Interesting. I always think Australia's as being pretty culturally homogeneous, but obviously that isn't really true when you look really closely. I am curious to know what part of .au did you grow up in / live in? I grew up in Tasmania, lived for 10 years in Melbourne, and the last 5 in south east Queensland.
Curiously, in my karate dojo, we are taught to learn to fight whilst being winded - as in, having the wind knocked out of you.