As a teenager I tried a bit of karate, but gave it up after coming to the conclusion that, in the name of learning self defence, I was getting beaten up on a weekly basis.
So I asked Martina Purdy to do the dangerous job of covering a karate demonstration in the Long Gallery this lunchtime. The "Do Wado Kai" karate group were at Stormont to press their case for a new home in the Belfast, after being told they have to vacate their current premises.
The Culture Committee are supporting the karate enthusiasts and, for the benefit of the cameras, the Chair, Barry McElduff, and the Vice Chair, David McNarry were happy to stage a sham fight. Their instructor told them the sport was about teaching mutual respect, not fighting. But after a few words about whether the disused prison west of Lisburn should be called the Maze or Long Kesh, the Vice Chair looked ready to pummel the Chair into a corner of the Long Gallery.
Both politicians are officially "white belt" beginners, however Mr McElduff took an improvised "black belt" from his briefcase just to intimidate his opponent.
Next week the Greens host a junior chess tournament in the Long Gallery. Now that's the kind of combat I can cope with.
I hear there's some unhappiness within police circles about yesterday's Northern Ireland Questions in the Commons. Our Security Minister Paul Goggins paid tribute to the courage of the police officer injured in a bomb attack in County Tyrone. The Minister, and then subsequently a number of MPs, went on to the identify the officer. The Questions, as usual, were broadcast live on ÃÛÑ¿´«Ã½2.
Up until this point the officer's name had been kept out of the media, at the request of the police. This was consistent with the general policy on officers injured during the troubles. Apparently the police were surprised that the officer's name had been mentioned in the Commons and it's thought some senior police figures remain extremely unhappy.
However, the names of those officers injured by dissident republicans last year emerged in a similar fashion in the Commons, after the police urged the media not to name the officers for security reasons. Of course, one can argue that if dissident republicans have already attacked an officer it shows they already know who he or she is. But equally the police may argue that publishing the officer's name could further compromise their safety.
Whichever conclusion you come to, when you have the police advising one course of action and the Security Minister adopting another, it all begs the question, what is the official policy on anonymity?
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