A 13-year-old California girl is reminding the public that knowing self-defense can save one’s life after she reportedly used her martial arts training to fend off a stranger who tried to assault her – breaking the grown man’s ankle in the process.
The girl, whose name has not been widely shared, recently had to fight to protect herself three years since she began attending jiu-jitsu classes in Carmel, California, about 75 miles (120km) from San Jose, the local news station KSBW reported.
Her jiu-jitsu instructor, Michael Blackburn, told the outlet that the teen was walking home from school on 6 May when a man she did not know stepped out from between two parked cars and tried “to punch her in the face”.
The girl immediately turned to her training to defend herself, as Blackburn put it.
“She punched him, she … got him in a headlock, kneed him a couple of times, spun him around, threw him on the ground,” said Blackburn, who teaches jiu-jitsu at the Carmel Youth Center. “And she had stepped on his foot doing all this – and when she threw him to the ground, she broke his ankle.”
The girl managed to run home safely. Meanwhile, her assailant fled. Police were not immediately able to identify a suspect in the foiled attack – and asked anyone in the quaint beach community with a population of about 3,100 to come forward if they had potentially helpful information.
“We’re doing everything we can to figure out who this person [is who] is responsible for what happened,” the local police department commander, Todd Trayer, told KSBW.
Trayer added that investigators surmise the man may have been under the influence of an intoxicant or “dealing with some other personal issues”.
Blackburn, for his part, said it broke his heart that his student was forced to face down such danger. However, he said to KSBW, he was grateful his student had mastered how to protect herself with jiu-jitsu, a Japanese style of weaponless fighting that emphasizes subduing opponents with holds, throws and paralyzing strikes.
“We’re proud of her, and she did exactly what she was supposed to do,” Blackburn said. “You have to fight in class like you’re going to protect yourself on the street.”
The girl said she hopes her story inspires others to learn self-defense, according to KSBW.
Meanwhile, though they were shocked that one of their own could endure such frightening circumstances, residents said they indeed found inspiration in the girl’s bravery.
“I think it was amazing what she did,” longtime Carmel resident Richard Cushman said to KION, another local news outlet. “It’s fantastic, but it’s horrible what happened.”
The Carmel Youth Center’s chief executive officer, Keith Padgett, added to KION that the girl had authored “a great story of survival”.
“A young person taking charge of their life and not letting anything happen to them – it’s a sad story but a great ending,” Padgett remarked.
