They gagged us and dragged us to the garages. The Russian champion saved a girl from four thugs

Late at night, while returning home from the store, a 21-year-old Russian fighter heard strange moans. Soon an unpleasant picture opened up to him: four thugs were dragging a girl. Someone would probably chicken out in such a situation, but our hero couldn’t pass by.

Andrey stood up for the girl and single-handedly pacified four thugs.

“There’s no point in waiting”

A fighter from the RMK Martial Arts Academy, Andrei Filimonov, became the champion of Russia, won the Asian Cup three times and won silver at the World Koshiki Karate Championship. In the summer of 2023, the young athlete was forced to use his fighting skills outside the martial arts gym.

Returning through the night streets of Yekaterinburg from the store, Andrei heard strange sounds, and then saw four men dragging a girl to the garages, covering her mouth. It was obvious where everything was going, but not everyone in such a situation would risk entering into an unequal battle. The young karateka did not waste time thinking and decided to act, without thinking that a fight with four scoundrels is, without exaggeration, a serious risk to life.

“It turned out that one of the four immediately came up, and I hit, hit well, and he fell. I have been practicing martial arts for 15 years and I understand that there is no point in waiting in such a situation. The remaining three ran up, and then it hit me normally,” the E1 portal quoted Filimonov as saying.

Karate vs knife

The girl, taking advantage of the opportunity, was able to escape. But Andrei found himself in a situation where three enemies remained against him, one of whom grabbed a knife. In karate, practicing defense against edged weapons is part of the training process, but when opposite is not a partner with a dummy, but a bandit ready to kill, fear can bind.

Andrey Filimonov / Photo: © Social networks of Andrey Filimonov

Fortunately, Filimonov was not taken aback and began to act as the coach taught: he hit the hand with the knife with his left, and immediately added it to the head with his right. The attacker dropped the knife, but not before he managed to catch Andrei in his pants pocket. The wound turned out to be harmless, and the criminals decided to flee.

Having come to his senses, the athlete went to the police to write a statement. By the way, Andrei himself does not consider himself a hero and is sure that any normal person would do the same. And he sees the credit for a favorable outcome in the work of coach Vasily Kosynkin, who not only taught the guy fighting skills, but also an understanding of how and when to use them.