By Sensei Serge Sognonvi and Carmen Sognonvi, originally published at http://www.urbandojo.com/blog

Detractors sometimes say that karate is too performance-based, and that it doesn’t equip you with practical self-defense skills.

A 16-year-old girl in Olympia, Washington would argue otherwise.

According to The Olympian, the girl was recently attacked by a man who hit her in the back of the head with a heavy object. The girl fought back. She kicked him in the groin, and then landed a hard punch in his face.

Her father believes the skills she picked up at her karate school saved her life:

The father of a 16-year-old girl who fought off an attacker and ran away Thursday said he thinks the karate lessons she had been taking for about a month helped her defend herself.

“Oh yeah, big time it helped,” said William Givens, whose daughter suffered a mild concussion when she was struck in the head from behind with a heavy object as she was walking on the trail in the woods near Pattison Lake. She also had minor cuts and bruises, he said.

Luckily, the girl’s attacker has been apprehended.

Photo Credit: Robbie Veldwijk via Flickr

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