Gauraangee feels a strong sense of empowerment when she realises that she can defend herself if attacked by a stronger opponent. The 16-year-old is one of the 100-odd students that Cary Edwards, VJ, stand-up comedian and Brazilian jiu-jitsu coach, has trained over the last three years. “A guy at a restaurant came up to me and asked to fight right there, just to pamper his ego. The context is really important in defence; people confuse ‘self-defence’ and ‘self-offence’, and hence they become aggressive,” says the founder of Contact Mixed Martial Arts in Chennai, who is popular for his Brazilian jiu-jitsu classes aka BJJ.
In his centre on Lloyds Road, boys and girls don roles of the attacker and the attacked, grappling with each other using the routine practice drill and techniques to outdo each other. The technique forms the core philosophy of BJJ. “Post the Delhi gang-rape incident, several centres across the nation were racing to teach women self-defence. The generic classes aimed to prepare for the expected, but in real life you never know how or where someone is going to attack you. So when you are attacked, how you free yourself is all that matters,” says 37-year-old Edwards.
BJJ’s roots began in the early 1900s when a Japanese jiu-jitsu champion taught his Brazilian friend Helio Gracie the technique. Gracie adjusted the technique for his small frame, thereby creating the Brazilian jiu-jitsu. While traditional combat forms stressed strength and speed, BJJ employed leverage, technique and timing to ensure that anyone—regardless of age or build—can defend themselves from larger opponents. “Most women just think they can’t. But I keep asking them, how do they know if they have never tried,” explains Edwards, who graduated with a Black Belt from the Gracie Academy in California.
Proficient in karate and Muay Thai as well, Edwards started free BJJ classes for women in his garage in 2013. For the first few Sundays, only a handful of women turned up. “The truth is that as a society we are still not open to a guy and girl walking hand in hand on the streets, so the BJJ technique does pull back many,” he says, and adds that when one is being attacked, there are no rules of physical space that are applied.
At a recent BJJ session in a school, a girl refused to come forward because Edwards was sweating. “I had to explain that no attacker is going to freshen up for anyone. Once you are under attack, your mind should focus on using the right techniques to free yourself, and nothing else should matter,” he says.
Edwards charges `3,000 from students and `4,000 from working people for a course. At times he gives free classes to women who can’t afford to pay.
He explains that BJJ is the most practical martial art form for women, and one of its focus areas is fighting on the ground, when the attacker is on top of the victim. “A person trained in jiu-jitsu would want to take the fight to the ground, because they can use their techniques to disengage the attacker,” he says. Even though like other martial art forms there are levels and coloured belts, a woman who knows only a few basic techniques will still feel empowered to defend herself from an attacker.
At Contact Mixed Martial Arts centre, it is apparent that the heaviest one does not always win. The right technique combined with a sharp presence of mind will allow the victim to manipulate her body into a dominant position, either pinning down the attacker or seriously hurting him.