Hour three of my child client’s self-protection course focused on that difference. We balanced the soft skill of fear management with the hard skill of getting up from the ground under pressure. This is where children’s self-defence must be clear. It cannot be built on slogans. It needs simple thinking, honest language, and physical actions the child can repeat.

Integrating elbow strikes into sparring can transform a martial artist’s approach, especially when blending styles like Muay Thai and karate. Today, I worked with my teacher client from Cotswold Karate School on advancing his elbow strike techniques within sparring, focusing on counters to kicks. Over the past 10 lessons, we have built a foundation using Muay Thai and MMA sparring methods to introduce, isolate, and integrate elbow strikes into live practice.