I honestly took martial arts for a few years when I was 8 or 9, but it didn't really teach how to deal with bullies: They weren't harming me in a physical way (

I honestly took martial arts for a few years when I was 8 or 9, but it didn't really teach how to deal with bullies: They weren't harming me in a physical way (one punch isn't something going to hurt you, so you don't need/get to punch back), so the self-defense training didn't allow me to actually use the martial arts I knew according to what I was taught. It likely made me LESS likely to strike back.