Why would you bite someone?

[Thai Bri]

I am too. Imagine that!

[osopardo]

Adacas, those guys look like they're B]both[/b] enjoying that ear bite too much! Yeesh!![

[Karenstar]

I thought they looked a little to much like they enjoyed it, maybe he was just kind of nibbling on the old ear. Oh, baby....

[Ryu (JKD?)]

Originally posted by ryanhall
Spanky,
I'll try to find it for you. I'll shoot you an e-mail if and when I come by it.

Apoth,
Let's get serious for a second here. You don't just go biting people for no reason. Anytime that you bite someome powerfully and with intent, it sends a very strong psychological message to them saying that you will do what it takes to hurt them. As such, it raises the ante so to speak. If you bite someone, it had better be justified, and you had better be serious about it. A little half-assed 'ooh I hope he doesn't have a communicible disease' bite will probably just piss someone off.

Biting is a last-resort tactic for lethal force situations, but it works. It is pretty foolish to be worried about contracting a disease when you could die from the attack itself rather than five or ten years down the road.

Same goes for eyegouging too.
I've both bitten and eyegouged people in real fights before....
and the one thing you have to keep in mind that I don't think many martial art people talk about is the fact that you can and usually will enrage your opponent by going for his eyes, and biting him.
The only way to bite and gouge in a fight is to do so from dominant position, with 110% committed intent to maim him (which as Ryan said MUST be justified...) and you must have the ability to continue the onslaught and "outrage" his rage so to speak.....
This usually changes someone's "rage" to "panic"
Especially if they cannot get away from the bite or the gouge....
Rich Dimitri's "shredder" concept is a good example of this.
Paul V's "kino mutai" is all predicated on the fact that you have good position, and are holding the person into the bite so they cannot pull away.

*shrugs* there's a difference between what most people talk about when they mention "biting" in a fight......and what it really takes to do so with damage and psychological trauma....

Ryu

[Szczepankiewicz]

*shrugs* there's a difference between what most people talk about when they mention "biting" in a fight......and what it really takes to do so with damage and psychological trauma....

Excellent point Ryu. The same can be said about using a knife or gun or any other 'traumatic' weaponry on someone.

Spanky

[bvermillion]

I will try to explain this where everyone can understand. I wouldn't not bite unless it was a life or death situation as a last resort. But as a last resort you have to look at it this way you can not bite and get killed or bite and just take the risk of getting killed. I would do almost anything else before biting but if it comes down to that being you only resort or death you have to bite. When it comes to life or death you do whatever you can and you dont worry about the risk.

[briggfoot]

kill or be killed, if it is a real fight i would bite, eye gouge, head butt anything, and really mean it.

then i would think of the consequences. rather be judged by 12 than carried by 6 i think the saying goes.

you should only be fighting as you had no other option. if someone pushes you so hard that you have to fight them, then give them EVERYTHING you have got.

biting can end fights, and there isnt much risk of picking up deseases.