So due to my heavy studying schedule I hadn't been training for about 3 months when this happened last night. I was out celebrating the end of exams (and the end of our undergraduate degrees) with some friends and we decided to go to a night club. A couple of hours into the night I'm standing outside smoking and chatting with a friend of mine (the ex-president of the university boxing society) and all is going well until one person barges into the back of my friend followed by another guy. A fight had just broken out behind us and instinctively my friend and I broke up the fight... I think we both knew, because it was a very studenty place and because both guys looked terrified while “swinging handbags” at one-another, that the fighters were not determined thugs and so we were quite happy to jump in and break it up in order to stop it there and then (what we were trying to avoid, I don't know). The smaller guy in the fight had his mouth open and was barring his teeth but his eyebrows were very high up and he looked to be in a mix of anger and panic. The bigger guy was more on the defending side and looked far more bewildered than he did engaged. So when we split them up the first time just by grabbing one of them by the shirt and putting ourselves between them they stood back for a good couple of seconds, eventually the smaller guy tried to rush the larger guy again so my friend grabbed hold of the smaller guy, while I used some pretty basic wrestling to grab the larger guy from behind and yank him away from the little guy. They both dispersed pretty much immediately after that and in a rather surreal fashion we just both went inside to continue the party. I'm not entirely sure what happened. I did find it interesting that one of my hypotheses about wrestling was proven to be true; that wrestling gives you a tool set that allows you to control and "solve" situations when punching, kicking and arm locking techniques are in-appropriate. Otherwise I feel kind of strange that we both just out of blue stepped into action to deal with someone else’s problem. Part of me feels a little stupid for getting involved in something that was none of my business but the other half feels proud that I have changed some-what. Previously when I was doing martial arts I would of felt really insecure in that situation, probably have done nothing (arguably a good thing), but then gone home feeling like I had been shamed or intimidated. But last night I "mattter of factly" had the confidence to grab a guy in a maul and hurl him out and I didn’t feel too scared about it, just a bit weird because it was a scenario I’ve never experienced before. Just sticking this story out there for my own benefit and peace of mind, but also because someone else might be able to take something away from this. Cheers.
Congrats on the degree! In regards to Wrestling, I use it pretty much in my job and its good for detaining and then dispersing, especially against the joe public who swings only. It gives you an idea of where to grab and which part of the body to hold on to for control. Also when it comes to legalities you've used proportionate force to control the situation. When I trained heavily in MMA, we always did some drills where Person A would be striking only and Person B only did grappling. A starting in B's guard. Then switch over.
Honestly it hardly sounds like wrestling as such, nothing beyond what I did in the playground or have done in similar situations with no training anyway. I think that when people are focused on each other rather than generally aggressive then you can grab an pull them back. "Leave it mate, it's not worth it." I've successfully defused similar situations entirely verbally, as I guess you or many others have too. Striking is for a different situation, as you say. Mitch
In technical terms nothing much happened, that much is true but I distinctly remember using my hips with a gable grip in the way I had been taught in wrestling to get him away. I think what I was trying to say was that the wrestling training I had gotten through MMA gave me the confidence to get stuck in and control someone who was bigger than me in what would, normally for me be a pretty stressful situation. Maybe I had a different child-hood to you but I don't think I could or would have done that without the training that I had and I wanted to share that with the SD people here at MAP.
Didn't mean to belittle your experience in this event or otherwise denigrate your post dude, I thought it had good points well made. Mitch
That's ok, I can see how, for some, my story might seem a bit mundane (it is after-all a Self Defence story in which the protagonist isn't even threatened), so I don't think there is much of an argument here.
I don't think it's mundane, you did a lot of good stuff (though maybe risky, but only you know, you were there and felt the atmosphere). Thanks for posting I think it nicely answers the strange street style people who insist all SD is life and death and you have to kill to protect yourself or others. I've personally had experiences where essentially picking someone up round the waist and turning them round several times was sufficient to avoid a confrontation. Mitch
The funny part is how you end up neutralizing a situation before you have time to think about what you're doing. Sounds like you guys were very appropriate...
IMHO, it was good to break up a fight. If the fight had continued or escalated into a more heavy exchange, it will ruin the night for all patrons (as well as the bar business-Ive been there) I cannot count or remember the many scraps, I or someone I knew being there and broke up small encounters like that and having a feeling or thought, "should I or should I have not" On some after break up of petty small scraps, everything seemed calm and time elasped, someone had returned thinking to finish what was started. In some cases, it wasn't even the contestants Simply, I am trying to say, be careful and stay sharp after any ordeal
