HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Senior citizens in Florida are using their canes for more than walking. They are learning how to use the item they thought was a crutch as a weapon.
It's part of a martial arts class called "extreme cane defense" or cane-fu. The instructor, Buck Buckmaster, teaches his students how to use their cane to defend themselves.
[Ads /]
Many seniors in the class say they've also learned to be more aware of their surroundings.
"Every time I come out of the grocery store, I use my peripheral vision. You never know who's going to be there," one cane-fu student said.
"I love life and I want to be around a while," grandmother Alice Hays said.
Buckmaster said he started the class after his 69-year-old mother was beaten and robbed and doesn't want anyone else to go through that terrible experience.