Have you changed much since you were a kid?

[Murrmurr]

That was a remarkable turn around, in a few paragraphs, my friend. Be proud of your ability to realize that you "could have killed the guy" and it made you a better person, because of it. I was the fighter too, as a young man. It took a long time for me to come to the conclusion that I was enjoying it, too much. Enjoying the violence, I mean. I managed to NOT spend time in jail, but a few times it was a close run thing. JIM.

It took me a couple decades to totally let go of believing that sometimes you just have to fight, like there are situations when you have no alternatives. But, meanwhile, I didn't get into any fist fights (I could be mouthy, tho'. I could bluff 100%). I started using meditation, yoga, Tai-Chi, and an old South American tea ritual. Those practices helped me learn restraint, and to think differently.

And that's what I had to do...I had to think differently, and that is not easy. So, I can relate to what you're saying.

 

[outlander]

I don't even like to think about my physical/violent transgressions at a much younger age. I'm lucky I didn't end up crippled or dead.
It took me a while to grow up and figure out that being a man means being able to walk away from a fight.

Or better yet avoiding any place or situation that warrants trouble.

 

[jimintoronto]

It took me a couple decades to totally let go of believing that sometimes you just have to fight, like there are situations when you have no alternatives. But, meanwhile, I didn't get into any fist fights (I could be mouthy, tho'. I could bluff 100%). I started using meditation, yoga, Tai-Chi, and an old South American tea ritual. Those practices helped me learn restraint, and to think differently.

And that's what I had to do...I had to think differently, and that is not easy. So, I can relate to what you're saying.

A South American Tea Ritual ? Is that a sort of veiled reference to "Columbian Marching Powder " ? Okay, back to reality. In my 20's I worked "the Door " at a number of Toronto's finer dive bars. Imagine actually getting paid, to fight drunks ? Being sober, athletic, and aggressive, meant my self and my door partner were all most all ways going to win a bar fight. JIM.

 

[Murrmurr]

A South American Tea Ritual ? Is that a sort of veiled reference to "Columbian Marching Powder " ? Okay, back to reality. In my 20's I worked "the Door " at a number of Toronto's finer dive bars. Imagine actually getting paid, to fight drunks ? Being sober, athletic, and aggressive, meant my self and my door partner were all most all ways going to win a bar fight. JIM.

The good old days, eh?

Actual tea is used in the SA tea ritual. It's crushed yerba leaves, and was originally used by Gauchos on cattle drives when the yerba plant grew mainly in the Pampas....purportedly for its nutritional value. Traditionally, they drank the tea from various dried hollow gourds, and sometimes they'd decorate them or etch images on them. The gourd is still the traditional way to drink it, using a straw called a bombilla that has a tiny strainer on the end, so you don't get a mouthful of dried yerba leaves.

I switched to yerba cups carved from wood about 10 years ago. Both impart flavor, and I like the wood ones best.

Some people do mix a bit of wackyweed into the leaves, and I have done so myself a few times. It imparts a lot more than flavor.

 

[VaughanJB]

I don't think my brother changed at all. My kid brother is the same 8 year old kid he was, when he was 8. I'm the older brother and the mature one. I'm still 10. I really haven't changed much.
But some people burst into way different versions of themselves.
Have you changed much since you were a kid?

This has actually been a real opener for me in my own life.

Not only who I was at a young age, but how I got to be that way. What influenced me so early? The environment that led me to believe things that I may, or may not, now agree with.

I'm surprised at how similar I am in some ways. I thought I'd outgrown a lot, but it turned out a lot remained. It's made me angry at times, the realization of the root of some things I've accepted.

Who were my parents? Why were they are they were? It's amazing how things get handed down from generation to generation.

I wish I knew what I'd been seeking in life, but I'm not there yet.

 

[Born_To_Lose]

I have. I never thought my life would have turned out as well as it has. It would have been better had my wife not passed away.

 

[oslooskar]

My dad, an Irishman, was a trained boxer, and starting when me and my brothers were toddlers, he taught us to fight. We all got our first pair of boxing gloves when we were only 3. Early on we trained gloved, and later, bare-fisted. In good weather, we trained out in the yard, and when it wasn't so good, we trained in the hay barn.

Dad taught us how fight clean, how to fight dirty, and when to do which. We learned how to throw punches, how to take punches, how to grapple, how to wrestle, how to use various inescapable holds, and the secrets of escaping them. And starting when we were about 13, dad held back less and less, so by age 16, you had to hurt him, or he'd hurt you.

Boxing is a great martial art to have in your arsenal, be thankful you have it. I took boxing lessons at Newman’s Gym on Leavenworth Street in San Francisco, and they came in very handy on the street more than once. I also worry less about my son now because he trains in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and boxing.

 

[Murrmurr]

Boxing is a great martial art to have in your arsenal, be thankful you have it. I took boxing lessons at Newman’s Gym on Leavenworth Street in San Francisco, and they came in very handy on the street more than once. I also worry less about my son now because he trains in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and boxing.

My training came in handy a couple times. I mean, I've been in a slew of fights, but only a couple of them were necessary, though walking away or having a chat would not have been the wrong decision.

I am not a large man, and never have been, so a lot of knuckleheads couldn't resist if some other knucklehead told him I could fight. Those were all stupid fights. Meaningless.

IDK, maybe it's meaningful if some idiot learns something from getting their arse thoroughly whooped, but I've never met one who did. I lost some fights, and I didn't learn a thing.

 

[seadoug]

Not a lot. Still trying to figure things out. Being a Gemini kind of explains that.

Not everyone in the forum believes in astrology but I can totally relate to your comment. My mother was a Gemini and we never knew which of the twins we would be getting!

 

[jimintoronto]

My training came in handy a couple times. I mean, I've been in a slew of fights, but only a couple of them were necessary, though walking away or having a chat would not have been the wrong decision.

I am not a large man, and never have been, so a lot of knuckleheads couldn't resist if some other knucklehead told him I could fight. Those were all stupid fights. Meaningless.

IDK, maybe it's meaningful if some idiot learns something from getting their arse thoroughly whooped, but I've never met one who did. I lost some fights, and I didn't learn a thing.

One of the guys who I worked with as a door man, taught me a simple tactic that worked well. Approach the trouble maker from behind, put a left arm choke hold on their throat, and start jabbing at their face with your right thumb. The guy can't see you, because you are behind him, and if he can't see you, he can't hit you. Most people, even when drunk, are concerned about their eyesight. Distracting and moving the individual quickly to the exit worked most of the time. I never wore a watch while working those jobs, and my clothing was basic slacks, short sleeve shirt, and slip on low cut boots. Once the problem person was out of the building, they weren't coming back in side.

One of the bars I worked had a fairly large lesbian customer group, most of whom worked for a couple of city trucking companies as drivers, or loading dock workers. The bar owner hired a couple of tough young women, who did the entrance searches of the women customers, looking for weapons, and of course they were involved when things kicked off in the club. I though that was a progressive bit of hiring on the part of the bar's ownership group. JIM.