1. Just a few years ago, I was walking down the street in San Diego, minding my own business. I was walking (westward) with a couple of friends of mine. Three “dudes” (who were bald and dressed in black) were walking eastward on the same street. My friends saw the way the three guys dressed and wanted no part of them, so they walked out onto the street to avoid walking into them. Well, since the sidewalk was wide, and since there was plenty of room for myself and these three dudes to walk by each other without anyone getting in another person’s space, I decided to stay on the sidewalk. These three guys obviously wanted trouble. So, they drifted over towards my side of the sidewalk and bumped into me to run me off the sidewalk. I turned to them and they turned towards me. One of them made the following statement (something I will never forget):

“What are you looking at you F’ing sickle cell anemia infested gorilla?”

I smiled and stood my ground. We stared at each other for another 20 seconds, then they turned, joked with each other and walked away from me. I turned and walked towards my friends. They were embarassed that even in 2004, people could still act like that.

2. In the spring of 2000, I taught a JKD seminar in Switzerland. Part of the seminar focused on training against multiple assailants. Two guys who attended the seminar argued with me (on several occasions, during the seminar) that there was nothing a person could do if assulated by two people. Later on in the seminar, these same two guys decided to teach me a lesson in front of the 62 people who were attending the seminar. While I was facing one direction and addressing half of the crowd, these two guys jumped me from behind and tackled me to the ground. Our fight was over in about 5 seconds. The first guy - I grabbed his left nut and pulled it down to his left knee. The second guy - I bit his nipple like a newborn baby! None of them had anything more to say after that incident.

3. While teaching a seminar to a foreign Special Forces, the head “hand to hand combat instructor” asked to grapple with me after the seminar. When we shook hands, I saw how anxious his soldiers were. So I asked him, are we grappling for sport or street? In other words, are we looking for the tap, or are eye pokes, groin shots and other techniques alowed? He said, “It’s sport!” So, we started grappling. In less than five seconds, he had his thumb in my eye. I pulled his thumb out of my eye, threw him onto his back, pinned his arms above his head and bit his left nipple like a newborn calf! He screamed, “OK, OK, OK!” We started grappling again.

This time, he grabbed my balls with his right hand and tried to subdue me with some other technique. I took this opportunity to show this instructor that I would not be anyone’s punching bag. So, I set out to humiliate him in front of his boys. I put my fingers in his eyes, I bit his nipple, I twisted his eyelids, I stuck my thumb up his butt, I pulled his BDU up over his head and slapped him several times in the face. Finally, he gave up.

When I asked him why he did what he did, he replied, “You see that man over there? He is the commandant of this facility. He believes that Americans are soft. So, he asked me to test you.” I told him, “You now know by personal experience that this American is not soft!” He agreed.

4. While teaching a seminar in a foreign country, a guy asked me if I had any realistic knife defenses. I said “Yes, I do.” He replied, “I don’t believe you.” I replied, “Well, I do.” He replied again, “I don’t believe you.”

So, I asked the crowd if anyone had a real knife with them. The guy who asked the question went to his gym bag and pulled out a four inch folding knife. I told him to attack me. He asked, “How hard do you want me to attack?” I said, “The harder you attack me, the hard my response will be.” He asked, “What are you going to do?” I replied, “You think I’m going to tell you? You said you didn’t believe I had realistic defenses against a knife. Well, it doesn’t get any more real than this. Now attack me!”

At first, he came at me in a manner that was “non-committal.” He was waiting to see what I would do so he could formulate a different attack and embarass me. When I wouldn’t commit, he asked, “Is that all you’re gonna do?” (All I did was back away from the knife). I responded by saying, “Is that all you’re gonna do? You’re the person with the knife!”

With that, he came at me harder and I presented him with a response he had never felt before! To make a long story short, after receiving my present, he put the knife away, shook my hand and said, “I believe you have realisti defenses against a knife.”

There are 39 other incidents that have happened over the years. While none of them counts as a true streetfighting story, I can say that I have bitten more than 100 nipples, have kicked more than my fair share of groins and thighs, have choked quite a few people unconscious, and have cracked a number of elbows!

I dislike violence, but when forced into a corner, I can fight like a wild banshee on PCP!

Oh yeah….....the time I was in Bavaria and a small group of punks decided to pick a fight with Paul Vunak and myself…....now that was memorable!

Well, there you have it Kway…...and tapout10 thought I would never respond ; )

Good training to you,

I just wanted to write expressing appreciation for your candid writings on the martial arts. I have been a student of aikido for 17 years. I had a “ferocious” shihan teacher from Hombu Dojo whos beautiful displays of violence convinced me for years that he was “invincible”. But i was getting tired of watching the beatings, getting them and the cult-like atmosphere.

One day a friend of mine invited me to try brazilian jiu jitsu and just as you report, nothing that i had learned as a sandan in aikido could help me (i didn’t have any judo skills to fall back on). This made me question everything about aikido and the sensei.

I have since left that teacher. I now recognize that he was beating up us “defenseless” ukes. I no longer wanted to be one of those folks. I am 47 years old and decided that i did not want my body destroyed.

I still train in aikido at another dojo. There are many things that I love about aikido, but recognize the art’s limited value for self-defense, as you have done in your article. This is the first time i have read something about aikido/BJJ that rings true for me. I am training BJJ through private lessons at the Ralph Gracie academy in SF and meeting real fighters who put their money where there mouth is in the octagon.

I am impressed to to watch your videos and see how you have blended BJJ and Aikido into your teachings. I often feel that aikido is “not enough” and BJJ is “too much”.