62-year-old Mike Lowery was in a parking lot in Arlington, Texas, on his way to do cardio, when a much larger man, apparently on drugs, suddenly asked if he wanted to fight, and attacked. Security camera footage shows what happened next. Lowery took a shot, squared up, hit the attacker back, took his back, took him down, took mount, softened him up, and put him out with a rear-naked choke. Then the capable and affable Lowery went into the building lobby to call the police and make sure no one else was forced to interact with the now prostrate attacker.
“This is a very grainy video from the hotel cameras when I got attacked this morning,” wrote Lowery of the footage below. “Though it is not a close-up it is still very hard for me to watch. I thought he was dead. As you can see he is much bigger than I am and I feared for my life.”
Lowery is a military vet, and former student at Fudoshin BJJ in Medford, Oregon. Founder and head instructor Adam Nadow, a black belt under Rigan Machado, offered further details and insight.
“Why train BJJ … because s*** happens and you need to be ready when it does,” wrote Nadow. “Former Fudoshin BJJ student and military vet, 62 year old Mike lowery was attacked in Arlington, Texas around 6:00 a.m. on his way to do cardio. We just spoke early this morning and he was praising me for his brief training at Fudoshin. Claimed it saved his life during an altercation. Mike was able to assess the situation and act accordingly. Even basic BJJ and limited classes helped him survive and thrive under duress. I had to point out that his military training played a big role here as well.
“He was hit while trying to get away. The fight was on, he punched back, closed distance, took the attacker down and dominated top control. Ground and pound until attacker gave his back, then…. RNC for lights out.
“BJJ basics kicked in when he needed it. More videos to follow as I have to share them from his page.
“Even an experience war VET, and verified life badass gets scared. Know what to do, an attacker does care if you are scared or not, Mike offered the guy money and was begging him to let him walk away. But as we see … logic lost … combat insured BJJ won.”
