Originally Posted by
Chief Fox
Most of it depends on your skill level and your opponents skill level. I don't think that ALL "grapplers" are necessariliy good fighters. A better question would be "What beats a good fighter?" The answer is, "a better fighter". If you're worried about the grapplers then you have to get comfortable in their world. I'm not saying that you have to be a Black Belt in BJJ but learning some techniques to avoid the take down and learning some escapes to get back up on your feet as soon as possible are a good thing.
Here's a little personal experience on eye gouges and how effective they are.
When I was in college I dated this girl. It turns out that she was dating a few other people as well. I went to her house one night to confront her about it and one of the other people she was dating was there. Well her and I got into a huge argument. Eventually the other guy got involved and out of the blue he pops me right in the nose. Broke it, actually. I had no formal fight training at the time but I was p!ssed off and that takes you a long way. So I go at the guy. We scuffle around a bit and end up on the ground. He's on his back, I'm on top of him but he sorta has me in a guilitine. I reach up over my head to his face, I put both of my thumbs right in his eyes and applied pressure with my fingures wrapped around his head. If you've ever had this done to you, you know it hurts. At this point I calmly said, "if you don't let go of me, I'm going to rip your eyes out." He let go. I moved my hands from his eyes to his neck and started to choke him while I was banging his head on the floor.
So the eye gouge along with some "negotiating" has actually worked for me.
FYI, I'm not proud of what I did that night. I shouldn't have gone to her house in the first place. I had been drinking though and my judgement was very clouded to say the least.
On an interesting note, notice you were in a grappling situation when the gouge was used...
i'm nobody...i'm nobody. i'm a tramp, a bum, a hobo... a boxcar and a jug of wine... but i'm a straight razor if you get to close to me.
-Charles Manson
I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally without predjudice.
- Shonie Carter