RECENT Hollywood films like Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill series have strong female characters who aren't afraid to fight. But do such women exist in real life? JENNY SCOTT met some East Lancashire girls who know how to look after themselves. . .

FROM the Kung Fu carnage of Uma Thurman in the Quentin Tarantino film Kill Bill to the high-kicking antics of Lara Croft and Charlie's Angels, action women are currently running riot on the nation's cinema screens.

But just how realistic are these depictions of feisty females who can seemingly obliterate dozens of men with a few nifty manoeuvres and a smart one-liner?

According to 19-year-old Laura Nevison, an instructor in Thai kickboxing, the answer is not very, but that's not to say the films' impact is entirely negative.

Laura works at the Golden Gloves Gym, in Accrington, where kickboxing is rapidly gaining popularity among female clients as a means of finding confidence, increasing fitness and learning self-defence.

"Films like Charlie's Angels are not at all realistic, but then they're not meant to be," said Laura. "There's a lot of films out there where you think, 'Hang on -- that wouldn't really happen.' But if they spark somebody's interest in kickboxing, they can't be that bad."

The films themselves may not be realistic, but the need for women to learn how to defend themselves is all too real.

"Most of the girls who come to kickboxing classes have never hit anybody in their lives," said Laura.

"But you do need to know what it feels like. The sad thing is that if you're going to get attacked, it's probably going to be by a man.

"That's why it's important to learn how to spar with both men and women."

Laura herself took up kickboxing three-and-a-half years ago.

She said: "It's not very girly, but if you're looking for a sport in which a girl can be taken seriously, it's fantastic.

"It's all about learning which techniques to use if you have to defend yourself against somebody.

"I'm only five foot two. I couldn't lift up somebody and throw them across the floor. But in kickboxing, you learn how to use your elbows and knees to push people away. There's nothing in kickboxing a man can do that a woman couldn't."

That's certainly something one of Laura's pupils -- Katharine Butler -- has discovered since she took up the sport nine months ago.

Rather than being inspired by sexy action girl flicks though, Katharine, 22, from Clitheroe, found her interest in martial arts sprang from a very different film -- '80s movie The Karate Kid.

"That film made me take up karate when I was about eight," she said. "I'd really enjoyed learning that, so when I was looking to get in shape after leaving university I decided to look at kickboxing."

Katharine admits to being a fan of Hollywood action girl flicks like Kill Bill -- so how does the real side of self defence compare?

"The movies are just escapism," she said. "In reality, it's not out-and-out violence. But kickboxing is good fun and it keeps you fit -- you can get a lot out of it."