the school girls , aged between 16 and 18 , undergo a five-day intensive knife-fighting course to learn self defence .
the students are being trained by a former special forces soldier called inspector tan who supervises the drills .
the 27th march huizhou integrated high school purchased 250 knives - with plastic retractable blades for safety .
however , instructor tan said following his course the girls will be able to defend themselves even with chopsticks .