Eye-gouging

{{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)}}

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Image:eyegouge.jpg

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.{{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}}

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.{{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}} 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.{{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 }} 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.{{cite web |url= http://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}}