13-year-old says she used jiu-jitsu to fight off man trying to attack her

CARMEL, Calif. (KSBW) - A 13-year-old girl said a man tried to assault her, but she ended up using her martial arts training to fight him off.

A walk home from school on May 6 turned into a terrifying moment for the girl, who did not share her name, when she came face-to-face with a man trying to physically assault her.

But the man didn’t know she practiced jiu-jitsu.

For three years, she has been attending Blackburn’s jiu-jitsu classes at the Carmel Youth Center.

“Halfway home, a gentleman was standing in between two cars, and he stepped out to punch her in the face,” Michael Blackburn, the girl’s jiu-jitsu instructor, said.

She took what she learned in class into real life to escape her attacker.

“She punched him, she wrapped it, got him in a headlock, kneed him a couple of times, spun him around, threw him on the ground,” Blackburn said. “And she had stepped on his foot doing all this, and when she threw him to the ground, she broke his ankle.”

She was able to run home and is safe.

However, with her attacker still on the loose, her family and police have asked her to keep her identity anonymous.

“We’re doing everything we can to figure out who this person is that’s responsible for what happened,” said Commander Todd Trayer with the Carmel Police Department.

Carmel police said they do not have a solid lead on the man yet, but have released a sketch of what they believe he looks like.

“The person was acting unusual, like potentially under the influence of something or dealing with some other personal issues,” Trayer said.

For Blackburn, he said that although it is heartbreaking to know his student was put in this situation, he is grateful she knew how to defend herself.

“I told her we were proud of her, and she did exactly what she was supposed to do,” he said. “You have to fight in class like you’re going to protect yourself on the street.”

The girl hopes her story serves as a reminder to other young women that knowing self-defense can save their lives.

Police are still hoping they will track down the suspect.

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