What would you do?
This is an edited transcript of an interview conducted with two of my former Jiu Jitsu training partners who have since moved out of state. The names have been changed for privacy reasons. The event was real.
Incident Date : 11/13/2011
Location : bar in Chapel Hill, North Carolina
Sunny : Here we are with Jack and Jill, students of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The setup was like so, It's Sunday night. You guys are at a local bar, relaxing, when another bar patron is inappropriate with Jill.
Jill, recount for us the inappropriate behaviour and your response.
Jill : I was just hanging out at a table watching Jack play pool and this guy was standing behind me leaning on the bar. He took a running start at me and slapped me on my bottom, his hands went between my legs and picked me up. I turned around and grabbed him by his throat, popped his windpipe a little and yelled for the owned to throw him out and then he pushed me and tried to hit me and that's when Jack stepped in.
Sunny : Jack, you were right there. The situation escalated. Go ahead and give us some details.
Jack : Jill had it handled. She held the guy, was calling for the owner to get him out and it wasn't until he started grabbing her and looked like he was going to throw a punch that I stepped in. I was basically like, "Get your hands off her". It looked like he just snapped. He just charged after me. When we roll, we go against big guys, I was surprised he kept pushing me back. It was quick, it was so fast. My shoes came off. I was back peddling as fast I could and slammed into a table. After that, it went to the ground and it was really quick for me but Jill saw that it looked like he was about to throw a punch. She saw that I grabbed his wrists for control and immediately shot my legs up for a triangle.
I held him down until the owner and his friend grabbed him off me. He was escorted out the place immediately.
Sunny : Cool. Jack, let's do a scenario where we are at a point of time in your life where you have no knowledge of any Brazilian Jiu Jitsu techniques. Give us some insight as to how you would have handled the situation without the benefit of the triangle technique.
Jack : I would probably would have gotten my arse beat, to be honest. Especially for the fact that we found out later he used to be a division I wrestler. That's how he was able to push me so hard and take me to the ground. I probably would have really got hurt in that situation.
Sunny : Any last words on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training in general, either for yourself or others that might see this.
Jill : It's definitely helped me with control, not trying to hurt anybody. Knowing that I could put them in a position where neither one of us can get hurt. I feel safe.
Jack : With this fight, it happened so quick, it was completely instinctive. I would absolutely recommend Jiu Jitsu for that sort of situation, being able to defend yourself.
Sunny : Thanks again Jack and Jill for sharing your story today, hopefully inspiring some people and we'll see you on the mat.
Points to Ponder
for adults -
What would you do if someone tackled you?
This is covered in Gracie Combatives Lesson no.14
What would you do if they successfully took you to the ground because they had wrestling experience or where just bigger, stronger, faster and/or surprised you?
Covered in Gracie Combatives Lesson no. 5 with other likely scenarios taught in other lessons.
If you were on the bottom of someone bigger and stronger, what strategy do you have to control them until help can come?
The triangle technique used by Jack is covered in Gracie Combatives Lesson no. 7. Other techniques are possible based on the the behavior and indicators the "bad guy" provides.
Because fights unravel so fast, as Jack mentioned, are your reflexes sharp enough to use the correct technique before you take too much damage and are unable to continue fighting?
The Gracie Combatives program has exclusive programming so that your timing becomes perfect.
Did you notice that fights are never one technique, but always a combination of multiple techniques. The heat of the battle can cause confusion. How prepared are you to handle multiple techniques?
Gracie Combatives specifically addresses the reality of multiple techniques in a fight.
Did you know that each Gracie Combatives lesson at any Certified Training Center can be taken in any order? This is awesome because no experience is necessary to take any class. You're going to learn the technique, we guarantee it.
