So, you’ve finished work late, getting home has been a nightmare, it’s very dark, you’re very tired and you’re carrying a laptop and a shoulder bag. And you’ve got new shoes on that are hurting your feet. All this wouldn’t be too bad but there’s now someone standing in front of you that you don’t like the look of. What do you do?

Most of the time, even though it might hurt our pride a bit, when confronted with a situation we don’t like the look of we should either avoid it and run, or if we can’t get away, and a dubious looking figure is demanding what we have - be it the laptop, the shoulder bag or the new shoes - we should just give it to them. It’s simply not worth the risk and you’re worth more than anything you might be carrying.

Having said that it’s good to have a few moves up your sleeve in case you do find yourself in a situation where you need to use some force to get away. Courses we offer make you more aware of how to avoid confrontation; we look at ideas on how to channel your adrenal responses; how to put off a potential attacker by changing your body language whilst using techniques – including some from Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai - to demonstrate what to do, for example, if someone’s got you in a bear hug, is choking you from behind, or has grabbed you by your collar.

As with learning any new skill the key is to drill the techniques and practise, practise, practise. And then practise some more. The shortest course we offer is taught over four hours, and this time can be broken down in different ways, for example, one hour a week for four weeks, two hours a week for two weeks, one hour a day for four days etc. We do not teach the four hours in one day though – we like to give students time to go away and practise the techniques they’ve been shown before being asked to learn new ones.

Longer courses are also available and we can either come to your offices, if you have a gym area with mats it’s even better, another suitable venue or you could come here. These group classes are designed for everyone – you don’t need to have done any martial arts before, or be very fit or flexible in order to take part.