Kevin Garwood, 61, a triple black belt holder, has developed special cane work courses to help people over 50 stand up to yobs. The course is based on martial arts from around the world that use the sabre, bayonet and staff, adapted specifically for stick users with limited mobility.

Typical moves include throws, takedowns and neck hooks which use the crook of the stick for locks and strangleholds as well as gentle exercises using the 3ft canes. His students, aged 50 to 76, all use an NHS walking stick and list strokes, severe diabetes, heart attacks, triple bypasses and arthritis among their medical complaints.

Mr Garwood, from Gorleston, started up the classes after older women attending his yoga class said they did not like to go out after dark. He said: "It just seemed like such a shame to me that older people who had worked hard all their lives had become prisoners in their own homes. The NHS walking stick is the most basic of weapons, but it's about teaching people how it can be used as the last line of defence."

Several of Kevin's students have managed to use their cane skills to fend off attackers including one 74-year-old woman set upon by muggers on Yarmouth sea front. He said: "A couple of lads tried to get her bags. She flicked her cane up and cracked one across the eye and another on the shoulder and sent them scuttling."

Good grief! I've seen a pensioner at a jumble sale and they don't need arming!

Doris and Bill were way beyond canes...

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