Poll: Have you ever punched anyone?

[Craorach]

Well, I did Karate for about five years, so yeah I punched people alot there.

In anger.. once, maybe twice, I can't really remember. The only incident that sticks with my mind was finally having enough of a guy who'd been picking on me for weeks during a really stressful time in my life.

In this particular case he was throwing things at the back of my head, making comments when he walked past and kicking the back of my stool in a science class for a week straight.. finally he shoved me.

I smacked him in the nose hard enough to break it.. he goes whining to teacher, teacher goes "I didn't see anything, better go to the nurse and get that seen too."

 

[Monkeyman O'Brien]

Yup. Quite often in fact.
However I do not like punching people. Not because I am opposed to violence but simply because it is a inelegant way of doing things.
Punches are for two lady men just dancing around. If you are in a real fight and looking to do damage then punches are way low on the list. My father and brother prefer grapples, I prefer using elbows and knees.

Then I had to spend the whole party listening to a drunk guy with a bloody nose going off on how I was so fired when he sobered up.

Did you get fired? I mean if he hit you first then did fire you you could own his ass in court for wrongful dismissal.

 

[Jedoro]

Back in high school I had a small Fight-Club-esque group in JROTC that met maybe once a month, punched quite a few guys there. Of course, we agreed on no face shots since we didn't want any teachers seeing the damage, but we had fun.

I remember one fight that opened up with the guy kicking me in the testicles with his combat boots on. I didn't feel it until after I'd won the fight.

 

[dorkette1990]

I've gotten into a few fights, and all of them started with someone punching me, and me finishing it. I'm the black-out-and-wake-up-on-someone's-bloody-face type fighter. I'm apparently a hard hitter - it usually only takes one. Especially impressive since I'm a small girl and all those fights were against guys.

 

[Alexias_Sandar]

Punched? Not really. I'm a grappler, mainly. Fought, sure. Kicked, thrown, choked, held, smashed into things, struck with objects, or the like...? Yeah. But... haven't really punched. On the other hand, they've pretty much all been self defense, defense of another, or controlled spar. I don't start fights. But I'm not going to let someone attack me or another without doing what I can.

 

[ace_of_something]

I'm a police officer and I grew up with 4 older brothers (and a twin) so... yes. Yes, I have.

 

[RanD00M]

I got into a small sum of fights when I was younger, so I can honestly say that I have. I have also been punched. I have both done it in assault, defense and a mob beating.
The last one I'm not all that proud of, but I doubt anyone except for me remembers it.

 

[alandavidson]

Yeah, I've been in a lot of fights, throwing lots of punches. I've never started anything, but I've finished a lot of fights.

 

[Radoh]

As a matter of fact, yeah I did. So now Story time.
Riding home on the bus as usual in like fifth or sixth grade getting picked on again by that guy who's name I don't remember. No big deal, he's lost his effectiveness since I've grown callous to his stupid. Then he finds a glue stick on the floor and puts the whole thing in my hair.

I don't actually really remember hitting him, but I was standing over him with blood all over my hands and shirt and his lip was sagging into his face where some teeth used to be.

Not something I'm proud of, but the bullying stopped when they found out Radoh is a psychopath who'll break your face. The weirdest part is I never got in trouble.

 

[Sehnsucht Engel]

Yeah, I have. I used to get into fights when I was a kid. I did intend to hurt the other one, but it usually ended before anyone got badly hurt. I stopped fighting as I got older.

 

[Thyunda]

Outside of playfighting or sparring, no, I have not. In moments of real combat, I tend to go with grapples, hits to pressure points or good old fashioned trips, followed by pinning the opponent down.

 

[AngloDoom]

I'm not talking about baby taps and dead arms and stuff here, but real blows with the intent to cause damage. Personally I find it a difficult thing to do, though I have thrown a few in my life. Each time I was really enraged and lost control of myself. I've never thrown a punch in defense, or even desperation. My rational mind just won't allow it.

ED: if anyone finds a missing poll, send it this way.

