Reading through this thread leads me to ask a naive question, be gentle, I'm new at this; why don't western boxers ever(or rarely)block? We in the "eastern" martial arts spend alot of time practicing it in the dojo, but in the few tournaments I've seen there also is relatively little blocking done.

You've probably covered this already, but what are the legal liabilites of using kicks in self defense? My understanding is that kicking someone with a "shod" foot is considered assault with a dangerous weapon and a felony. Is it better from a legal standpoint to only use hand techniques in self ...