Jesse Finney, who acquired Matt Hughes H.I.T. Squad in 2011 and now runs both his original Finney’s MMA and the renamed Finney’s HIT Squad, was forced to take his skills to the streets recently.

Karlie Baker from the Sunset Hills-Crestwood Patch, has the story. It begins as Finney was going to the supermarket in Crestwood, Missouri to buy chocolate for his pregnant wife.

As he neared the basket area, Finney noticed a female employee running after a man.

“I didn’t know if he had robbed the place, or if he’d assaulted somebody,” said Finney. “I just saw her. He was pushing her off.”

Finney grabbed the man by the coat. When he resisted, Finney slammed him to the ground and subdued him in a hold until Crestwood police could arrive.

As it turns out, the man had stashed several bottles of vodka before attempting to leave the store, Finney said. One of the bottles shoved in the man’s coat arm busted when he hit the ground.

“In the martial arts, it teaches you discipline and respect,” explained Finney. “If I wasn’t disciplined, I probably would have hurt the guy. Instead, I took him down and a bottle broke in his jacket. That’s what we really try to focus on at the gym here in Crestwood.

“My wife was like, ‘What if he had had a gun?’ but at the end of the day, I just acted on instinct. I’m not going to let a man push a woman. It was pretty amazing, I was able to stop him, and nobody got hurt.”