“My dad’s rule I passed to my boys.
You start a fight, I’ll bust your butt.
You run from a fight, I’ll bust your butt.”
My dad’s rule: Never through the first punch, but make sure you throw the last.
Yup.
When I was 10 I ran home crying that the two brothers across the street where smacking me around Dad told me to go smack them around.
When I said “There’s two of them!” His reply was “so bang their heads together”.
I did. It worked.
The second punch thrown makes you the loser. If you make the decision that you are being bullied. Set him up for first blow. In the real world, waiting to be hit first can get you badly hurt. I was not even 5’ tall until I was 15. Imagine being picked on in grade school. I was the same size as my 3 years younger brother. My dad said, if you can’t put a hurt on a bigger boy, use a stick. I never could imagine hurting someone on purpose. I fought, and got my butt handed to me until my senior year, when I grew to 5’ 7” and 160 lbs and wrestled guys in the 150 range. I learned how to grab, grasp and throw. No need to punch when you can pickem up and drop them rudely. Junior year I wrestled at 102 lbs soaking wet. People were surprised.