- Joined
- Feb 13, 2011
- Messages
- 770
- Reaction score
- 18
So I had a violent confrontation in which I used my BJJ. After this encounter, I will be hesitant to recommend BJJ as a form of self-defense.
I was at a gas station standing in a very long line to pay for my soda. Another register opened up and the guy at the cashier said "I can take the next person in the line here." The line then split into two. A customer, who was not even in the first line approached the cash register and became the first in line. Since a new register had opened up and a new line was forming, no one raised an issue. The line just reversed itself and I stood behind him and the person who was ahead of me stood behind me. In other words, the order had now reversed itself and the last in the line was being served ahead of me. None of us saw that as a situation to raise an issue so we allowed this new guy to be served as he was the first to arrive on that new register.
When my turn came, this other fellow who had not even left the first line to join the second one, started cussing me out. It started with him saying "Do you even understand English mate? Did you not hear what the man said? He said he will take the person next in line and you were not the next in line! You took this guys spot! Fuck you!"
I was a bit surprised because firstly, he could have raised this issue with the guy who was served ahead of me but he waited for me to be at the cash register so that he could ambush me. I am not white and therefore he had assumed that I do not speak English. Secondly, he was expecting that I will hold the spot for a third person who was ahead of me and who had neither left the first line to join the second one, nor shown any intention!!! And here I was being cussed out for not knowing English and for being the second one in a line which had reversed due to the new register being opened? Even if someone wanted my spot and they had shown the intent then as a courtesy I would allow them even though the person behind me who was now ahead of me had not offered me the same courtesy but this fellow was just cussing me out.
I was thinking should I even engage this guy? He is obviously a racist. He has waited very patiently and silently until I reached the cash register and then created this scene but other than a cussing and accusing me of not knowing English, he has not really assaulted me. When he saw that I was only responding back with a blank emotionless look, he became more convinced that I do not understand English and he can engage in more verbal abuse. So he comes closer and says something along the lines of "Ya! Just stand there and stare at me you illiterate, miserable fuck!"
That is when I thought that the law that gives him freedom of expression to abuse me also gives me the freedom to respond back verballyh. After that I raise my voice back at him and told him "Watch your tone and behave yourself or I will give you a lesson in English language your mother never gave you, you pathetic piece of shit!"
He was totally shell shocked for an instant. He said, "You took another mans spot you miserable fuck!"
I told him, "You want me to hold the spot for a man who has not even left his line? You could have had this conversation with the fellow ahead of me but you did not. You waited dude! I am going to give you a real reason to hate me you racist piece of shit."
He spoke a few words and then spat at me but missed. I told him, "If that spit lands on me, I will tear you another ass hole!"
The person at the cash register told this guy "Can we please keep the line moving sir? You have already paid for your things and you have no reason to be here now."
He says to him "I am going to leave but I will do this first," and then he head butts me. I anticipated the head butt and leaned back catching his forehead against my chin. After that I closed the gap on him, took him down with a double leg and landed on my knee! I am 214 lbs and landing on my knee on concrete was not pleasant but the adrenaline was high so I did not care at that point. He clawed backwards kicking and I moved on my knees towards him to get a knee on belly. When I placed all my weight on his chest, his eyeballs were coming out.
I told him I am going to keep pressure until the cops arrive and I will press charges for the head butt. He could not say much. People started calling the cops and I kept my knee on him. Then he said he could not breath and I felt someone is recording with a cell phone and this man is saying "I can not breath." So I stood up and he lay there in fetal position.
By the time the cops came, he had already apologized and said, "Dude I am going through some personal shit. Let me buy you a drink." That was his way of saying that I do not press charges. So I helped him up on his feet and then we were cool. When the cops came, the officer spoke to the gas station people and then asked if either of us would want to press charges? We were like nope. He spent a few minutes speaking to this guy alone and then left.
My knee was bad. It made me realize that all these knee drops that we take for granted on the mat are not pleasant when attempted on hard concrete. Yes you can win a fight and protect yourself with BJJ but it may not feel too good after that. As I look back, the logical thing on my part should have been to knock him out. He had already assaulted me and a Kyokushin blow to the body would have put him out and kept me standing. Add a few low kicks and a body blow and he is out and unable to even get up. But ... due to my BJJ training, my combat reflexes made me act the way I would act in a stand up rolling session and that would be with a takedown.
I had been skeptical about how much of BJJ is applicable in a street fight and this encounter added a bit to my own skepticism. I do believe that it still has a place if someone else gets you down but I am not convinced that it should be your first impulse. Knock the guy out and walk away seems to be the better option. What are everyone else's thoughts?
