Aikido vs Burglar

Bill Mattocks

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I always love stories like this...


Philippe Couillez was in bed watching television at about 2 a.m. CDT when he heard a noise downstairs, according to the newspaper. His 5-year-old daughter was asleep and at first, he thought the family cat had knocked over a chair, which the feline had done the night before.

“And then I heard talking and I was saying, ‘My cat doesn’t talk,’” Philippe Couillez told KCCI.
 

skribs

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I don't think it happens as much on here, but it happens a lot on Reddit, where people will say things like: it's impossible to use Aikido to defend yourself, you're better off not training than training Aikido, or that Aikido is fine [as long as you acknowledge it is useless and you're okay being a second-rate "martial" artist]. I hate hearing things like that. Stories like this prove otherwise.
 

Flying Crane

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Oh well, according to the story the intruder was clearly intoxicated, so it doesn’t count. Anything works against someone who is intoxicated.
 

Steve

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I don't think it happens as much on here, but it happens a lot on Reddit, where people will say things like: it's impossible to use Aikido to defend yourself, you're better off not training than training Aikido, or that Aikido is fine [as long as you acknowledge it is useless and you're okay being a second-rate "martial" artist]. I hate hearing things like that. Stories like this prove otherwise.
Absolutely. We know now, definitively, that aikido is at least as good as no training when faced with a drunk who had just fallen down a flight of stairs. Those guys on Reddit can suck it. 🤭
 

Jared Traveler

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I don't think it happens as much on here, but it happens a lot on Reddit, where people will say things like: it's impossible to use Aikido to defend yourself, you're better off not training than training Aikido, or that Aikido is fine [as long as you acknowledge it is useless and you're okay being a second-rate "martial" artist]. I hate hearing things like that. Stories like this prove otherwise.
I think it's great to hear about these stories also. Reading the article, it seems like he solved the problem with some simple school yard level shoving. However who knows, maybe his Akido helped him in this situation more than the description implies.

I will say in my experience, when the level of intoxication reaches the point, you are in the wrong house, you are just about fall down drunk.
 
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Bill Mattocks

Bill Mattocks

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I think it's great to hear about these stories also. Reading the article, it seems like he solved the problem with some simple school yard level shoving. However who knows, maybe his Akido helped him in this situation more than the description implies.

I will say in my experience, when the level of intoxication reaches the point, you are in the wrong house, you are just about fall down drunk.
I got stabbed in the back with a bayonet by a drunken Marine who was trying to keep me from apprehending his buddy, who was also highly intoxicated. Drunks can still hurt you, and they're generally more willing to try. I applaud anyone who defends themselves against a home invader, whether they do it with their martial arts training or a kitchen utensil.
 

Xue Sheng

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I got stabbed in the back with a bayonet by a drunken Marine who was trying to keep me from apprehending his buddy, who was also highly intoxicated. Drunks can still hurt you, and they're generally more willing to try. I applaud anyone who defends themselves against a home invader, whether they do it with their martial arts training or a kitchen utensil.

Agreed, I have had matches with many a drunk (drug addicts and mental health cases too) in my hospital security days, they are not as easy to deal with as many think
 

Dirty Dog

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I think it's great to hear about these stories also. Reading the article, it seems like he solved the problem with some simple school yard level shoving. However who knows, maybe his Akido helped him in this situation more than the description implies.
A large portion of violent confrontations involve substance abuse of some sort. Based on my experience of a lifetime spent in the ER, I will say well over half. Being intoxicated doesn't generally make someone less dangerous. In many ways, the lowering of inhibitions or outright drug-induced psychosis makes people more dangerous.
I will say in my experience, when the level of intoxication reaches the point, you are in the wrong house, you are just about fall down drunk.
And your experience is what, exactly?
 

Jared Traveler

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I got stabbed in the back with a bayonet by a drunken Marine who was trying to keep me from apprehending his buddy, who was also highly intoxicated. Drunks can still hurt you, and they're generally more willing to try. I applaud anyone who defends themselves against a home invader, whether they do it with their martial arts training or a kitchen utensil.
I don't disagree. My only point regarding intoxication is that I have been face to face with a great number of intoxicated people. I also use to show up and deal with those who were trying to get into strangers houses. From my experience at that point, most of them in that particular situation are literally fall down with a finger push drunk.

If you are so intoxicated that you think you are in your house and it's a strangers house, that's pretty drunk.
 
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Jared Traveler

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However, I'm clearly off base a little bit, for two reasons. 1. This drunk guy had enough coordination to push the door in 2. He had enough left in him after falling down the stairs to at least make a significant enough attempt to assault the arresting officer, to the point he was charged with attempted assault on a cops

So I have to agree he was probably not finger push down drunk. My mistake. Good on Aikido guy!
 

Damien

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I got stabbed in the back with a bayonet by a drunken Marine who was trying to keep me from apprehending his buddy, who was also highly intoxicated. Drunks can still hurt you, and they're generally more willing to try. I applaud anyone who defends themselves against a home invader, whether they do it with their martial arts training or a kitchen utensil.
Possibly the most casual comment about being stabbed ever! I do hope it wasn't a bad stabbing, you know, as stabbings go...
 
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Bill Mattocks

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Possibly the most casual comment about being stabbed ever! I do hope it wasn't a bad stabbing, you know, as stabbings go...
I was kneeling on the ground, applying hand irons, and his buddy came running up behind me and stabbed me in the back with his bayonet. I was wearing my flack jacket and it penetrated maybe a quarter inch or less into my right shoulder. Bled a bit. My partner took him down as he tried to stab me again. I hardly noticed it had gone through the flack jacket at the time. Hurt a bit later after I got it bandaged and was trying to sleep.
 

Jared Traveler

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I was kneeling on the ground, applying hand irons, and his buddy came running up behind me and stabbed me in the back with his bayonet. I was wearing my flack jacket and it penetrated maybe a quarter inch or less into my right shoulder. Bled a bit. My partner took him down as he tried to stab me again. I hardly noticed it had gone through the flack jacket at the time. Hurt a bit later after I got it bandaged and was trying to sleep.
Legit. Any lessons learned?
 

Jared Traveler

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Police work is dangerous. Having a partner in hostile territory is good.
Yes. It's hard to quantify just how much more of a complex problem you present to a criminal when you have a partner. I think it's one of the most tactical things you can do, is to not isolate yourself. But officers still get excited and Lone Ranger too many calls.
 

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isshinryuronin

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maybe his Akido helped him in this situation more than the description implies.
Regardless of one's opinion of aikido as an effective fighting system, it can certainly teach basic principles of evasion, calmness, balance and leverage. Just these skills alone can be useful with dealing with a drunk and allow him to defeat himself. In fact, IMO, a drunk's lack of coordination and balance, and exaggerated movements, make him the perfect opponent for an aikido defender.
 

Jared Traveler

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Regardless of one's opinion of aikido as an effective fighting system, it can certainly teach basic principles of evasion, calmness, balance and leverage. Just these skills alone can be useful with dealing with a drunk and allow him to defeat himself. In fact, IMO, a drunk's lack of coordination and balance, and exaggerated movements, make him the perfect opponent for an aikido defender.
I totally agree with all of this.
 

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