@chu @LyallMorrison @MikeFromLFE @fritzoids good on you.

And believe me, I've taught hundreds how to kick, elbow, bite, gouge, throw, break and otherwise, under pressure and against larger opponents. If i didn't think those skills might sometimes be needed, i wouldn't have bothered. Some of my students came with trauma, many with fear. They taught me a great deal i would never have understood otherwise.

So yeah. Kick ass.

@chu @LyallMorrison @MikeFromLFE @fritzoids i taught self defence for over a decade, and ensured my daughters got their blackbelt too. As someone with numerous blackbelts of my own i can say that the ultimate lesson is not how well you can kick (although that's a pretty cool skill) but what i'd describe as being physically confident in a space. It's situational awareness combined with an understanding of your own body. Dancers often have this btw.

I've broken up or intervened in several violent situations, not because I'm super tough (I'm not), and all without throwing a punch. I've defended myself and a few others by recognising the danger and acting in a way to either defuse or avoid it.

Twenty years of training so that i should never use it. Sounds cliche, i know, but i look at my board breaking, hip throwing daughters walking with confidence and think, yup, they're safer now.

@MonotoneofBill that's because their captain is asking them to use fire arrows not fire arrows.

Pretty basic stuff.