Subject: Eye Strikes
One of the simplest and most effective self defense techniques there is, is the eye strike.
I remember reading an account of a famous Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighter who was giving a seminar on ground fighting. Halfway through the seminar he inadvertently got poked in the eye.
His reaction was similar to what any of us would be.
He pulled back, brought both hands to his face and protected his injured eye. This happened instantly. It was a knee jerk reaction. It was the body's automatic response to that type of injury. It is predictable.
By the way. The seminar ended right there as he couldn't continue.
An attacker could be 6 foot five, 275 pounds and an eye strike will work just as well on him as on you, or anyone else. It is one of those targets that the size, strength or knowledge of the attacker makes no difference...as long as the strike hits it's target.
To do an effective eye strike it takes a lot more than just 'poking' someone in the eye. Not that it wouldn't work it's just that it may not find it's target.
The key in using effective eye strikes in my opinion is hitting the target.
Think about it, the eyes are a relatively small target. The attacker may be moving. He is going to flinch as your hand approaches his eye (again another auto body reaction). So for an effective eye strike to land there are some key principle to know and follow.
Look, if the guy is grabbing you in a way that your hands are free and his face is close to you, driving your fingers or thumb into his eye may be easy. But what happens if that is not the case. What if he is approaching you or attempting to grab you?
I'll come back to this in a minute but before I do I think that you know that I am constantly upgrading and improving my system of self defense. I do this by going to seminars, reading, inviting guest instructors to my studio and mostly reviewing other expert's self defense videos.
I can tell you that there is a lot of 'junk' out there.
Techniques and systems which in my opinion are almost useless and in some cases, downright dangerous.
Sometimes I find just one or two techniques or modifications to what I am already doing which I feel are better or more effective. When I do I immediately start working on it myself and include it in my teachings.
Once in a while I come upon something which I think is really valuable. Recently I had the opportunity to view and study the work of Sifu Trey Crake. His new DVD series is called "The Greatest Self Defense Technique in the World".
I know the title is a little hyped but the material is excellent. I contacted Trey and we had the opportunity to speak at length. He has just finished his new website and is making his DVDs available for the first time to the public.
In fact, I am going to be featured on his new site as the guest instructor of the month.
Sifu Trey and I worked out a special deal where I could make his DVDs available to my friends and customers at a special introductory discounted price.
The reason I mention this in this article is that while Sifu Crake is a Kung Fu instructor, his DVD series in all about eye strikes! And... it is very good.
I have never recommended someone else's videos in this forum until now but I feel Sifu Crake's methods are worth their weight in gold and definitely worth the price.
Since I can't teach eye strikes in print and Trey is a master at it, I would highly recommend his DVD set (very inexpensive).
Shihan Michael Pace
Vernon, NJ
8th Degree Black Belt
