Video footage of a 16 year-old BJJ practitioner getting confronted in public by an aggressive adult has gone viral on social media, thanks largely to how well the young grappler managed to defend himself against the attacker. This is nowhere near the first time that a BJJ practitioner has managed to use their skills to gain the upper hand against an untrained person who has decided to cause trouble for them, but this is one of the youngest potential victims that have been caught on camera defending themselves.
It’s been demonstrated time and time again that a few years of grappling experience at a reputable gym is more than enough to give someone the upper hand against untrained attackers. Regardless, it’s unlikely that we’ll ever really stop seeing examples of this because there will always be someone who believes that they can force their will on to someone else, and that can only be done so many times before they run into the wrong person.
The seemingly never-ending number of examples of this phenomenon also lends credence to the push to use BJJ for national police reform in the United States. While Rener Gracie has been at the forefront of the movement, there are several states who are now starting to come around to the idea and have taken steps to better train their officers to deal with suspects resisting arrest or attacking them. Most recently, ‘Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel’ brought a lot of mainstream attention to the cause and no doubt the publicity gained has gone a long way to bringing this idea to life.
The video was shared by SBG South Shields in a post to their official Facebook account, where they congratulated the young BJJ student not only for being able to defend himself against the attacker, but also for his composure in not hurting him any more than was necessary to keep himself safe:
