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Prepare to Defend Yourself!

By Mike Diez
Photographs by Jovel Lorenzo

So you're in a bar and some tough guy, fully inebriated (by not-so-much alcohol as pride and a company of thugs), suddenly picks on you. What do you do, man, what do you do? Daydreaming at work one day led the author to see if he's got what it takes to take on a rampaging bully or two with just a week of training.

Okay, one week is not an advisable way of learning self-defense, as any trainer worth his salt will tell you. But I have several things going for me in tackling a crash course in martial arts. First off, I have working knowledge of rolls and tumbles to prevent injuries in sparring from learning judo. Secondly, I hit the gym at least twice a week. Third, I have life insurance. Or so I'm told. "Any individual who wishes to engage in any athletic endeavor for the first time, or wants to resume previous athletic activities after a sedentary period, should consult a physician first," warns our Sports Medicine advisor, Ambrosio Valdez, MD. "This is to ensure that he does not have a condition which may predispose him to injury, such as hypertension, ischemic heart disease, etc. For the martial arts, individuals with previous surgeries for traumatic fractures involving metallic implants might be at risk for refractures." Unless you're a masochist, go enroll in a class or take advantage of the cheap classes at your local gym.

Right. Now, I'm subjecting myself to more than just embarrassment for a good cause; I'm out to find out if each 'sport' I participate in has practical applications in the real, often violent world. "If people embraced the philosophies involved in martial arts-the bushido code, for example-then we wouldn't have to study self-defense," says Red Corner Gym owner Joseph Pagulayan.

Wrestling

I am lucky enough to join a bunch of guys training for the second season of ABS-CBN's Kamao. While the first season featured boxing, the next one's on mixed martial arts (MMA). "There is a rise in the number of people who want to learn mixed martial arts in the past few years," says AJ Alcruz, a practitioner of jiu-jitsu. "I guess all the TV exposure is responsible for that."

On my first day, I am supposed to go jogging with the team. And while initially disappointed that I wasn't able to run, I later find out they ran several laps and sprints around the oval track in Philsports Arena. I then realize that I would not have been able to keep up, as my lungs haven't been subjected to anything strenuous in a while. Talk about dedication. Here's their daily routine: Jog at 6 AM, wrestle at 9 AM, rest a couple of hours, resume boxing at 5 PM, and finally end the day with jiu-jitsu. "There really aren't much requirements in joining any form of martial arts. But you do need dedication and passion," says Miko Reyes, Red Corner's jiu-jitsu instructor. Chris Luna, Ali Khatibi, Mik Ensafian, and Gelo Reyes, the four representatives of the Defense Tactics Center (DEFTAC) in the upcoming season of Kamao, are all in their 20s and wildly enthusiastic. Hey, I can still hack it. I still train regularly. Okay, semi-regularly.

Right. Bring it on.

After running, the DEFTAC group goes straight to the Rizal Stadium for their wrestling training. I've been long wondering if I am as nimble as I always thought I was. So I do a couple of warm-ups. Roll and tumble. Luckily, I remember everything my sensei taught me ages ago. But I also reel from the tumbles. And back off from their flips. I may be adventurous, but I'm no fool. "Strains (injuries to the muscles or tendons) or sprains (injures to ligaments) might occur to an individual if he does not recognize his own physical limitations. Oftentimes, these limitations may have to be pointed out to him by his physician," adds Valdez.

Then comes the actual wrestling. I grapple and learn a few tackling moves. Afterwards, things get really intense. I see a couple of guys bending their partners' ankles and knees. (If I were that poor fellow, I'd be a couple of appendages short by now.) I feel my knees buckle a bit as I attack and bend. What is the main difference between athletes and us average guys? It's this thing called ‘muscle memory.' "Muscle memory is a concept wherein an athlete is able to react in distinct and reproducible physical patterns in response to a given situation in sports. Individuals who are able to achieve this perform well in their given sport and are in general, less prone to injuries as they can anticipate and 'plan out' a physical response in a split second," Valdez clarifies. I ask Richard Lasprilla, Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) fighter and DEFTAC trainer, if they get injured a lot during practice. "It's all part of fighting. You get twisted ankles, hyperextensions, a couple of bruises…usually you tap your sparring partner if it gets too painful. Sometimes, joints will pop before you get the chance to tap," he shares. "Anyway, you have to hear about three pops before you break anything. If it's just one click, it's all good." I feel so much better. No, thanks; I'm not ready to have any broken bones in me just yet.

Wrestling involves a lot of kneeling and lunges. One basic move is for two fighters to grab the back of each other's head. As you fight each other for the arm's position, you should try and keep your head as low as possible by tucking your head at the side of your opponent. The goal here is for you to grab hold of the leg and take your man down.

A resident coach approaches me and corrects my grapple and takedown. He tells me that I should move a lot faster. Well, at 31, I am trying. It's just that my knees creak and my ankle's twisting a bit awkwardly.

I call it a day. Man, I miss my youth.

 

 

 

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

Barely into the week (two days, to be precise) and I already have bruises and mat-burns. And my body aches all over. I ask Dr. Valdez if younger students have an advantage over me by virtue of their youth. His reply: "Younger individuals are at an advantage when they take up a sport as their bodies in general are more receptive to instruction, both physically and mentally.But he adds that the physical limitation among middle-aged guys could be overcome by dedication. "It really doesn't matter much how young or old you start with your training. I've seen guys start at 40 and become champions at 42. Or sometimes kids will start really young then eventually become champions at 18. What you do need is heart and dedication," confirms Alvin Aguilar, founder of DEFTAC and URCC, a man who seems to have had more thanhis fair share of scrapes. I ask Alvin why he is so controversial. "I have been in about 100-plus fights. But only about two of those are mine; most of them are about helping my friends out. I never back out of...fights," he reasons. "If someone challenges me, I beat them silly." These days, Aguilar claims he is on the straight and narrow. "I created the URCC precisely because I want a venue wherein a boxer, for example, can test his mettle against a karate guy. There wasn't anything like that before so there was a lot of street-fighting," he adds. "With URCC, we took all that off the street and put them in an arena sanctioned by GAB (Games and Amusement Board)."

Alright then. I join the lads at the Red Corner in Makati. As with the wrestling session we start with warm-ups. Man, oh man. One exercise requires me to hook my legs around the waist of my training partner, cross my arms and tuck it in my chest, and as I dangle, the guy walks around the length of the dojo. I fall off a couple of times. "Hook your legs! Hook them around!" the trainers yell at me. I am trying my best! Then it's my turn to carry my training partner around. Sigh. "Maybe we could move on to the next exercise?" I tell myself. The next drill requires us to crawl on the mat as a spider would while carrying our partner hooked at the back. Ugh…next, please. Then, one of us has to squat, arms spread at the side, while the other starts off clinging at the front then works his way around the body (side, back, other side, then back at front) without falling off. Whew. Maybe we should spar now?

The way they spar in Brazilian jiu-jitsu (BJJ) is this: You try to take down your opponent and pin him. It is extremely difficult for a beginner if your opponent knows how to block your every move. Great. The students here are young and have been practicing BJJ for months. As I see all these juveniles here, I wonder if all the discipline and principles of martial arts are now lost in the current wave of aggression, bloodlust and eagerness of youth. Aguilar doesn't think so. "It's always been like that. First, you wanted to fight so you study martial arts. It got really violent before, especially in the early '90s. Back then you got all these underground fights. I was hotheaded and violent before and I fought in those underground fights," he recounts. "But now, when I see kids that are out of control, we try and guide them. If we can't guide them, then we have to kick them out because that's bad karma for the instructors."

Now I come in, hoping these people would see me as naturally gifted. I do know how to take a fall. That should count for something. "This is the way it usually is; the really talented ones are the really lazy students," says Aguilar. "And the ones who don't have the talent are those who strive really hard and are passionate and dedicated."

I don't stick around long enough to find out in which group I belong.

Boxing

Now feeling feverish with the sudden burst of activities, I head to Fort Bonifacio where the boys train in boxing. Here we see amateur boxers teach whoever wants to learn. I start off with warm-ups (I am now officially the king of warm-ups.) and then I am shown the basics of boxing. It's all about the footwork. "A lot of beginners get cramped legs after doing the footwork basics," my instructor, Buddy tells me. He jokes a lot and admits surprise that I was boxing for the very first time. "You got good form for a beginner," says Buddy. That puts a big smile on my face. "But you have to teach me everything now, because I won't be back. I'm doing this for a feature in our magazine," I tell him. In fairness to the guy, he does a good job of showing me the ropes. (Yes, that is a pun.)

After showing me everything he could possibly teach in about an hour, we go to the ring. I feel my heart beat real fast. I'm sure this guy, with a solid frame courtesy of the ol' Navy, can take me down with just an accidental flick of his wrist. It doesn't help that Buddy, jokingly, I presume, asks his comrade about the ammonia. Everyone enjoys a hearty laugh. I join in gingerly. "Wag ka mag-alala, Sir. Malapit lang ospital dito," his fellow navyman says. Hahaha…hilarious. I was about to ask for a face guard but I worry that people would think of me as a sissy.

Round One. I crouch down and look for openings. I jab and hook. "Watch your balance," Buddy reminds me as I stagger after a right hook lands air. "You should always be wary of your footwork. It's crucial to boxing." At this point I remember what Pagulayan said about amateur boxers: "I have a particular fondness for amateurs because you don't see them doing anything flashy. They throw punches to get points as opposed to knocking down opponents. And they have solid defense." The bell rings. Rest period. Buddy teaches me a few pointers. He says I should relax as I breathe really hard now. "If you get too tense, you won't last two rounds."

Round Two. What do you know? I land one in his gut! After the initial glee, I stand promptly in attention. "Oh no, please don't get back at me for that," I tell Buddy. He shrugs and says not to worry. Then he peppers me with punches. He laughs. "Once you get pummeled, crouch low and protect your head with your arms. Then back away," he says. Sorry, Buddy. I can barely comprehend you what with all the punches you threw at me.

Round Three. Of course, I just prance around. I'm not going to throw any more punches at him. Nor would he me.

"Not bad, Sir. Not bad at all." I'll come back for you, Buddy. 

 

My Kung Fu Is Better

So after a week of training, here's what I got from the experts: If somebody confronts you, run away.

Lame, you say? Yes, especially after having gone through a week of journalistic zeal in the quest for the ultimate self-defense. Which is to turn the other cheek. "It isn't enough to know how to fight. If I am absolutely sure that I can beat the guy, I'll go for it," admits Lasprilla. "But if there's like, five of them and two of those know how to fight, no way." And how do you know someone knows how to fight? "Well, I can tell you how I can spot those who don't know how to fight; you could see their punches coming from a mile away," he adds with a laugh. "They usually cock their punches waaay back. Before they are able to land one, I'd have a couple on him already. If it's a big guy, I try to use my speed and get near him or I position myself at his back and punch him from there. But more often than not, it's best to just walk away."

Pagulayan concurs, saying, "You should know which battles you can win. If somebody sticks a knife at you, give them what they want, man."

So I ask Aguilar, who two years ago was shot with an M-16 rifle while in a Makati club. (A friend, who was with him, died.) Aguilar still has a bullet lodged in his back. He also has several scars from different fights, including a knife wound. "I don't really have to retaliate. They're running from the law right now. The knife attack didn't really bother me, but the shooting did," he says. "Some people can't beat me in a competition so they resort to different tactics." And you thought that ‘the my-school-is-better-than-your school scenario in Karate Kid movies are exaggerated. "But yes, the best way to defend yourself is to not be there. If somebody starts crap with you, get out," he offers.

What say you, Buddy? "The best self-defense training you can get is out there on the track and field."

Okay. These are the toughest guys out there and they are telling us to walk away from a fight. But what happens when we are cornered and the only option is to slug it out?

"If you really, really have to fight, you should first look at your opponent's hands." Obviously, Aguilar knows his stuff so I listen attentively. "Are they empty? He's probably hiding a weapon somewhere that you can't see. Is he holding a knife? A bottle? Then maintain your distance," he advises. "If you get the chance, hit him in his vital areas. I'm not just talking about the groin; there's also the eyes, the throat, the base of the nose, the ears…."

Pagulayan takes a philosophical approach. "There's this thing you call the ‘void' when you're fighting," he explains. "It's when you forget everything you've learned and everything becomes automatic." Of course, you need a deep knowledge of martial arts to draw from in exercising this technique. But then there's another take on the ‘void,' one where you can use for practically any situation. "I remember Alvin (Aguilar) used to do this; what he does is he sneaks an attack on his wife. And he does this all the time. He reasoned this was to prepare her for the unexpected," quips Pagulayan. "I imagine it made for a happy marriage." Yet it's very effective. Imagine riding a bus. Then picture yourself being attacked by someone. You then run scenarios on how to defend yourself. Paranoid, you say? "Yeah, a lot of people tell me to get a life. But this is life. This is how it is," he adds.

So, with a week's worth of crash courses in three combat sports and I find out that in a fight, all I have to do is walk away. Sweet. I have been doing that all my life. What's different? "There are those who train all their life and they become really good at it. Yet at the end of it all, that is just all they are–warriors," says Pagulayan. "But if you take the philosophical side of martial arts and apply those in life, you'll find that it is very useful. Businessmen are now using books written by warriors and apply them as strategies. That is only one aspect of how combat sports can change one's perspectives."

Well, I walk confidently now, knowing I know more about defending myself than most. I guess that's the important thing that martial arts can teach you: confidence. Plus, knowing that the tough guys out there are taught to walk away from a fight makes me breathe a little easier. Although I highly doubt that with all the knowledge that they have, they'd restrain themselves in a battle. But I remember these guys' faces and burn them in my memory. If they start crap with me, I will definitely turn the other cheek.

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