A feckless stick-up man chose the wrong target when he was beaten and hospitalized in an attempted robbery of a karate school in Bucaramanga in northwestern Colombia, police said.

“The man entered the academy with a firearm, but could not intimidate the dozens of students, who fortunately reacted and disarmed him,” said Colonel Julio Cesar Santoyo, police commander in the province of Santander.

Police arrived at the scene only to take the would-be robber to hospital for treatment of multiple contusions at the hands of the karate students.