Man claims to jump kick intruding bear

A California man says he came face to face with a bear inside his Lake Tahoe cabin.

Johnny Bolton says the bear ripped the lock off the front door and knocked tables over before it met its match, KMAX-TV reports.

"I did a jump kick, this is martial arts training from age eight. And I kicked him right in the chest," Bolton said.

Bolton showed us the scratches on his legs from the bear's claws.

Bolton is no black belt, but his instinct kicked in against this black bear.

"I didn't make a decision, I just kicked. There was no cognitive process there. It was just instantaneous I have to move this threat away from me. And it was fight or flight, with no opportunity for flight," he said.

Bolton says the jump kick didn't move the bear much, but left the animal stunned and maybe even scared.

"When I kicked the bear, the bear urinated. Then when the whole thing was over. I kind of checked-- did I? I think I might have, and I didn't. So only one of us wet himself, but it was the bear," he said.

Bolton's friends were upstairs asleep during the confrontation.

Gerry Orton says he came downstairs just as the bear was leaving.

"I was in a state of complete amazement that the bear was still in the house. I didn't know the bear was in the house," Orton said.

"There was no wax on wax off. It was a lucky shot. Hit the bear just right, startled him enough," Bolton said.