A 67-year-old woman Black Belt in Jiu-Jitsu just recently proved that age doesn’t matter when you’ve spent a lifetime of training in martial arts.
The elderly hero managed to successfully fight off a much larger person who tried to assault her neighbor in a complex for senior citizens in California. The woman, named Lorenza Marrujo not just held her own but actually incapacitated the intruder until police arrived to arrest him.
The “Lady Ninja” Story
Lorenza Marrujo, a woman living in an apartment in a complex for senior citizens in California. Just recently she became a hero by helping protect herself and one of her neighbors from an intruder that assaulted them. Weighing in at barely 100 lobs, Marrujo used her 25-year Jiu-Jitsu experience to fend off the intruder from her apartment, before coming into her neighbor’s aid.
Namely, Donald Prestwood, a 59-year-old man who was doing handyman jobs in the complex, barged into Marujo’s third-floor apartment in an intoxicated state. The woman black belt in JIu-Jitsu did not lose her calm but rather used a baseball bat to threaten Rosewood who left the apartment in a hurry. But the incident didn’t end there.
Rosewood assaulted 87-year-old Elizabeth McCray, Marrujo’s neighbor. Loranzaheard her neighbor’s screams from the first floor and rushed to her aid. She found Rosewood standing over a terrified McCray, who is in a wheelchair. Marrujo, describing herself as the “Lady Ninja” then went straight into the action.
The 4-foot-11 woman back belt tried to trip the 5-feet-10 man, but couldn’t and ended up on the ground. At that moment her martial arts training kicked in and Marrujo bent Rosewood’s fingers to get him off McCray and gain control over him. And so she did, ending up with her knees on the intruders’ chest and throat and held him there with no trouble until police arrived.
67-Year-Old Woman Black Belt In Jiu-Jitsu Protects Neighbour From Intruder
Marrujo, originally from San Bernardino trained Jiu-Jitsu for quite a long time between 1981 and 2007. As she said, she loved to train to the timeless warrior classic “Eye of the tiger”, stating “I prefer to be called Lady Ninja.”
Marrujo was homeless for periods of time during a 30-year-period, and her training has always come in handy. That really explains why she was both calm and very aggressive in handling her assailant. In fact, Rosewood ended up running away from her yellow baseball bat the first time and then asking her to stop hurting him after Marrujo came to her neighbor’s rescue.
“I had to bend his fingers back … to get him off her. He was screaming because that’s one of my techniques, the bent fingers. Then I went ‘boom’ with my elbow twice in his sternum,” Marrujo said, demonstrating a sharp, nasty jab. “My knee was on his chest, my other knee was on his throat, I had his jaw, and I was aiming for his eye,” concludes the hero woman black belt in Jiu-Jitsu.
Elizabeth McCray, the neighbor says that the intruder at one point told Lorenza she was hurting him, to which she replied “I don’t care. I don’t care what happens to you. You had no right to hurt an elderly person.’”
Rosewood is in jail after his arrest, pending charges, while both the women he assaulted are fine. Marujo said that she considers restarting training again after the incident. We certainly won’t mind seeing her in the Gi!
Final Thoughts
Jiu-Jitsu really does empower people and it is for everyone! A 67-year-old woman back belt dealing with an almost two times heavier male assailant, who was also younger is as good a proof of that as any. Lorenza Marrujo is a real-life hero, from her brave and noble actions to her unmistakably charismatic demeanor. Let’s hope that she only uses her skill on the mats in the future!
