It worked for me. I stopped getting bullied after a couple months of martial arts, even though the closest I ever came during that time to getting into a fight

It worked for me. I stopped getting bullied after a couple months of martial arts, even though the closest I ever came during that time to getting into a fight was one incident of locking a guy's arm behind his back and then letting him go when he tried to shove me in the lunch line. Simply projecting greater physical confidence was enough to make the bullies leave me alone.