Local Black Belt in Jiu-Jitsu Chokes Out Attacker
By Garret Delaurier
Moose Jaw’s own Nathan Bernard was able to use his technical abilities in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in a real world scenario this past Monday in Regina.
Just after finishing a job, headed to get some coffee, Nathan and a friend were driving through Wascana Park when they suddenly heard a vehicle crash.
An SUV had crashed into a barricade and there was a man screaming the words “help me, he has a gun!”
Bernard and his friend drove closer to investigate.
As they pulled up to the scene they could see a man was running around frantically.
There was another vehicle with older ladies, and the man was attempting to open the door when he started coming toward Bernard.
It was likely the wrong move as Bernard has a black belt and teaches Jiu-Jitsu at Moose Jaw’s “Control” Jiu-Jitsu martial arts club.
He is a black belt with 31 victories to his name and in 2020 won ‘gold’ at “Abu Dhabi Pro Jiu-Jitsu Championship” in Toronto and was ranked number one in Canada.
Not exactly the ideal guy to go ‘toe-to-toe’ with in a physical altercation.
Speaking to MJ Independent Bernard thought to himself “I’m going to choke him out.”
He said to the untrained person could sound harsh, but in this type of scenario, is the least dangerous way to de-escalate things.
The man approached Bernard and he immediately started to choke him out.
He said it only takes about five seconds for someone to be choked unconscious, however it took Bernard about ten seconds, which made him think that the man might be on some kind of drugs.
“He smelled like booze.” Bernard said while describing the event.
The man passed out and Bernard held the man in what he said was a way that was safe.
NATHAN BERNARD - SUBMITTED PHOTO
Bernard said it was mot his intention to hurt anyone, quite the opposite, he involved himself to keep the situation as safe as possible.
The man would wake out of unconsciousness and start yelling things like “don’t hurt me” and “I have twins”.
Bernard would assure him and say “Nobody’s going to hurt you”.
An eye-witness to the events would later make the claims about the man “He was driving in and out of ditches”, “he was doing ‘donuts’” and “he was ‘tripping-balls’”.
Bernard held the man until the police arrived on the scene.
He was very careful to not cause any physical harm to the man.
“Sometimes people get messed up, why make them pay for it? I was just trying to keep things safe.”
The police arrived and arrested the individual.
Bernard said the police were less careful with their treatment of the man, yanking him by the arm.
“It was like I had nicely wrapped them a present and they unwrapped it, smashed it and wrapped it again for themselves.” Bernard said, adding “you don’t have to be super aggressive” about the police.
He said this was a situation which could have been a lot worse, but thankfully someone with the right training was there to de-escalate things.
Bernard said despite his being a black belt with numerous victories that people of all body types can develop these techniques to help them in these types of situations.
Jiu-Jitsu can be for anybody and is the best way to learn how to defend yourself, he said.