A Carlisle martial arts school is helping people feel more confident and at ease by giving them the skills to protect themselves.

Carlisle School of Kung-Fu, based at Yewdale Community Centre, teaches people of all ages the 'wu xing long quan gung fu' style of kung fu.

The school offers two free classes to those who are interested which helps them pick up a couple of basic moves as well as to see if it's for them.

Marc Johnston, owner of the school and sixth degree black belt, said: "I feel a bit saddened sometimes when people are intimidated going out, even in the summertime. Wintertime is even worse, and I think if you've got some kind of self-defence it's like a first aid course.

"You do the first aid courses and it doesn't mean you're a paramedic, but it gives you a bit of confidence if one of your loved ones, like your child or your partner, has an accident you've got something to fall back on, but you never really want to use it.

"It gives you that edge to escape and run away and cry for help and live to fight another day."

Marc has been involved in martial arts for more than 30 years and has trained in multiple schools of martial arts such as taekwondo, wing chun, judo, and aikido.

And, although he has always enjoyed the sparring side of what he does, as he's grown older he's had to be more mindful about how he approaches this.

He said: "I'm getting older, I'm nearly 57 now, and I still love the sparring. But it's like a game of chess now, I've got to be more wise, I've got to choose my moves better."

Carlisle School of Kung-Fu is a small and friendly environment where everyone is encouraged to build their confidence.

And, if somebody isn't enjoying it, Marc would prefer them to say so he can advise them on what that would suit them better.

"There's a Chinese proverb which I use... 'teachers can open the door, but you must enter by yourself'," he said.

"The hardest part is to walk through the door because you're going into the unknown."