by shuharicrane » Mon Nov 28, 2005 11:51 pm
The eyes are one of the four major targets (the others being ears, throat and, groin) and therefore a great place to strike. Those are great methods for training accuracy with such strikes.
Eye strikes are interesting because the target is so sensitive that it doesn't require much force to do the trick. In fact, the strike does not even need to hit the eye to work. I find that simply touching the eye or even near the eye (eyebrow, bridge of the nose, etc.) is enough to create an opportunity to enact a second strike elsewhere, or even go on to create an offbalance and throw. If I get lucky and hit the eye, then kudos to me. But think about a time when you have been poked in the eye with something, it is enough to make you not want to get poked in the eye. It is natural to flinch when faced with the threat of a foreign object impacting the eye, whether it hits or not. In otherwords it isn't neccessary to have impeccable acuracy to affect someone's vision. That is not to say don't train it, because we all know that repetition creates muscle memory and if the muscles remember how to do it then the brain doesn't have to think about it as much when we are forced to do it.
Now if the intent of the strike is to actually impale the eyes on the finger that is another story and I would not hesitate to use such a technique if forced to defend my life or the life of family.
By the way it is called the Sternoclavicular Notch (the hollow above the sternum).
Nate