The expected response would be another block and twist away. Instead, he twists in, moving inside the angle of her punch so that it skids across his back instead and drops to his knee, bringing his hand down on her thigh just above her knee in a blow that would have broken the joint if he'd put force behind it.

"So what we need to work on," he says, "is you becoming so comfortable in your body that you can react to the unexpected with the same trained skill by instinct, rather than pattern."