Are you really tall?

[Brigade77]

I find it rather intriguing you've met street fighters - where did you meet street fighters?

For many years of my post pubescent youth I thought I was the hardest man on earth. When I walked in a local pub quite a lot of folk walked out.

It took the beating that most wouldn't survive to make me see any sense. This side of it, I still worry that I used to enjoy fighting.

In my defence, I have never fought on with any man that lay down or walked away & I always respected their dignity. I have never engaged with anyone that didn't deserve it.

I made the national tabloids in the early 80's as the 'thick' bouncer who took 6 squaddies on at a door in Coventry & didn't lose. I should have revelled in the notoriety, but it upset me that they described me as a "stupid thug" when at the time I was studying for my PhD !

 

[teaboyjim]

I have never fought on with any man that lay down or walked away & I always respected their dignity. I have never engaged with anyone that didn't deserve it.

This fair and honourable way of going about things was at one time "the norm" whereas nowadays it's not so much as it once was.

I made the national tabloids in the early 80's as the 'thick' bouncer who took 6 squaddies on at a door in Coventry & didn't lose.

That's answered the question of how you became familiar with street fighters

I should have revelled in the notoriety, but it upset me that they described me as a "stupid thug" when at the time I was studying for my PhD !

I note how you're the one they label thug when it's six against one?

 

[EFLImpudence]

I wouldn't like to be any shorter. As it is my feet only just reach the ground.

 

[Brigade77]

I find it rather intriguing you've met street fighters? In the same vein you also will find many SAS soldiers are very lean and wiry and not nearly as big as one might imagine - same with other rigorously trained special forces members

Those 6 squaddies were a stag party out of Hereford . . . & I'm still good mates with 2 of 'em !

One of their specialities is to be 'Mr Nobody', someone you don't give a second glance to. I know now that this is one of the best ways to spot them.

You should never confuse bulk with strength & you should never confuse 'muscle' with the ability to fight. Some of the biggest & most muscle bound folk I know wouldn't last 2secs, in fact, there's a lot of truth in "the bigger, the better".

I once helped a mate sort out a problem 2nd hand car he'd bought, he thought he'd bring me along to sort it all out if/when it all went tits up & turned to violence. The bloke that sold him the car, the first moment I set eyes on him I knew he was a dangerous fukker. We sorted it, my mate was actually in the wrong & just looking for his money back on a deal that wasn't going his way.

I don't know how to express it, but maybe the best way is a word called 'respect'.

 

[teaboyjim]

Those 6 squaddies were a stag party out of Hereford . . . & I'm still good mates with 2 of 'em !

The only squaddies in Hereford are SAS soldiers, even SAS candidates are seasoned soldiers not new recruits

 

[johnny2007]

I grew up in a very rough area and we used to organise fights.
The best fighters were small and agile.
The big ones could get a beating, but were not the best fighters.
I know 2 brothers close to 7 foot and 300 pounds of muscle.
They say that they never had a fight because people are just scared of their impressive stature.
They admit of being shyte at fighting and anyone could put them down easily, but nobody ever tried.
They're gentle giants.

 

[Ihavenojob]

not nearly as big as one might imagine

Talking of imagining height, I was reading about the 2 great West Indian cricketers, Sir Clive Lloyd and Sir Viv Richards. I had always thought of Clive being much shorter than Viv, but facts state Viv is 5' 10" and Clive is 6' 4" !

 

[JP_]

Viv is 5' 10" and Clive is 6' 4"

I had a go at bowling once, then quickly discovered that being a shorty meant I had no chance at speed! Although I am sure there are some fast bowlers my sort of height...

 

[crystal ball]

Harold Larwood one of the great quicks was 5' 8"

 

[wobs]

I'm 5'9" in all the right places.

 

[Ronob]

It’s funny, when I was younger, say up to the age of 20-25, at 6ft1”, i towered over most people I came in contact with. I was always pushed to the back row of any group photo-shoot and continuously asked if I could pass things down off a high shelf in the supermarket. Suspended signs in shops were often hung at 5’11” and I tired of questions like “what’s the weather like up there?”

Now, I feel positively average. Not that it bothers me much!