Hero Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Instructor Pedro Arrigoni saves the day
When the mainstream public hears the words: Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, BJJ, or Grappling they usually have an image of two mixed martial arts fighters squaring off in the UFC Octagon (Ultimate Fighting Championships). But not this time!
BJJ Hero Arrigoni saves the day!
It’s refreshing when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is associated with is associated with self-defense or helping out a fellow citizen in distress! This happened as an officer was assaulted by a “crazed” bus fare evader. The incident occurred outside the AB Mixed Martial Arts Academy at 2975 San Bruno Ave. the fare evader ban punching the cop repeatedly in the face and then proceed to tackle the officer and mount him continuing to assault him. This is when Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor Pedro Arrigoni came to the aid of the officer and applied a choke hold until the attacker was about to pass out and said “I give up, I give up!” In the end Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu enabled Mr. Arrigoni to safely subdue the assailant allowing him to verbally submit or “give up” assuring minimal injury to all parties involved.
Fast forward to 3:00 to see a clear slowed down shot!
Mr. Arrigoni also tries to encourage troubled neighborhood kids to get involved in BJJ because it teaches respect and noninvasive fighting tactics. he also believes all law enforcement should train Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Ok, this post is half rant and half warning to all of you budding BJJ players out there. In all the years I’ve been training Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Sub Grappling, Muay Thai, and MMA I’ve seen, heard first hand accounts of, and been a victim of really bone headed things guys have done to their training partners.
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson
Let’s just start with my biggest peeve and poses the biggest threat to the safety of newbie and veteran grapplers alike – SLAMMING! I guess with the explosion MMA and the UFC wannabe Quinton “Rampage” Jackson’s come out of the woodwork. Now don’t get me wrong, I love Rampage. I’ve been a fan and will always love his entertaining attitude toward MMA. I mean have you heard his interviews? The guy is just flat out funny! I’m talking about the guys that see his high flying slams in the octagon and think that somehow translates to BJJ and Sub Grappling.
Just to be clear on this: “It is NEVER ok to slam your training PARTNER during live sparing or grappling opponent in a tournament EVER!”
Rampage slamming Arona in PrideFC
K there I said it, feel’n a little better now. One of my instructors was rolling with a guy who was new to the gym
and basically “flowing” with him to get a feel for his skill level. For those of you who don’t know, to FLOW with your partner is to basically work with him to improve transitioning from technique to technique with the emphasis on transition not submission. Anyway, my instructor at the time who weighed maybe 150#’s moved up for a triangle. In this case it was a leg triangle choke
which traps the head and one arm. Before he could flow to the next transition the guy picked him up about head high AND SLAMMED HIM! His head hit first and he
Rampage slamming Minowa in PrideFC
was knocked out!
He ended up coming to rather quickly and recovered just fine, thank goodness. The guy was bounced out of
the gym and was lucky he was allowed to walk out (vs. dragged out).
I’ve been lucky enough to have avoided this in my years. Maybe it was because world class grappler Dean Lister
"The Boogeyman" Dean Lister
was one of my first instructors. Dean always taught us ways to defend against, well basically stupid and crazy things people do. I learned to hook their leg with one arm which makes it
One of Many of Rampage's slamming of Sakuraba in PrideFC
virtually
Lister hooking Sakara's left leg thus preventing slam and escape!
impossible for them to gain the leverage required to slam you.
Why do they do it? Well, my guess is either their ignorant or have bad intentions. Sadly, both have the same result, someone getting badly hurt. I mean in an MMA fight it’s an accepted form of attack. Those guys sign a waiver saying, “I understand that I could get seriously injured or even die from participating in this event.” When you see Rampage pick up guys and when he’s in a full arm bar or triangle and get out of the sub by slamming them in the ring, it’s exciting. But that’s where it should stay, in the ring.
Fast forward to 8:00 if you just want to see Mike get spiked on his head. This is a pretty amazing match between US superstar and Lloyd Irvin prodigy, Mike Fowler vs. Brazilian super star Daniel Moraes. The spike on head is ABSOLUTELY not allowed in any tournament. Mike proceeds to release the submission assuming Daniel will be DQ’d but this match is in Brazil and I guess home court advantage applies.
Bottom line, is until you know someone well use extreme caution when you roll with them.
Originally, I intended for this to be a single post but after more thought it will be multiple posts. I’ll also be releasing some new audio programs that will go into many grappling topics that you may find helpful. Love to hear your comments on this topic or anything you’d like to know more about!
My twitter goal is to help people be successful in #BrazilianJiuJitsu or any form of self-defense for that matter. #BJJ is a very practical and effective art for protection in real world scenarios where a smaller individual is often attacked by a larger stronger person.
Although BJJ and Aikido are derived from Judo, BJJ requires students to live spar or “roll” against each other attempting to submit (allow partner to stop before any damage is done) or gain a dominant position on their partner.
Since 90% or more of real world altercations end up on the ground, BJJ focuses a large amount of time on learning to fight off your back.
I’m in high school(a freshmen) and the 10th graders are a holes at my school. I really want to learn how to fight because I almost got in a fight with this HUGE girl because she thought I was calling her fat when I wasn’t.. But I want to learn so that I can defend myself. What exercises can I do, and with what equiptment? I’m only like, 5’1″ so I know it will take a lot of practice. Any ideas on what I can do? Thanks! And don’t leave any rude comments pleasee.
Grapple Smart Answer:
Great question and I give you a lot of credit for asking the question because frankly there are a ton of people men and women that are in similar situations but are too afraid to ask for help.
This is a confidant look. Meet their gaze but not mad dogging.
I’m sure you can probably think of other people your size that don’t get targeted by bully’s like that HUGE girl. I’d bet they have a different demeanor about them that say’s “Don’t mess with me!” Now I’m not saying to mad dog (stare down) the person but the way you present yourself plays a large part in how you’re perceived by the school bullies. So keep your head up and don’t slouch when you pass a bully. If they try to instigate you, then you don’t have to respond but don’t act intimidated even if you are inside. Main idea here is to put a question mark in the head of the bully and they will move on to someone else.
If you must defend yourself you WILL be able to!
To develop this confident presence you should consider taking a martial art of some sort. I’d suggest Brazilan Jiu-Jitsu or submission grappling because it’s a martial art that best fits the David/ Golliath (small vs. large) scenario. Since it was developed to help the smaller opponent neutralize the strength and size of a larger and stronger opponent it’s perfect for you.
You WILL have to grapple and be put in some difficult and uncomfortable situations in a controlled training environment BUT it’s a great way to prepare yourself if you ever have to defend yourself out in the real world (uncontrolled environment). Find a good BJJ school by talking to the instructor and observing a class. Some BJJ schools have special womens only classes if that makes you feel more comfortable. A good instructor will help you learn without you feeling like you’re going to get hurt all the time.
You will learn to control your breathing, and emotions when in semi stressful situations and begin develop confidence in your technique. You will see that good technique can prevail over size and strength. When you get to that point and you wear your Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu shirt to school a few times, I’m pretty sure those bully’s will stop harassing you. Remember that bullies actually don’t want to get into fights, unless they know they can win.
