Page 77 - Pat O'Keeffe Combat Kick Boxing

Hold-Breaking

frightened and angry, I bit, butted, spat, punched and kicked like a madman, but
received more than I could give back.
The only thing in my favour was that none of the bouncers were very clever.
They should have kicked my feet out from under me and stamped me into the
deck. As it was I ‘merely’ got whacked from every angle. Perhaps it was the
fierceness of my defence or the sobering sight of their friend on his knees. I later
found out via the police that his collar bone had been broken.
There is another side to this story. I was aware of a gathering crowd of onlookers,
some of them soldiers, lending advice, ‘Give ‘em a judo chop!’ ‘Oh good shot!’ It
even included some wry social commentary, ‘Fuck ’is luck!’ but no one helped
me, not even the chap on whose behalf I’d intervened!
Somehow I broke free from the arm lock and stood before the bouncers. It
was an uneasy and tense few seconds, but it looked like none of us wanted to
carry on. Certainly they didn’t seem in any hurry to resume and I was grateful
just to be able to stand up.
They looked at their friend with the damaged shoulder groaning on the ground
and then at each other and here, I kid you not, are the actual words used by one of
them: ‘You ought to be careful using that unarmed combat . . . you could kill
someone!’
The next day I could barely move. I was covered in huge bruises, limped very
painfully for a few days and my right arm was badly strained, but thankfully nothing
more serious.
I took several lessons away with me that night, but the single most important
one was never, ever, let someone get hold of you and if they do, break the grip as
fast as you can.

77