Famed Martial Arts trainer Brian Kemsley put his expertise to good use earlier in November, when he used jiu-jitsu to thwart a kidnapping attempt like it was a scene out of a movie.
The video, which was captured from a distance on a cell phone shows Kemsley restraining the man, as a woman with a stroller walks away in New York's Madison Square Park. Kemsley wraps his arms and legs around the suspect from behind, securing him on the ground, as other bystanders sat down and held the man's legs down. Park security eventually come and handcuff the man. While restrained, the man shouts a number of obscenities and a few racial slurs, until security arrive and the video ends.
Kemsley is an instructor at Evolution Muay Thai in New York City, according to the fighter had "dabbled" with Jeet Kune Do and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, before getting into Muay Thai. Actor turned fighter Jonny Lee Miller revealed that Kemsley is his training partner in an Instagram post, sharing the story about the thwarted kidnapping.
In a public Facebook post, Kemsley said he had heard commotion, causing him to make way. He also said that while jiu jitsu wasn't his preferred fighting style, sometimes it's the most necessary and useful, like in stopping this kidnapper.
"I don't enjoy jiu jitsu," he wrote. "But I have a lot of respect for it as it is absolutely essential in a street fight, or for self defense. This is coming from a Muay Thai fighter that's very comfortable on my feet. It is way more effective to be able to control someone's movements and limbs than it is to break your hand swinging, and hurting the them as well."
After explaining that it took too long for police and security to arrive, he said that basic jiu-jitsu training was more useful for conflicts like this. "You can't rely on cops, you can't rely on just blasting people with a gun, go train, go learn this. The limited jujitsu I learned over 6 years ago allowed me to control a strong raging full grown man like he was a baby," he wrote.
In the post, Kemsley also provided a breakdown of the moves he used to restrain the man, as well as commentary about some of the difficulties he had flagging down police to handle the incident. He concluded the post by saying that the man was taken into psychiatric care, and the woman thanked everyone around her. "I might have Covid now," he ended the post.
"It's not a matter of stepping in. It's a matter of duty when you see a woman and her child screaming," Kemsley told PIX11 news in an interview. Kemsley also said that no one was hurt.
Newsweek reached out to Evolution Muay Thai via email and Kemsley via Facebook Messenger for comment, but did not receive a response in time for publication.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
