Defend yourself & help others
Advice of MMA ‘hero’ who took down homeless menace
This guy’s fists are weapons — that are cleaning up the streets of New York.
The heroic mixed martial arts fighter who took down an assault suspect in Soho last week said on Friday that he used a “seat belt” move to subdue the man — and that he leapt into action after thinking of his own mother and father being in danger.
“The main thing that spurred me into action was the fear that he may actually hurt another person,” Ro Malabanan, a jiujitsu black belt, told The Post. “What popped up in my mind was my parents, because they’re older.”
“I found out that he hit an elderly person and a teenager, so obviously he didn’t care. I just wanted to get him off the streets as quick as possible.”
Malabanan said he used the seat-belt maneuver, which drags an opponent to the ground, on Samuel Frazier after seeing him sucker-punch an older construction worker near Broadway and Prince Street on July 27.
Malabanan pinned the homeless man, who had allegedly delivered “unprovoked” strikes to the heads of at least two people, and held him until police arrived.
His actions drew cheers and support from onlookers, some of whom said they had been punched by Frazier.
But Malabanan said he was hesitant to act at first for fear he might face legal consequences.
“I actually didn’t want to get involved because I was afraid something may happen to me or worse like if I did something to him,” he said. “He could reverse the situation and press charges on me. All these things were going through my mind.”
Malabanan said he took it easy on Frazier, knowing that his martial-arts training could be held against him in court.
“In New York, you’re only allowed to use as much physical force as a person did to you. Me being a trained individual . . . I could be held accountable.”
An initial investigation found Frazier struck the heads of a 50year-old man and a 17-year-old boy without provocation, police said. He was charged with two counts of assault.
‘A lot more crime’
Malabanan said the attacks were examples of New York’s crime wave.
“I grew up in New York City. I have lived here for 35 years and I’ve never experienced this much harassment. I get harassed at least once a month,” said Malabanan, who came to New York from the Philippines at age 9.
“For the past few years, at least after the pandemic, I believe a lot of people are suffering from mental illness. There has been a lot more homelessness and a lot more crime,” he said.
To combat the problem, he said, cops should learn martial arts.
“I strongly believe that most police officers need jiujitsu, frankly speaking, to be able to subdue any perpetrator,” Malabanan said. “It should be mandatory for police officers.”
He said everyone should be prepared for trouble with personal defense training, especially with the violence he has seen in the city in recent months.
“There’s a saying in martial arts that says, ‘I’d rather be a warrior in a garden than a gardener in a war,’ which means to be prepared as opposed to being in that situation and not prepared,” he said.
“I surely hope [people learn to defend themselves] because in my opinion, an ounce of prevention is better than a bottle of medicine.”