The majority are in their 20s, although there are a number in their 30s and 40s.The archetypal personal advert of the style of: 'John, 30, solvent, GSOH, likes pubs and music wishes to meet women aged 25-35', is likely to be met with good-humoured derision, since the regular members are well aware of the statistical problems that face them.The atmosphere of the electronic conversation is generally one of flirtatious banter, and sometimes the outright bawdy. One woman recently teased: 'Kate and me were wondering, does anyone fancy a shag? Are we joking or not? (There, that'll give you something to think about.)' This provoked a long string of remarks about carpets, tobacco and sea- birds from men who understood the rules of the game and deliberately misunderstood the question, as well as propositions from the nave and gullible who did not.Similarly, when someone asked: 'How long do you think it is appropriate to wait in a relationship before jumping into bed?', another woman replied 'I've just realised that I've hardly ever waited beyond the first date, if that,' to which another commented: 'on, Kent and Staffordshire, (about 40 per cent women including some unexpected 'lurkers') gathered at a pub and subsequently picnicked in the Parks. Despite the artificial way in which previous communications had been made, there was a very relaxed atmosphere and the day was felt to have been a success.Do people get dates from this group, and do they form genuine relationships through it? This is not easy to answer, since one of the principles upon which the interchange is based is the cultivation of irony and ambiguity. It was once suggested that amongst the unwritten rules of the group were: 'If you're looking for a significant other, pretend you're not.

If you're not looking for a significant other, pretend you are.'Nevertheless, some people have found dates, and one woman has recently admitted to having started a real-life relationship with one of the posters, following a meeting arranged by direct e-mail.So if anyone out there has access to the Internet, why not join in?. 'When I'm walking to the ring, my stomach just feels like it's going to drop,' says Catherine Brown 'I feel as if I'm going to vomit and faint. Then you stand there shaking while they check your gloves for iron bars and stuff. But when that bell rings, everything else goes out the window. You're in there and you've just got to do it.' Kickboxing is not a glamorous sport. Its coverage is confined mainly to late-night cable TV, and its venues tend to be dingy sports halls with spartan facilities. Tucked away in this musty corner of broadcasting, it seems somehow furtive, illicit, just a few rungs up the ladder from arm- wrest1ing and pit-bull fighting.

Another drag on its long haul to public acceptance is its perceived association with gory computer and arcade games which appeal to maladjusted teenage technophiles. Kickboxing is a respectable martial art and most kickboxers are well balanced, dedicated athletes. Unfortunately, too many of them are heavily tattooed and they ought to strip down: their vests and baggy she11-suit pants deprive us of voyeuristic delight in their sweaty, muscular bodies. Although the potential exists, kickboxing badly needs someone to revamp its image and the first fighter who should be signed up is a Geordie called Catherine Brown.She is just what her sport requires: young, smart and attractive, a natural athlete with an open, earthy personality, untainted by the reek of prison gyms and unlicensed mini-cabs. With her girlish smile and pixie features, skin pink and scrubbed, hair scraped back in a ponytail, Ms Brown could pass for 17 but has just turned 24. Even her hands - long, slender, tapered - seem unsuited to pugilism. But despite her appearance and size (she is only 5ft 1in), Ms Brown has a kick that could break a bank door.Which is just as well, because tonight in Hastings she will fight Lorna Histed, the reigning champ, for the British Women's Kickboxing title.