Never really bullied, but this one kid in high school was a bit of an arse. He was one of those fat bully types, but oddly enough he was bullied by the typical jock types, and a couple years older than me. He was also kinda bad at picking targets, as he'd get his butt kicked about 50% of the time. I ran into him in the bathroom once, and although he had never bothered me before, that day he decided it'd be funny to splash me with water while I was washing my hands. I didn't really have a chance to react because he ran out after one handful. So that began the little random encounters where he'd throw things at me whenever he saw me. It stopped after a couple weeks when he decided to throw some smelly gym shorts at me after soccer practice. He missed me and ended up hitting the guy next to me. Found out then that he'd been targeting soccer players for a while because he got jumped by the entire soccer team right then. As you can guess, starting something against an entire team in the locker room alone wasn't very smart of him.
Anyways, I ran into him about 5-6 years after high school in Seoul, Korea, of all places. He was lost and couldn't speak much Korean, and he recognized me after spotting my Chicago Bears hat. Ended up drinking a bit at a bar, but once I found out he was the same, stupid moron, I made up some excuse and left to go meet up with some other people. He tried to latch onto me and tag along, but I ditched him successfully in the subway.
Alright, I've shared this story, but I'll share it again as it applies here. When I was in the 2nd grade, I had to walk to a rather crowded bus stop to get to school. There was a kindergartner who was influenced by a 5th grader to pick on me. The 5th grader was a notorious trouble-maker in my neighborhood and was constantly egging the kindergartner on, making fun of me, calling me names, poking me, etc. I eventually walked another couple blocks to another bus stop in an attempt to avoid them, but they figured it out and followed me there so I switched back. Anyway, I overheard the 5th grader tell the little kid to punch me in the nose. And he did. I had had it by this time and punched that kid right in the upper lip. Not the kindergartner, the 5th grader. He fell down and everything. It was awesome. Both kids were at the other bus stop for the rest of the school year. A pretty significant building in that town where I grew up burned to the ground when I think I was in junior high. Turns out it was that 5th grader that did it. Doesn't surprise me.
Being a small, skinny kid you'd think I would have been bullied a lot, but I rarely was. A couple instances that I recall, but I didn't mind fighting and most bullies don't like picking on kids that fight back.
My kid stood up to a bully last school year when he pushed a girl to the ground. The kid immediately backed off (and my kid's small for his age) and hasn't bothered that girl again. Apparently the girl follows my boy around everywhere now. I think bullying is so much more about perception than it is about size and being a tough guy. Any parents out there I encourage them to get their kids into martial arts. Not wanting to engage a bully, but knowing you can if you had to is a powerful thing.
Omaha Red Sox wrote:Any parents out there I encourage them to get their kids into martial arts. Not wanting to engage a bully, but knowing you can if you had to is a powerful thing.
True. Funny thing was, knowing martial arts actually got me into fights. It's not that I didn't learn discipline but because I knew a couple of styles of martial arts as a teenager, a lot of kids wanted to test me and they didn't go about it the right way. I got into a lot of fights, sometimes straight up brawls. It's bad enough I inherited a terrible temper which I actually handle well 90% of the time but if my fuse ran very short, well, adrenaline talks and reason's out the window. Thankfully, they decreased by the time I was in college but I got into my fair share of them at that age too.
Omaha Red Sox wrote:Any parents out there I encourage them to get their kids into martial arts. Not wanting to engage a bully, but knowing you can if you had to is a powerful thing.
True. Funny thing was, knowing martial arts actually got me into fights. It's not that I didn't learn discipline but because I knew a couple of styles of martial arts as a teenager, a lot of kids wanted to test me and they didn't go about it the right way. I got into a lot of fights, sometimes straight up brawls. It's bad enough I inherited a terrible temper which I actually handle well 90% of the time but if my fuse ran very short, well, adrenaline talks and reason's out the window. Thankfully, they decreased by the time I was in college but I got into my fair share of them at that age too.
I think this is one of the reasons why some schools stress that the student not share that they are in martial arts. So they don't get tested. Some schools strictly enforce this and I think it's a decent idea, however kind of difficult for a kid who needs the occasional reason (like pride) to keep going when it gets boring and monotonous.
bullies are a lot like dogs IMO. as long as you show them that you arent scared, and reflect confidence (even if it isnt the case), they generally back down. i used to do this back in high school when i was pretty small and it seemed to work pretty well. i did end up getting in one "fight" in a pickup game of football with a bully and he never messed with me again. he was an anomoly though..the dude just wouldnt give up picking on me and my friends and i finally got tired of it.
since high school i lifted a lot and put on some weight, and now no one starts anything with me.
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by VaderFin » Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:08 pm 
