“Facing with the choice of hitting your opponent in the ribs or poking him in the eyes, you go for the eyes every time.” – Bruce Lee
If given the chance to teach a prospective student of self-defense one technique, it would be the eye jab. The swatting finger jab is a staple unarmed combat technique of some martial arts but especially in Jeet-Kune Do (JKD). The eye jab is a very functional technique because it doesn’t rely on brute strength but rather on speed, accuracy, and timing. Almost anybody with considerable degree of motor skill, regardless of level of fitness can pull it off.
The key to the eye jab is in its whiplash motion. There is no stiff movement in the technique. The snapping out of the eye jab is akin to swatting a fly or a wet towel snap. The fingers of the jabbing hand should be close to one another (but not rigid) and bent slightly to prevent injury to the finger joints should you accidently hit bone. The hand should shoot out to the intended target from where it rests without any retraction or telegraphic gesture. Again, to quote Bruce Lee, “Like a cobra, your finger jab should be felt and not seen.”
Speed and accuracy is the goal when training the eye jab. As modest and simple as it may seem, the eye jab can be a tool for self-protection when combined with other elements of training, such as footwork. At one point in his evolution as a martial artist, Bruce Lee himself considered the eye jab training as Western fencing without a sword with the eyes as the main hitting marks. JKD’s “interception” concept came from fencings “stop-hit” technique.
The hanging paper target is an inexpensive yet great way to perfect the eye jab, Bruce Lee suggests that students practice the eye jab while they are still fresh at the beginning of the training session. The reason for this is to prevent the practitioner from substituting fine specific motions with gross movements.
Combatively, hitting the eyes is like clicking the “off” button of your opponent. There are not many fighters who can act as if nothing at all happened after their eyes have been raked right into by an opponent’s fingers. That being said, many may feel uncomfortable with the idea of the eye jab because they think it will take out their opponent’s eyes. One then needs to know that, in a self-defense life or death situation however, this will pose as one way to gain the greatest advantage.
One of the hindrances to the eye jab’s potency is when facing an opponent with some sort of eye protection i.e. glasses or face shield, etc. What one can do in this situation is to just jam your fingers right into the glasses or on the surface of the material. Even if it does not physically hurt the eyes, that momentary distraction and impact is enough to give you a window of opportunity to submit your opponent and follow up with continuous blows and a takedown/submission.
The eye jab is a damaging tool and must be wielded with corresponding responsibility. Martial arts practitioners of all levels will surely benefit from integrating the eye jab into their training repertoire. In our present day of unpredictable and unthinkable violence, this technique can definitely be depended on that will help provide a hidden element of surprise and distraction or damage during combat.
