Sporting memories: That time where my martial arts training came in handy
This wasn't really a sporting event, it was a fight that I didn't know I was going to get into in the real world.
When i was in my late teens and early 20's, I took a great interest in a couple of forms of martial arts. They were Kung-Fu (Wing Chun), BJJ, and kickboxing. I wouldn't say that I was terribly dedicated to any of these but I did go practice each of them at least once a week. I took the most interest in Wing Chun and I don't know what all the schools are like for this art around the world but in ours we basically just kicked the crap out of ourselves and one another for a couple hours a week. It does instill you with a great deal of confidence when you know that you are more than capable of taking a punch.
So while I wasn't taking these classes to be able to beat anyone up and I never started a fight in public at any point in my life, stuff just kind of happens in the real world and one day it happened to me and I came out on top because of my training and how I reacted.
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That's obviously not me and you know who those people are. I don't have any images from this fight that I am describing because I didn't know it was going to happen and the 90's were a different time. We didn't just record everything and smartphones didn't exist. You'll just have to take my word for it and hopefully I can describe it well enough that you can understand.
I was sitting at a bar with a friend with my back to the door when all of a sudden I got sucker punched in the side of my head from behind. This is the ultimate pussy move on the part of my assailant but it didn't have the effect he had hoped. I think that due to my Wing Chun training that I am still to this day probably very capable of taking a punch since we routinely brought ourselves to the brink of concussion on a daily basis during practice.
The guy who hit me didn't even knock me off my stool so one of two things is happening here: Either he seriously didn't know how to throw a punch or he wasn't really trying to hurt me, he was just trying to play tough guy. Either way when I stood up and turned around the time for heated discussion was already behind us. He had cut me on my ear and when I turned around there was a person that I had no idea who he was standing there. He was in a "ready" position that showed that he obviously didn't know how to fight but he didn't look scared either. It only took me two moves to immobilize him.
I punched him in the stomach which forced him to lean forward then I locked him up in a standing guillotine, which is one of my favorite moves to deescalate a situation.
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From a standing guillotine position, you have a lot of options as the one controlling the choke. You can lean forward to make it damn near impossible for them to lift you off of them, you can lean back to increase the pressure and render them unconscious quicker (or possibly cause spinal injuries), or you can make a risky move to put a knee into their chest or if you are flexible enough, their face.
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If you really want to put serious pressure on the neck of your assailant you can do this. I don't remember what it is called but while this is a great tactic in an MMA fight where the floor is canvas and there are rules, it is probably a bad idea in a place where the floor is made of wood or cement because if the guy slams you, you are in for a world of hurt.
Since at this point I didn't even know who this person was or why he had decided to sucker punch me from behind, I chose simply to lean forward. If he tried to shuffle back, I followed. If he tried to push forward, I shuffled back. It is a really difficult choke to get out of when it is fully locked in and mine was. The only thing you can really do as someone who is in a guillotine choke is to punch the other guy (in this situation, me) in the nuts and I was standing with my legs sideways with a knee somewhat raised to prevent this.
I kept telling the guy to "Just give up, just give up." but he wouldn't. He was clearly untrained and when his body went limp I slowly placed him on the ground without causing any further damage. I had no interest in hurting this person and afterwards the staff helped me move him outside the bar. We checked to make sure he was breathing and the police were never called. It was about 10 minutes later when he crawled away, probably completely unaware of where he was or why he was there. That's what getting KO'd is like. I know because it's happened to me on a number of occasions.
Nobody in the bar had any idea who the guy was but just as a precaution I decided to leave after the owner of the bar gave me a free round for my troubles, in order to prevent any sort of revenge that he might have that could involve a weapon or some friends.
Honestly, I don't have any idea why that guy attacked me because as far as I know I have never so much as spoken to him in my life. I think maybe he mistook me for someone else or was just maybe a crazy person. I do know that my training I had done up to that point gave me a very clear advantage. I don't ever start fights, and I think that most people who study martial arts ever do - that is a big part of the training. One of the schools I was in would kick you out of the school if it was ever discovered that you used the tactics they teach you on the offensive outside of the dojo.
I'm glad I had those skills in those days, and while I am a bit rusty now after many years of not necessarily practicing, I think I could probably do it again. I hope I don't have to though.
daymnnn no wonder they say that its "assault with a deadly weapon" if you've got martial art skill.
this here is insane! is that still a thing nowadays with the issues of concussion and CTE?
It was more than 20 years ago and it seemed to be completely unregulated. I signed a bunch of papers when I signed up for the courses but I am sure that document is a lot longer these days. That thing with Kung Fu or at least Wing Chun is that the entire point of it is training yourself to absorb damage. I suppose I was exaggerating a little bit when I said we would bring ourselves to the brink of concussion, but basically we just kicked the crap out of both our own bodies and other people's.... but it was all elective. No one got beaten up without consent and we all got tougher because of it.
Being able to take a punch is almost as important as knowing how to block one.
I think I still would have gotten KO'd in the bar situation if the guy knew how to throw a punch properly because concussion avoidance has a lot to do with you being prepared for the blow.... or so it would seem.
knowing how to take a punch is so true. I remember copping a punch when I was 12 years old and I just stood there stunned more than anything but didn't react. I'll never forget the reaction on the other guy, he just didn't know what to do and he just stood there. From that moment on I've always had the thought that I'll react the same if I copped a punch and that would probably cause more fear than fighting back. Maybe nowadays someone will take another swing and its a different story. Thanks for bringing back a memory!
Some people are naturally just blessed with an ability to take a punch and others aren't. I have no idea what causes this but it does seem to be the case. We can see some professional fighters that actually lose this ability over time such as Roy "Big Country" Nelson, who seemed almost impossible to KO until Mark Hunt finally did it to him. Since then, his ability to be KO'd has been dramatically increased. I suppose that all of us only have a certain amount of mild brain damage that we can absorb before the ol noggin doesn't want to put up a defense anymore.
I know this isn't directly related to what we are talking about, but it will be interesting to see what ends up happening to a lot of these MMA fighters when they get up there in years. I think we are going to see a lot of them have very big problems in their 50's and 60's even if they haven't been in a fight in decades.
yep so true as these athletes hit their 50s and 60s. Same's going to happen in the NFL and rugby league as well. The hits just keep on getting harder as athletes get better
The difference being that a lot of the MMA fighters are dead broke before they even retire. I know a lot of NFL players are stupid with their money but most of them at least have a jump start of millions of dollars to gradually throw away. Most MMA fighters don't ever even get to 1 million.
That's pretty crazy. I bet the not knowing is even worse than the events of the fight itself. I am pretty lucky to have never been in a real fight before and quite honestly I hope it stays that way for the rest of my life. Because you know the old saying...
Nobody ever wins a fight
Unless it is sanctioned and in a ring I totally agree with you about "nobody ever wins a fight."
I have been in fights maybe 12 times in my life: 3 of them were in a ring with rules and a referee. Outside of the ring, I lost of a few of them but "won" most. I didn't feel like a winner though and years later I actually feel terrible about hurting another human. I reached out to a few of them and apologized profusely because it haunted me man..... maybe because I'm not a psychopath. They afflicted said it wasn't a big deal and I hope that they meant that. I would hate to think that I was even partially responsible for a downfall in someone else's life.
I have some people like that who I teased in school. It was all part of the pecking order back then, but it never makes it okay. It's amazing the clarity you can have as you get older.
I think trouble always finds us when we least expect it and previous experience and training just kicks in.
I certainly proved that to myself that ill-fated night. I never did see that guy again.