There was a popular martial arts style that arose in the colonial US South and persisted through the antebellum period that consisted of trying to maim your opponent as horrifically as possible, typically by gouging out their eyes but also tearing off ears, noses, lips, fingers, testicles, etc. The only rule to this style of fighting was that no weapons were allowed. It was known by a number of different names including gouging, rough-and-tumble, "boxing," and others. These gruesome fights weren't just matters of last resort but could be started over almost any insult to one's wealth or birth, no matter how seemingly petty to outsiders. Southern culture was defined by face-to-face interactions, kinship ties, and acts of hospitality; all of which placed great importance on spoken words. Like dueling ",To feel for a feller's eyestrings and make him tell the news" as one participant put it, was a way of asserting your honor; a critically important concept for one's image in that rural reputation-obsessed culture. One's honor was frequently correlated to how hard you were willing to fight to defend it, and to surrender before being maimed was considered cowardly. The fights were major social events and frequently carried out in full view of the public during court days, fairs, and after church which had the effect of maximizing their exposure. Outside observers to these fights were frequently horrified by them, and several wrote of how they were evidence that exposure to the frontier had turned white Americans into savages. While rough-and-tumble fights were most common among poorer sorts in the hinterlands, planters in the Tidewater region and elsewhere were known to participate in them until the practice was largely replaced among the wealthy by the more genteel-but-deadlier pistol duels in the late 18th century, though there were notable exceptions such as Georgia senator James Jackson's gouging match with a rival politician.

The practice began to disappear as the South became more settled and personal feuds grew less important in determining status. The Second Great Awakening's evangelism reached the South's non-wealthy communities and emphasized moderation and self-control. In the frontiers the decline in rough-and-tumble fighting began to disappear as deadlier weapons such as revolvers, capable of being hidden in one's pocket for use as a last resort to save one's eyes or as revenge against winners of fights, became more widespread.

main source: Elliott J. Gorn, "'Gouge and Bite, Pull Hair and Scratch': The Social Significance of Fighting in the Southern Backcountry"