| > | | | | hands open in a defensive posture and close them at |
| Written by Andrew Torchon | | | | the last second upon the strike. Those that don't |
| During several fights on the UFC, WEC and IFL the | | | | respond fast enough usually jab a finger or thumb in |
| fighters involved unintentionally thumbed the | | | | their opponent's face and subsequent eyeball. Their |
| other in the eye. This is going to be a big | | | | may be a solution though. The gloves worn by |
| problem unless a solution is found and quick! Boxing | | | | Bruce Lee in the classic martial arts |
| also had suffered from these kinds of digital | | | | film that started the whole western craze for the |
| strikes to the oculars the rest of the glove | | | | genre - "Enter the Dragon" may hold the key. In the |
| making it improbable to stick out and stick it to their | | | | beginning of the film Bruce is fighting Samo Hung for |
| opponent. Thumbs to the eye during a MMA fight | | | | the honor of his Temple. The kick, punch, throw and |
| can cause major damage like detached | | | | grapple their way through several minutes of combat. |
| retinas and scratched corneas not to mention | | | | Bruce wins by the way. And how does he defeat his |
| blurred vision. Getting poked in the eye may not | | | | opponent? No not just with Kung Fu/JKD. He gets |
| always be the most painful of strikes but for a | | | | Samo in an armbar and Samo submits. One of the |
| fighter it is more than just a minor nuisance. The | | | | intriguing aspects to the fight are the gloves |
| battle could continue if there is no serious harm done | | | | being worn. They look to be the size of |
| but the combatant moves about the cage or ring | | | | hockey gloves with just as much padding. These are |
| with hesitance and in many cases, diminished vision | | | | over sized compared the ones used in today's |
| which makes the playing field uneven, all other things | | | | MMA contest but perhaps incorporating |
| being equal. But unlike boxing, where grabbing the | | | | slightly larger mitts that cover the fingers and |
| opponent is illegal, MMA fighters need to have full grip | | | | thumbs would prevent inadvertent finger and |
| capacity. Try applying a Kamora without your thumb | | | | thumbs being stuck in the eye and allow the |
| to wrap around. Impossible! Without the thumbs | | | | fighters to go on unmolested. At least to the |
| eliminates most JuJitsu and wrestling techniques. So | | | | eyes. |
| what to do? Most fighters in the MMA keep their | | | | |