MASKED THUG KO’D BY KICKBOX CHAMP
There’s only one winner when attacker confronts martial arts expert Natasha
A MASKED attacker was punched to the ground after he tried to grab a woman on her morning run – not realising she was a Scottish World Champion kickboxer.
Brave Natasha Baldwin battered the thug after he lunged at her twice, before calling the police.
She was exercising in Cramond, Edinburgh, yesterday at about 10.30am when she was confronted by the thug.
He grabbed her arms but Natasha fought to push him off, only for him to try to attack her again.
But the 30-year-old WAKO world champion then knocked him to the ground with a punch before running home and calling the police.
The full-time martial arts instructor has been left with a painful and bruised hand but fears the outcome could have been much more sinister if she wasn’t properly trained.
Her husband Kevin Baldwin, 34, said: “Natasha is very resilient and doesn’t play the victim in life but she is quite shook up by what happened. She is the strongest person I know. She was just doing her usual run just five minutes from our house when a guy in dark clothes and a mask grabbed her.
“I was at home looking after our three-year-old daughter Effy when she came in and told me what happened.
“We are really worried to think what could have happened if she wasn’t trained or if he had grabbed someone else.”
Now the couple, who own multiple gyms in the area called Wolfpack martial arts, are planning to launch free self-defence classes for women.
Kevin added: “We want to help our community and make it as safe as possible.”
Police Scotland’s Inspector Graeme Dignan said: “We are investigating a report of a woman being stopped by a man on Lauriston Farm Road, Edinburgh, around 10.30am on Thursday, March 18.”