I had quite a 'laddish' childhood, which people often find strange considering I'm well spoken, quick to apologise, and have the face and hair of a fluffy puppy. I got into lots of fights when I was young and that reflected on my high-school years too. I went to an area where people were convinced it was rough, but a fight in school was extraordinarily rare. When I arrive and people starting bullying me, I just assumed a punch was coming and so I just got there first.

I didn't get bullied 'up close' as much from that point, and it's the last time I've had to punch somebody outside of a martial-art or playfighting, thank crap. I've been punched a couple of times then, interestingly more by women than men.

Weirdly, since moving around a lot more it surprised me how very few people have gotten into fights: I used to live in the type of area where everyone went around fighting people of different ethnicities or parts of the street because no-one had any idea what else to do- kudos, world.

EDIT -

Well, I did Karate for about five years, so yeah I punched people alot there.

I misread this as "Well, I did karaoke for about five years, so yeah I punched people alot there" and it made my day".

 

[Atmos Duality]

Way too many times...though in particular, I half-crushed the throat of a kid who stabbed me with a pen-knife (he couldn't breathe for a good while, but fortunately, he managed to vomit hard enough to reopen his larynx).

Though I can't claim it was a punch; it was an elbow.

I won't claim to have been a total angel growing up (far from it), and I'm not proud of what I did to him, but I will say that the little psycho earned it. It was the last time anyone from my grade openly fucked with me, that's for sure (aided by the fact that I moved away less than a year later...natch).

 

[Mycroft Holmes]

OT: No and there are basically no circumstances wherein I would consider punching anyone.

Well hey, you learn something new every day. Suppose i'll have to go for a gut shot next time. Thanks man.

You can cause internal bleeding and kill someone by hitting them in the stomach. There are lots of solid organs down there which can be damaged from blunt force trauma and cause someone to bleed out and die in very short order. There are also a variety of symptoms that you can't account for, for instance an appendicitis that has not manifested itself painfully yet can still be popped by you punching them. If it pops it will spread infection through out their whole body and they will have between 1-3 hours left to live.

You should never punch anyone ever unless you are willing to accept the possibility and consequences that you could very well kill them in doing so.

 

[Aureliano]

Nope. Been doing martial arts for years, and if there's one thing you learn pretty early on it's that you have probably made a whole series of bad decisions if you actually have to try to hurt somebody with your fist. I try to be more careful than that.

 

[BehattedWanderer]

Yeah. It's a colloquial greeting around here, from time to time. If you can't make someone wince, then you're not feeling well. Beyond that, there was a dude messing with me on a bad day in the ninth grade, and I popped him one in the stomach that winded him. That put a stop to that, really.

 

[Chancie]

Nope. The closest I've gotten to a fight is yelling at people. I'm one of those that would probably break my own hand (or at least hurt myself) in the process of punching someone. So, I wouldn't really try. I'm not a physically violent or angry person. I'd rather just yell, say my piece, and then I'm good.

 

[Davih]

Few people tried to bully me in school, turns out they don't like it when you fight back.

 

[emeraldrafael]

Yes. But then again I'vde found just about every occasion to be justifiable

 

[thejackyl]

Once out of anger, and SEVERAL times in self defense (though, I usually got hauled to the principal's office ALONE for it)

I wasn't a popular kid in high school. I was the nerdy kid that everyone and their dog picked on. That was made doubly true when my dad came out of the closet and, since I live in a small town, everyone knew about the next day, and homosexuality being much more taboo than it is today, I ended getting the flak for a LOT of bullshit (though I am straight myself). So... you can see how that worked. I was beaten up, pretty much daily. I got tired of it, and started fighting back, and became a VERY angry/depressed person in High School.

The only time I hit someone preemptively, was when some ass was talking shit about my girlfriend (at the time. I tend to agree with him now, in hindsight). But I decked him right then and there surrounded by his friends who just kind of watched in awe as someone about half his size just decked him and knocked him on his ass.