Eye gouge in a street fight: a case study

Eye gouge image stolen from Wikipedia

In this article: Groin Strikes, eye gouges, and other maiming techniques in self defense, I used the example of Yuki Nakai as someone who suffered an eye gouge, yet continued fighting and won the match.

I like the anecdote below because it describes an eye gouge and how it felt in some detail. It's also an example of someone continuing to fight after being injured via an armbar.

I used to bounce full-time (despite my smaller stature) for years, and recently started picking up door shifts here and then to supplement my income. 

Long story short, I was working a punk rock show a few weeks ago, and this young punk rocker was really wasted and pissing people off. He already had a goose egg on his head from running into a pole, and he had also slapped me in the face (!) earlier in the night. He ended up getting attacked by a girl, and they were full-on fist fighting, so I stepped in, broke it up, and kicked him out.  

When I threw him out, he attacked me. Blocked his right hand, kosoto gake to the ground, and then he shoved his thumb about a knuckle deep in and behind my eye. I could feel it bulging out through my eyelid. Ended up fighting his hand off, sitting up on his shoulder, and leaning back into an armbar, breaking his arm. He was so tweaked that he was still fighting. (and oddly enough, my eye was scratched and torn badly, but healed up in just a few days. that part of the body is amazing.) 

So this is the second time that I can recall someone using d34dly technique on me in the street, only to lose horribly. I'm no badass, but I do train every day. He even used proper eye gouging technique, ie rolling the eye out from the inside, etc etc. So was it just not enough d34dly, or does that stuff just not work against a trained individual? Years back, a guy grabbed my sack, and I took knee-on-belly, shoved his neck against a fence, and he ended up shitting himself (literally, it smelled horrible). Just wondering, since I don't ever use "street" type techniques. 

Interestingly enough, he verbally submitted to me after his arm popped, but then kept challenging one of the other door guys (6'3", 240lbs, also a judoka and sambist) for another 20 or so minutes. 

Posted with the author's permission. See the original thread here:

Bullshido - street fight a few weeks ago

The point I'd like to emphasise here is:

There's never any guarantee that maiming your opponent will end the fight.