Irish involvement in the martial arts can probably be traced back to the 1960s and the arrival of judo on these shores, closely followed by karate. Both arts have histories of at least 30 years in this country, while aikido has been practised for about 20 years. Karate continues to be one of the most popular arts, but others such as tae kwon do and kick-boxing are also attracting increasing numbers of practitioners.
At least some of the initial appeal can be traced back to popular culture. Kung Fu, the 1970s television series which introduced the phrase "Grasshopper" to a thousand school playgrounds, had an effect on some of the older martial artists. Bruce Lee, 1970s star of Oriental fight-fests such as Enter The Dragon and Fists Of Fury, acted as a further spur.
"I started kenpo when I was 15 or 16 years of age. That was in 1972, in the Bruce Lee/Kung Fu era," recalls Rob Corwell, editor of Irish Fighter magazine, which sells 3,000 quarterly copies. "More recently, Jean-Claude Van Damme (the Belgian kick-boxer turned actor) would have been another driving force."
Martial artists can now find inspiration closer to home. Ireland currently boasts three world champion kick-boxers: Roy Baker, who works for The Irish Times; Sally McArdle, a presenter with RTE; and Nicola Corbett, perhaps the best-known of the three, who works for Hewlett-Packard and won three world kick-boxing titles last year in a clean sweep of the sport.
"I started martial arts at 14 while I was in school," says Corbett (25), who won her first world title at 19. "The people I trained with were great. They had no prejudice against women and let me train as hard as the guys."
She believes that practising martial arts has changed her profoundly. "I've become a lot more confident. I believe I can do anything I put my mind to. It's given me that extra edge, confidence in work and in all areas of my life."
"My brother used to train and I used to come and watch him," remembers Rachel Saunders (25), from Greenhills in Dublin, who now trains in the Tae Kwon-Do Centre. "I was only 12 and there were very few girls involved at that stage, so I came back when I finished school."
She has now been practising Tae Kwon-Do for five years. "You hope that if anyone was to touch you, what you learned in the class would be a reflex action. You're also more cautious of certain places. If you're in a pub, say, or even walking down the street, you're more alert, more conscious of your surroundings."