The Daily Telegraph - Saturday
Fight or flight? How to floor an attacker
Jack Rear learns self-defence for any situation – and yes, you can kick them where it hurts and run
What would you do if a mugger attacked you and tried to grab your wallet? If you’re 94-yearold David Queensberry, the 12th Marquess of Queensberry, you’d grab at their left shoulder and right forearm to destabilise them, and sweep their leg.
The quick thinking and fast reflexes of this 5ft 4in retired ceramics professor, whose great-grandfather codified the rules of boxing, were the result of his training in judo, which, in Japanese, translates as “the gentle way”. Though gentleness was far from my mind when I found myself being hurled around a dojo by Peter Blewett, chairman of the Budokwai, Europe’s oldest judo club, nestled inside a former school building in Chelsea, west London.
It was founded in 1918 by Gunji Koizumi, “the father of British judo”, and was where Queensberry himself trained, as have many Olympians and celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Guy Ritchie and Jason Statham. Mick Jagger, Sebastian Coe and William Hague have also hit the mats.
As I lunge with a rubber knife, Blewett catches my wrist and twists, puts pressure on my outstretched elbow and suddenly I’m on my knees. “Put the knife down, young man,” the 64-year-old judo master says gently until I release my grip.
“Judo is fantastic for self-defence because it gives you an awareness of space,” explains John Goodbody, vice-president of the Budokwai, who remembers sparring with Queensberry in the 1960s. “If someone grabs you, judo gives you the skills to throw them quite easily. Grabbing is often the way people try to subdue you in the street, so judo can be particularly helpful here.” Judokas (as those who practise judo are called) become adept at throws and holds rather than punching, kicking or slapping. The martial art isn’t about displaying force of your own, but rather redirecting your opponent’s.
“You created movement, and you use your partner’s movement to your advantage. If you were to push me, instead of pushing back, I would turn away and bring you with me, using your own force to drag you off balance instead,” says Blewett, demonstrating by showing me a move where he catches my arm as I throw a punch, pulls me off balance towards him, and then sweeps my feet out from under me. This resembles the move Queensberry performed.
A judo throw is very effective if you are attacked in the street, says Goodbody. “If you throw someone on concrete, it’s very difficult to recover from it,” he explains. “A practised judoka can throw someone twice their size and in any way they need.” This makes it ideal for women, those who are slightly smaller in stature and those more advanced in age (like Queensberry) to defend themselves.
“It’s difficult, you have to assess the level of threat and be proportionate, while dealing with the fact you’re scared, you’re in a public environment, and you have to make a hard judgment call,” says Blewett. “Training in martial arts helps give you an awareness of when to move and when not to.”
Before you try any of these though, there is the golden rule. “The most important thing in a fight, in any fight, but particularly in a street fight, is to get your blow in first; you’re doing whatever it takes to get away,” says Blewett. “If in doubt, kick him in the gonads and run.” It might not be honourable, but then again, neither is attacking someone in the streets.