Back in 2017, the Chinese restaurant ‘Le Bon Vent’ in the quiet Paris suburb of Bourg La Reine was the scene of a event that could have ended in tragically. At 10:30 am, just like every morning, Albert Cheng, the owner and avid BJJ blue belt at the Shadow BJJ Team, and his wife, opened their restaurant. 45 minutes later, while Albert was busy in the kitchen, he heard his wife screaming. Understanding that there was a problem, he came out of the kitchen and noticed a masked and armed individual behind the cash register.

Albert Chng with Cicero Costha

Abert Cheng told Jits.fr:

“When I approached him, he threatened me with his automatic weapon and ordered me not to move and let him do. By instinct of survival, I obeyed and hid behind the counter. My wife had a fit of rage and threw herself on him and he pushed her away without knocking her down, noticing that his gun seemed more to bother him than anything else, I realized that it was probably a fake weapon I then threw myself on him. We wrestled and I pulled guard, he got up, his jacket having been torn, I continued with a double leg takedown and submitted him with an arm in guillotine in my guard. “

The individual passed out, the passers-by had time to lend a hand to Albert and the police arrived soon after to the scene.

“I would like to thank all the Grappling clubs where I have trained: USV Sambo, Cercle Tissier, ASBR (GFTeam) of GFteam and Shadow Team of Azzedine Taj, a club in which I currently train, without whom I probably would not known what to do. “

Albert Cheng after the incident was left with bloodied nose and a bruise on the forehead.

Albert Cheng also made another statment on the BJJEE facebook page:

“Hey guys, I’m the actual Cheng Albert. First of all, I’m glad to be alive and well today.
Also I wanted to clear some things out.
When this happened I was in my kitchen cooking some dishes. Heard the woman screams.
Ran out.
Saw a hooded dude with a gun.
He aimed at me and shouted “don’t move”.
I hid behind my counter.
My wife then did something only a Chinese woman would do (lol), she attacked the dude when he started touching the cashier.
I then had no choice but to intervene.
Unfortunately for me I’ve only been trained against Un armed (sport jiu jitsu) people. And the cash counter is extremely narrow making it difficult to even punch or kick correctly. The dude was also much taller than I and probably heavier as well. I just did the stupidest thing and pulled guard. Then he got up because his vest ripped.
Double leg (not the best one mind you) and then finished with the arm in guillotine.
Anyway I hope that kinda explains why and how it happened.
Cheers guys and thanks for the support! 😁”

BJJEE.com contacted Raphael Levy the editor of Jits.fr.

Levy stated:

Albert contacted me as he wanted the BJJ community to hear about what had happened to him. I have his police statement which explains exactly what happened.

Crimes against Chinese people is on the rise in France. More than 200 cases of aggression against Chinese residents were reported since November in Paris alone.

The notion that they deal mostly in cash and walk around carrying large sums of money has made them a target for crime.