Self-Defence Classes

So all the way back in June, one of the questions I received on my ethics revisions was what I would be doing to keep myself safe in South Africa. When I asked my supervisor what he felt I should be doing he suggested that I contact the International Student and Exchange Services office at Dal. When I went to visit them I was provided with an extensive list of things to do to try to keep myself safe in SA including taking a self-defence course.
Now people have been trying to get me to take a self defence course since I was mugged in the Netherlands. Now initially (back in 2006/2007) I knew I wasn't in the right frame of mind to take a self-defence course. Once I got over the incident the thought of taking a self-defence course seemed rather silly and I could only picture a room full of women attacking some guy in a padded suit, so I was not too pleased to be signing up for a self-defence course. Naturally I left the course to the last minute, and I took my friend Kristen's advice to arrange for private lessons.
While the private lessons were not cheap I did get the full attention of a trained martial artist who didn't seem too hung up on the monetary aspects as both 1 hour sessions carried over into 1.5 hour sessions at no extra cost. What really came as a surprise to me though was that I kind of enjoyed the experience. Not only did I find the information useful but I found the moves themselves relatively easy to remember and relatively practical. Also the instructor was good about answering my questions. He even told me that I was a good student and that I should consider persuing self-defense and martial arts further (which was rather nice).
Overall it left me with a greater sense of self confidence, and belief in my ability to defend myself. But one thing just kept bothering me. Everytime I practiced a move like a round-house elbow, or knee kick to the groin or thigh I just kept imagining the words "Pow!" "Slam" and "SMASH!" scrolling across a screen like in the old Batman TV show...

That's all for now!