Rob Buckley

Real life
There's only been one time in my life when I've used Jitsu. I was on my way to a Jitsu session, carrying a bag of books for other members, when a guy stopped me and asked if I could change some money for a phone call. I agreed, but he kept asking to change more, but at no point giving me the money he was trying to change. Eventually, I asked for my money back. He refused and made it clear he wanted all my money. I gouged his eye in return and he backed off and told me he was going to stab me. To my own amazement, I heard myself say, “Go on then,” and adopt 'Yoi'. He started searching his pockets and when he couldn't find his knife (I wonder why…), he legged it.

Falling
Although the occasional backward roll slips out, the most useful falling has ever been to me is when the brakes on my bike failed and I ploughed into the back of a car. I went flying headfirst into the car's rear window, but immediately adopted a forward roll position. Instead of mashing my face, I hung pasted to the window upside down for a few seconds, my bike dangling from me, before gravity took over and man and machine returned to the ground.

Fitness
I used to go to the gym every day, but if I missed a few sessions of Jitsu, when I went back, I found my fitness and flexibility levels had dropped quite a bit. A few sessions later and they were back to normal.

New skills
My step-brother-in-law (!) was in a road accident and I remembered enough of my first aid training to make sure he was okay, but things could have been a lot worse – in which case, it could well have been a life-saver.

I've had to run a few courses at work and the instructor courses have definitely improved my teaching techniques.