Bullying is unrelated to corporal punishment - Self-defence is ok.

Please do not conflate those two things.

If a bully has never felt what they dish out, they may not like it.

Self-defence is ok.

For the young people in my life, I always advise to not escalate, be clear it's not ok, seek an adult's help, and if all reasonable attempts have failed, it's a-ok to stand up for yourself and neutralize a threat when the people and systems around you aren't.

I don't condone violence. But I also see we live in a world where the world fights to force it's way on others.

I take massive grains of salt on such opinions someone is from a group more likely to be a bully or not.