Video Shows Attacker Taken Down After Picking on a Teenager Who Happened to Be a Jiu-Jitsu Champ
Junior world champion in martial arts flips man twice his age to the ground.
A would-be attacker definitely picked on the wrong guy, and it was all caught on video. In the northern UK, a 35-year-old man targeted a 16-year-old boy for a beatdown, only to learn too late that the youth was the junior world champion in martial arts. Read on to find out what—and who—went down, and how the target of the attack is taking a practical stand against bullying.
The Daily Mail reported that Stuart Briggs, 35, recently pleaded guilty to inflicting grievous bodily harm on student Alex Williams, now 17, in North Yorkshire, about four hours north of London. The attack landed the teenager in the ER, where he received six stitches at the hospital for his injuries. But Briggs's pride may have taken the greater hit, thanks to the video of their encounter. Keep reading to learn more and see the video.
Video footage shows Briggs approaching the teen, who was sitting on a bench with a friend. He started shouting threats like "I'm gonna smash your head in" and "I'm gonna stab you down the alley." When Briggs attempts to grab the youth, Williams—an expert in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu—executes a double-leg takedown, lifting him and flipping him onto the ground. The man retreats and then keeps coming back at the teen, and the two grapple as a bystander intervenes to break things up.
It wasn't until the tussle was over that Williams realized the man had bitten a chunk out of his left ear.
A multiple junior world champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu who's also trained in mixed martial arts and wrestling, Williams had previously spoken about what was going through his mind during the encounter. "As he got closer to me, I saw an opportunity to defend myself and fight back, so I took it," he said. "When the fight or flight kicks in, you've got to choose one or the other, and I chose to fight back and I was focused. Obviously, I was worried in case he had a knife on him, because he has threatened to stab me, but in situations like that, it's about surviving, and I was thankfully ready for him."
The teen recounted how the man kept attacking him and how he used his martial-arts skills to defuse things. "I thought after I had taken him down the first time that he would have walked away, but he came back for more, so I just continued to try to restrain him without hitting him," said Williams. "I was in a seated position, and the move just came to me naturally because I've drilled it a thousand times in training. My main aim was to de-escalate the situation safely."
"There was blood everywhere, and I realized he had bitten a chunk out of my ear," said Williams. Eventually, Briggs left the scene, and Williams called the police. The wound required six stitches to close.
The attack happened on September 14 of last year; Briggs is free on bail after entering his guilty plea last week. Local media reports that since the viral attack, Williams has opened an anti-bullying gym for children. Twenty boys and girls attend regularly.
