Follow the advice of your solicitor and ask him to use his skills to get the charge reduced to the least serious that the prosecution will accept, and plead guilty.
It is mistakenly believed that because somebody hit you first you can �beat them up�. This seems to be what happened and however hard done by you may feel, you are not allowed to do so in law.
Ronni21�s advice is not helpful. Your solicitor will always advise you to keep the matter in the lower court if possible, for very good reasons. If you are charged with Common Assault you will have no choice but to have the matter heard in the magistrates� court. If you are charged with anything more serious and you maintain your Not Guilty plea it is unlikely that the magistrates will feel the need to send the matter to the Crown Court. Although you would have the final right to a trial by judge and jury, the penalties will be harsher if you are convicted.