‘Sure,’ I said. ‘Sometimes a knee to the groin or a headbutt is the only way to knock an assailant senseless if he grabs you.’ One of the young women touched her cheek. ‘Oh God, my toddler headbutted me last week. Nearly knocked me out. The kid’s got a head like a bowling ball.’

The others laughed.

‘If a toddler can do it, so can you,’ I said, climbing to my feet. ‘Are you all ready?’

Crystal was the first to bounce up. She had springs in her legs and I was glad this would give her energy an outlet.

In minutes, the women had partnered up and were practising blocking and kneeing. I kept things light so everyone had fun. I hated self-defence classes where the instructor—often male—went alpha on the ‘ladies’, treating women like they were morons. I went the other way with encouragement and praise. Worked a lot better than having a man strutting around the group telling you how much better than you he was.

Halfway through the class, Meg Mulligan limped in. Behind her was Trish, with a protective hand on Meg’s good arm. The two of them made their way over to the chairs lining the wall near the mats. I acknowledged their presence with a small wave.

Forty minutes was the optimal workout for newbies, since around half the time was stretching in the warm-up and cool-down. I took them through all my favourites: knee to the groin, pressure points, eye gouge—simple moves to stop an attack. Some of the women reminded me of newborn babies stretching out their arms when they’re not quite in control of their movements. Having done martial arts for so long, the movements came smoothly and automatically to me, but to be a good teacher, I had to let them find their rhythm.

The class was soon filled with laughter as the women missed as many times as they connected with the large boxing pad I’d brought from home.

‘Turn on your other side and stretch your leg over,’ I said to the group, then walked over to the Mulligans. ‘How ya doing?’ I asked Meg.

She looked down at her cast ruefully and said, ‘Not ready to join your class, but I will be soon. Me and Mum came along to watch.’

For a moment, Meg reminded me so much of Gemma, I felt tears rise unbidden in my eyes. I blinked and the tears vanished into the marvels of the eye filtering system.

‘Stay afterwards and we can have a chat,’ I said before returning to the class.

After the cool-down, the women wrapped themselves up against the wintery chill and left the hall. Crystal had declared the class ‘sooo cool’ and bounced over to Russell Mowbray, who had come back to collect her.

‘Thanks,’ he mouthed as he helped Crystal with her jacket. He lifted his hand to his face and mimed drinking a cup of coffee.