Meet the Bristol lecturer who’s an action star

Is your lecturer a self-defence expert, a kung fu specialist, martial arts co-ordinator, actress and stuntwoman? 

After last term’s interview with Britain’s coolest landlord, Rob Ho, it seems the Tab just can’t stop uncovering secret martial artists. This time, we introduce Dr Tracy Johnson, Britain’s hardest lecturer. Formerly of the English department and now a member of the Bristol Careers Service, let’s just say you don’t want to be turning up to her lectures fifteen minutes late…

Dr Tracy Johnson…the University’s action hero

Tracy’s just starred in her first action feature, a short film entitled ‘The Case’, which features two women in an absolutely brutal fight to the death over drug money. Watch it below.

‘The Case’ starring Dr Tracy Johnson and Dionne Vincent (warning: very violent)

A Quentin Tarantino enthusiast, Tracy told us that participating in the feature was not for the faint-hearted.

‘It took about six hours to shoot. I picked up multiple injuries – Dionne kicked me in the shins, I fell hard on the concrete and I got cut by glass. But it was great fun’.

Britain’s hardest lecturer

As well as being an inspirational speaker, a careers expert at the University and an author, Dr Johnson runs her own company, ‘Brainbox Coaching’, which offers self-defence advice to businesses. According to Tracy, ‘if you know how to handle yourself in a physical confrontation, it gives you a sense of confidence, the feeling that no situation can intimidate you’.

‘I don’t teach people to go out there and beat people up. They learn how to protect themselves. It’s a very empowering skill to possess’.

Tracy demonstrating how to disarm a knife-wielding maniac

Tracy doesn’t just deal in physical warfare – she’s also an expert in psychological resilience. ‘I teach people how to think their way out of a situation. Sometimes just showing your anger can get you to safety because attackers don’t expect it, especially from women’.

She says her skills have got her out of several situations.

‘When I was younger I worked in a shop and a couple of thugs came in trying to rob money. I shouted at them – they were so shocked at my aggression that they backed right off. On another occasion a group were trying to grope me – I hit one of them so hard the whole lot of them ran away’.

Tracy also revealed that her  ‘death stare’ was famous among people she knows. ‘When you see it, you don’t want to be messing with me’.

When I asked what might provoke her into a ‘death stare’ in a lecture, she responded ‘students turning up late. That really gets on my nerves’.

So, yeah, students – don’t do it.

Visit Dr Tracy Johnson’s website – http://www.brainboxcoaching.co.uk/