Woman adopting a king’s method of self-defence (6)
I believe the answer is:
karate
'method of self-defence' is the definition.
'karate' can be an answer for 'self-defence' (karate is a kind of self-defence). I am not sure about the 'method of' bit.
'woman adopting a king's' is the wordplay.
'woman' becomes 'kate' (**).
'adopting' indicates putting letters inside.
'king' becomes 'r' (r is abbreviation for rex).
'a'+'r'='ar'
'kate' placed around 'ar' is 'KARATE'.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for karate that I've seen before include "Japanese martial art" , "Oriental-style chops" , "A Jap. martial art" , "fighting system" , "Martial art (with chopping?)" .)