Eye gouges, groin strikes, bites, scratches, throat strikes, hair pulling: why “fighting dirty” is not enough in reality

Click to watch video on Youtube

Reddit discussion and video

Groin strikes, eye gouges, and other “dirty” street fighting techniques are often overestimated in their effectiveness, and are not reliable substitutes for fundamental fighting skills.

The key issue with these techniques is that they rely on pain to influence behavior, rather than directly incapacitating or controlling an opponent. Real fighting scenarios (see videos) show that people can endure severe injuries, including serious maiming, and still continue to fight. This resilience is especially true when the stakes are high.

Gaining a controlling position increases the effectiveness of any technique, including those banned in sports. Without a dominant position, attempts at “dirty” tactics are more likely to fail.

Consideration must also be given to what happens when these tactics fail. In a fight, once a certain level of violence is introduced, it can be reciprocated, potentially leading to more severe consequences.

Real-life examples illustrate these points. Fighters have continued to compete even after sustaining significant injuries like broken limbs or blindness. The effectiveness of these tactics is unpredictable and can vary greatly depending on the situation and the individuals involved.

While “dirty” techniques can be part of a fighting strategy, they are not reliable or decisive. Effective fighting requires a combination of skills, including striking, grappling, and a strategic approach to positioning and control. Simply relying on pain-inducing tactics is insufficient for real combat scenarios.

Here we have a man arguing with police, and he throws a knee to the groin. You can see the officer’s hips move back as the energy from the strike transfers to his body. The officer responds with a punch which knocks the man unconscious. This is a stark illustration of the difference between doing something that simply hurts a lot, and something that takes away your capacity to fight completely.
A jeweller is stabbed and attempts to stop the attacker by using groin strikes and eye gouges, which have no effect. Neither man is able to clearly dominate the fight before the stabber eventually gives up and walks away.
This man entered an MMA gym and challenged them to a fight. When he gets caught in a guillotine choke, he attempts to eye gouge his opponent, who continues to choke the man unconscious.
In Japan 1995, 5’7 Yuki Nakai fought 6’5 Gerard Gordeau in an MMA bout. Gerard illegally eye gouged Yuki, which left him permanently blind in his right eye. Yuki continued to fight with one eye, and won by heel hook in the fourth round. He never let officials know that he’d been blinded.
Full fight where a man’s ear is bitten off, and the biter loses by submission when he is unable to escape from a bad position, demonstrating the importance of basic grappling skills no matter the rule set.
A man’s lower lip is bitten off in a street fight; however, by the end of the video he is keen to continue fighting, while it is the biter who walks away.
Man has his ear bitten off in a street fight and does not stop – by the end of the video he is in a dominant position and continues to fight without issue.
A man who is allegedly a pedophile according to onlookers, attempts to bite and eye gouge while underneath the mount of his opponent, which fails. His opponent – the man in a controlling position – eye gouges and blinds the other man, demonstrating the importance of positional control no matter what rules of lack thereof.
Two men are fighting on the ground, one has his eye gouged out – however, he continued to fight and at the end of the video, he is in a controlling position and is now gouging the eyes of the other man.
Multiple unanswered strikes to the groin which appear to have no effect
Source of video thumbnail – by MMA photographer Esther Lin
“After the fight, Werdum said the poke didn’t hurt or affect him – and even if it had hurt, he might have lied to the ringside physician and said he was fine out of concern the bout would be stopped. Werdum, who won a unanimous decision, says he thinks some fighters embellish the severity of a poke to get out of the fight and that offends him to some degree.”

https://www.espn.com.au/mma/story/_/id/27850706/danger-mma-problem-eye-pokes

Knives vs guns, why police shoot, and why they don’t “just shoot the legs”

Knives vs guns – click the image to watch

Click the image above to watch my video which explores issues and tactics around facing someone armed with a knife as a police officer.

There are many recorded examples which demonstrate my points, however they can’t be shown on Youtube due to the violent content.

Update – Below is an extremely graphic example of how quickly a situation can escalate, and how an attacker armed with a knife can gain the upper hand at close range.

Officer Jonah Hernandez was fatally stabbed on February 11 while responding to a trespassing call on South Valley Drive. The assailant, 29-year-old Armando Silva, a homeless man with a history of violent crimes and mental illness, was confronted by Hernandez after being reported by property owners for trespassing. The property had issues with homeless individuals and found syringes on site. A bystander intervened and fatally shot Silva, ending the attack. Hernandez, a two-year veteran of the Las Cruces Police Department and originally from El Paso, is survived by his wife and two sons.

Full video with more details on the murder of officer Hernandez

Another poignant example of the lethality of knives:

An incident where multiple police were stabbed despite being armed with guns:

Armed guard in Jerusalem stabbed:

Russian prison guard is stabbed to death and has his gun taken from him:

Argentinian police shoot man in the leg before he closes the distance to kill the police officer with a knife:

Both police officer and suspect get shot in the leg and continue fighting:

Shooting to the legs can also be lethal – photos of the surgery after a police officer was shot in the leg:

Bodycam shows man stab a Dayton, USA, officer in the neck:

The Melbourne terrorist attack

Armed police approached by man and stabbed at Sydney train station: