Basic Trope: A victim of bullying takes lessons in boxing or Eastern martial arts to protect himself.
- Straight: Ted is bullying Bob regularly, so Bob learns karate to fight back.
- Exaggerated: Ted bullies Bob. Bob takes a single lesson in karate and then Ted gets Punched Across the Room next time they meet.
- Downplayed: Bob, a victim of bullying, learns self-confidence and Verbal Judo to defuse hostile bullies.
- Justified: Learning boxing, karate, judo, etc. will give Bob the knowledge and courage he needs to deal with any bullies.
- Inverted: The bully takes up boxing to deal with Bob.
- Subverted: Bob learns kung fu after being bullied by Ted. Bob verbally defuses hostilities with Ted the next time, rather than get physical with him.
- Double Subverted: Talking doesn't work and Bob ends up punching out Ted.
- Parodied: After just a few hours of boxing and lifting weights, Bob punches Ted into lower Earth orbit.
- Zig Zagged: ???
- Averted: In spite of being bullied, Bob never even considers learning how to fight.
- Enforced: A martial artist is joining the show, so writers want to create a plotline that shows him off and helps Bob resolve one of his problems.
- Lampshaded: "Ha, I knew learning how to box would come in handy!"
- Invoked: Bob openly admits that he'll need physical self-defense lessons to deal with bullies.
- Exploited: Bob wants to turn into a professional prize fighter. His training and battles against bullies end up launching his career.
- Defied: "Bob's taking karate classes? I'm getting a gun!"
- Conversed: "I'm going to start learning karate. It worked for Daniel-san."
- Implied: "You know, Bob, you learn to learn how to protect yourself. You should learn boxing or I know this guy who could teach you karate for cheap."
- Deconstructed:
- After losing a fistfight to Bob, Ted escalates the conflict by coming at Bob next time with a weapon, like a knife or a baseball bat.
- After losing a fight with Bob, Ted gathers a gang. They all overpower and overwhelm Bob, delivering a brutal No-Holds-Barred Beatdown.
- Reconstructed: Bob continues his lessons over the course of a lifetime, learning how to deal with multiple attackers, armed attackers, and so on.
- Played for Laughs: Bob tries various styles (boxing, karate, kung fu, judo, etc) but gets easily beaten by the bully. Bob learns something Simple, yet Awesome like krav maga and turns the tables on the bully.
- Played for Drama: Bob knocks out the bully in a fight. He is then arrested by the police and goes to trial, either for being the aggressor or using excessive force.
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