing or tearing the eye}} {{for multi|the offence in rugby union|Eye-gouging (rugby union)|eye-gouging and the GAA|Eye-gouging (Gaelic football)}} {{too few opinions|date=August 2018}} __NOTOC__ thumb|right|150px|Eye-gouging using the thumb '''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.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Gorn|first=Elliott J.|date=1985|title="Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch": The Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry|jstor=1860747|journal=The American Historical Review|volume=90|issue=1|pages=18–43|doi=10.2307/1860747|pmid=11620667}}</ref>
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, but some self-defense systems teach it.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hosey|first=Timothy|author2=Michael Klaybor|date=October 1984|title=Common Sense Self-Defense: For the Woman Who Doesn't Have the Time to Train|volume=22|pages=110|work=Black Belt Magazine|publisher=Active Interest Media|issue=10|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7toDAAAAMBAJ&q=eye%20gouge%20self%20defense&pg=PA110|issn=0277-3066}}</ref> Training in eye-gouging can involve extensive grappling training to establish control, the eye-gouging itself being practiced with the opponent wearing eye protection such as swimming goggles.<ref>{{Cite news | issn = 0277-3066 | volume = 39 | issue = 10 | pages = 69 | last = Vunak | first = Paul |author2=Erin Vunak | title = Biting and Eye Gouging: Why You Need to Know the Philippine Art of Kino Mutai | work = Black Belt | date = March 2001 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=ns4DAAAAMBAJ&q=eye+gouge+goggles }}</ref> Yuki Nakai went on to win a bout in the Vale Tudo Japan 1995 tournament after his opponent, Gerard Gordeau, performed an illegal gouge that blinded him in his right eye.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.sherdog.com/fighter/Yuki-Nakai-429|title= Nakai talks Vale Tudo, SHOOTO and Rickson |access-date=2008-11-03 |author= Jason Nowe and Stephen Martinez|date= February 14, 2006 |publisher=sherdog.com}}</ref>
==See also== *Enucleation of the eye *Eye for an eye *Eye poke *List of rugby union players banned for eye gouging *Gouging (fighting style) *Phantom eye syndrome
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * United States Marine Corps (1999). ''USMC MCRP 3-02B Close Combat''. Department of the Navy. {{ISBN|1-58160-073-9}}. * Zorbas, Vagelis. [https://web.archive.org/web/20060111181231/http://www.fullcombat.com/Articles/Martial%20Art%20Styles/Kina%20Mutai.html Kino Mutai: The Art of Biting and Eye Gouging]. ''www.fullcombat.com''. URL last accessed January 7, 2006.
==External links== * [http://www.straightdope.com/columns/050415.html Can the human eyeball be knocked out of the head?]
{{Grappling}}
Category:Human eye Category:Grappling Category:Martial arts techniques Category:Violence
{{martialart-term-stub}}