Exactly. The balls are a fairly small target, so are the eyes, and how many people have it in them to actually rip at a guy's eyes? Some sure but if that's all you've learned you better hope you can pull it off under pressure and actually go through with it. I'm all for paying attention to when those opportunities come up but it pays to have a few other options and if you can control position than you'll have a much easier time pulling that off anyway. I used to argue with JK on that till I started doing BJJ with people hwo knew what they were doing.
If you can defend agaisnt someone choking you or throwing strieks while mounted you can defend against an eye gouge from there. It's the energy they give you, like you said. Same with groin kicks standing, if I can defend agaisnt a front kick to the stomach (I can) then I can defend against a front kick to the balls.
Now it doesn't hurt to sometiems simulate throwing shots to thsoe targets, because to accomplish it does take skill and there's a difference between an eye gouge and chin jab despite the motion being the same, those are effective and should be worked some but it's much more important to master specific movements.
For me, RBSD is more about trainign agaisnt all the different energies (striking and chokes/locks) people can give you and in different environmental conditions (low light, debris, different clothes, different room types, etc.). There is little difference between an eye gouge from mount and a "date rape choke" (I'll still arm trap and roll) or an eye flick and a jab. Just a minor adjustment. Those are super techniques that defeat anything though people love to think that. Try to punch a guy in the balls hwo is mount on you you'll get clocked in the face or armbarred. But while fighting to keep your elbows inside their legs (preventing high mount) be aware throwing an elbow into the groin can help open other things. It's still adhering to basic concepts of grappling.
Edited by Stormdragon (03/05/11 11:25 AM)
Member of DaJoGen MMA school under Dave Hagen and Team Chaos fight team under Denver Mangiyatan and Chris Toquero, ran out of Zanshin Martial Arts in Salem Oregon: http://www.zanshinarts.org/Home.aspx