The benefits of studying combat sports for children are vast. The offer increase conditioning and self-esteem, accountability and a sense of belonging, discipline and goal setting. But the practice of combat sports is also an ideal route to stop bullying.

The nature of a bully is such that they seek out people who cannot fight back. Learning to fight back removes you from that group.

Sometimes bullying is dismissed as a rite of passage that countless kids go through, a toughening process. However, an incident in Virginia between two 15 year olds, left one of them with lifelong injuries.

The brutal attack took took place this summer at J.E.B. Stuart High School, in Falls Church, Virginia. The names and identities of the two have been withheld due to their age.

The victim, an immigrant from Iran, said the other boy bullied him from the start.

“He said, ‘it’s going to be a problem if you look at me again.’ I said, ‘I’m not looking, I’m just thinking,’” the boy recalled to Peggy Fox for WUSA9.

As happens so often today, the incident was captured on video. An unprovoked punch staggers the smaller boy. He was taken to the hospital and underwent surgery for a broken jaw and chin.

The alleged bully is charged with malicious wounding, a felony.

Combat sports and martial arts are of course not the sole solution. Schools too need an intelligent process to deal with bullying. The victim’s attorney, Maken Shirafkan, said that did not happen.

“He was bullied and the school system did not do what was called to prevent it,” said Shirafkan to Peggy Fox for WUSA9.

The bullying had escalated to a threat, so the victim went to the office for help. A staff member spoke with the alleged bully, but that did not resolve the matter.

“She brought the kid out and talked to him,” said the victim. “He came back staring at me.”

The next day he was attacked.

“The school has two victims, that young man is now looking at a felony. And this young man is left with injuries he’ll deal with the rest of his life,” said Shirafkan.