[Epona]

I honestly think that people who are picked on radiate a kind of 'low self-confidence' aura which attracts the coward bullies towards them like flies.

The reason taking up self defense or martial arts can work is not because you become able to defend yourself - it's because you become more confident in yourself and respect yourself. I really think that's the key, I'm convinced that when I was a kid it was my shyness and lack of self-esteem (difficult to believe now, I know) that made me a target.