For at least thirty years now, every time I see a fistfight in a movie or TV show, I yell “Poke him in the eye!” And why does James Bond ever have to get into a protracted fistfight? Shouldn’t he know 19 different ways to kill somebody with his pinkie?
(Not THAT pinkie, you lascivious slut!)
In order to practice eye pokes, my instructor suggested we that every time we press an elevator key we try to do it with a quick, two finger poke like we would us on an eye. It’s surprisingly hard to hit the spot. Sometimes I get the right floor on the first shot.
Hell, even a stooge can do it!
Yeah - but most elevator buttons aren’t at eye level (and even fewer are moving! ;))
You should always be aware of any potential targets, and take advantage of any that present themselves. But because of the difficulty training, and the small target, I’d say it would be foolish to assume an eye attack would be one of your main self defense techniques.
Similar for throat strikes. A lot of people advocate them, but always impressed me as a difficult target.
Heck, I remember when Vunak’s PFS offered the acronym Escape To Gain Safety - for Eyes, Throat, Groin, Shin. But I worked groin and shin attacks thousands of times more than the other 2.
When we used to practice closing into headbutt/knee/elbow range, we’d simulate jamming our thumbs into the eyes as we wrapped our fingers around the back of the head. Nice little added injury, but not the primary attempted means of incapacitation.
A palmheel strike to the nose has the added bonus of catching an eye with a finger. But as has been pointed out, a flick to the eyes is more effective. It’s the first element of self-defense: distraction.