Got woken up just before 1am by the house shaking. Jamie (now 10) got up too, so evidently I wasn't dreaming. Turns out it was the UK's largest earthquake in 25 years ('large' is relative - it was 5.3 on the Richter scale).
A number of people know that I'm an avid fan of Karate. So you can imagine my reaction, some months ago, when I read that the MP with responsibility for sport and culture believed that boxing should be introduced to all schools. Somehow, that's going to make children feel more empowered and put an end to the juvenile crime that is apparently sweeping the country like some unchecked viral epidemic. My personal view is that boxing is a brutal and ill-disciplined sport. It also causes severe brain damage, making deformed ears and noses the least of a boxer's concerns... So.... one Saturday morning, in a moment of boredom, I sent an email to this MP and suggested that boxing was not fit for said purpose, but that if he was serious about trying to teach respect and responsibility through sport, martial arts such as Karate would be better suited. I think that my email must have been misunderstood, because yesterday I received a long reply extolling the virtues of boxing over the marital arts.