Care to schedule a BJJ roll on concrete sometime?
I was at a gas station standing in a very long line to pay for my soda. Another register opened up and the guy at the cashier said "I can take the next person in the line here." The line then split into two. A customer, who was not even in the first line approached the cash register and became the first in line. Since a new register had opened up and a new line was forming, no one raised an issue. The line just reversed itself and I stood behind him and the person who was ahead of me stood behind me. In other words, the order had now reversed itself and the last in the line was being served ahead of me. None of us saw that as a situation to raise an issue so we allowed this new guy to be served as he was the first to arrive on that new register.
When my turn came, this other fellow who had not even left the first line to join the second one, started cussing me out. It started with him saying "Do you even understand English mate? Did you not hear what the man said? He said he will take the person next in line and you were not the next in line! You took this guys spot! Fuck you!"
I was a bit surprised because firstly, he could have raised this issue with the guy who was served ahead of me but he waited for me to be at the cash register so that he could ambush me. I am not white and therefore he had assumed that I do not speak English. Secondly, he was expecting that I will hold the spot for a third person who was ahead of me and who had neither left the first line to join the second one, nor shown any intention!!! And here I was being cussed out for not knowing English and for being the second one in a line which had reversed due to the new register being opened? Even if someone wanted my spot and they had shown the intent then as a courtesy I would allow them even though the person behind me who was now ahead of me had not offered me the same courtesy but this fellow was just cussing me out.
I was thinking should I even engage this guy? He is obviously a racist. He has waited very patiently and silently until I reached the cash register and then created this scene but other than a cussing and accusing me of not knowing English, he has not really assaulted me. When he saw that I was only responding back with a blank emotionless look, he became more convinced that I do not understand English and he can engage in more verbal abuse. So he comes closer and says something along the lines of "Ya! Just stand there and stare at me you illiterate, miserable fuck!"
That is when I thought that the law that gives him freedom of expression to abuse me also gives me the freedom to respond back verballyh. After that I raise my voice back at him and told him "Watch your tone and behave yourself or I will give you a lesson in English language your mother never gave you, you pathetic piece of shit!"
He was totally shell shocked for an instant. He said, "You took another mans spot you miserable fuck!"
I told him, "You want me to hold the spot for a man who has not even left his line? You could have had this conversation with the fellow ahead of me but you did not. You waited dude! I am going to give you a real reason to hate me you racist piece of shit."
He spoke a few words and then spat at me but missed. I told him, "If that spit lands on me, I will tear you another ass hole!"
The person at the cash register told this guy "Can we please keep the line moving sir? You have already paid for your things and you have no reason to be here now."
He says to him "I am going to leave but I will do this first," and then he head butts me. I anticipated the head butt and leaned back catching his forehead against my chin. After that I closed the gap on him, took him down with a double leg and landed on my knee! I am 214 lbs and landing on my knee on concrete was not pleasant but the adrenaline was high so I did not care at that point. He clawed backwards kicking and I moved on my knees towards him to get a knee on belly. When I placed all my weight on his chest, his eyeballs were coming out.
I told him I am going to keep pressure until the cops arrive and I will press charges for the head butt. He could not say much. People started calling the cops and I kept my knee on him. Then he said he could not breath and I felt someone is recording with a cell phone and this man is saying "I can not breath." So I stood up and he lay there in fetal position.
By the time the cops came, he had already apologized and said, "Dude I am going through some personal shit. Let me buy you a drink." That was his way of saying that I do not press charges. So I helped him up on his feet and then we were cool. When the cops came, the officer spoke to the gas station people and then asked if either of us would want to press charges? We were like nope. He spent a few minutes speaking to this guy alone and then left.
My knee was bad. It made me realize that all these knee drops that we take for granted on the mat are not pleasant when attempted on hard concrete. Yes you can win a fight and protect yourself with BJJ but it may not feel too good after that. As I look back, the logical thing on my part should have been to knock him out. He had already assaulted me and a Kyokushin blow to the body would have put him out and kept me standing. Add a few low kicks and a body blow and he is out and unable to even get up. But ... due to my BJJ training, my combat reflexes made me act the way I would act in a stand up rolling session and that would be with a takedown.
I had been skeptical about how much of BJJ is applicable in a street fight and this encounter added a bit to my own skepticism. I do believe that it still has a place if someone else gets you down but I am not convinced that it should be your first impulse. Knock the guy out and walk away seems to be the better option. What are everyone else's thoughts?
Care to schedule a BJJ roll on concrete sometime?
