Imagine my shock.
A man used BJJ to subdue an attacker outside of Gracie Sports BJJ in Norwalk, CT yesterday afternoon. The video posted to the Gracie Sports Instagram page shows the man, a parent of one of the students according to the post, verbally engaged with the attacker in the parking lot.
The attacker then quickly closes the distance by marching towards the man. The man then ducks a punch thrown by the attacker and immediately transitions to a body lock takedown to top control. The fight is disrupted moments later by a passing onlooker having to yank the defending man off of his opponent. Interesting to note is that the man wasn’t even a student according to the post, but was able to pick up basic lessons through repeatedly watching his son’s practice sessions.
“He’s unharmed, and said he’ll now start training!” Gracie Sports coach Deborah Gracie said about the man. Gracie then explained that the attacker had a history of harassing GS members and staff over parking spaces for his business next-door. I can’t imagine this man knew that this was not the kind of business to mess with.
Stories like this highlight the fact that despite how enjoyable it is as a sport, BJJ is one of the most crucial defensive tools against aggressive action that you can arm yourself with.
“Self-defense is fundamental to BJJ, from there all paths start to develop,” Gracie said.
So yea, sign up already!
