Eye-gouging
The act of pressing or tearing the eye
- Classified as
- attempted murder
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, but some self-defense systems teach it. 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. 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.
External links
Facts from Wikidata Q5422582 (CC0); text quoted from English Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Data retrieved 2026-10-22.
Data: Wikidata (CC0 1.0); Wikipedia (English) (CC BY-SA 4.0). Retrieved 2026-10-22.