In a haunting display of why martial arts should only be used as a last resort, a man with Brazilian Jui-Jitsu (BJJ) blue belt in Saigon, Vietnam killed an elderly motorcycle-taxi driver by using the famed jui-jitsu technique, the rear-naked choke (RNC).
Citing multiple published reports, 20-year-old Nguyen Hoang Minh had a dispute with his motorcab driver, Luu Thanh Son last month, after the pair got lost in the way to their supposed destination.
The incident reportedly escalated further, after the 61-year-old driver demanded extra money for his services.
His passenger, however, took offense and immediately executed the throat-squeezing move, as seen in the 33-second video.
Not contented with this, Minh took the man’s wallet and cell phone, before fleeing with the taxi bicycle.
Fortunately, the incident was recorded by a nearby security camera, and the thieving suspect was arrested a week later.
According to Minh’s official statement to the police, his travel fare amounted to 30,000 Vietnamese Dong (PhP 63), but Son wanted VND 100,000 (PhP 210) because they got lost.
Minh refused, offering only VND50,000 (PhP 105), which resulted into a physical altercation with tragic results.
Also, the suspect reportedly was suffering financial difficulties, and even owed a friend a total of VND10 million (PhP21,000).
He was adept at Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and had won a silver medal at an international BJJ tournament in Singapore.
Submission holds in BJJ are not usually related to fatalities as it only aims to disarm, dislocate or render someone unconscious.
However, chokeholds like the RNC used by Minh, directly cuts supply of oxygen to the brain, which could turn fatal when used for a prolonged period of time. Khristian Ibarrola, INQUIRER.NET