re: OT Dads: do you teach your sons how to fight?

Fortunately, I only had daughters. I do believe my middle child could probably whip my arse though. She is tough. Every school fight I got in resulted in a loss. She won all hers.

I taught my sons (and daughter) to headbutt in preschool so that it could always appear to be an accident - my wife failed to appreciate this until they needed it...

Both my daughter and son learned how to fight with our "roughhousing". My son never got into a serious fight in school. On the other hand, my daughter literally cold cocked an OL guy for mistreating her. My then wife called me to comment that the football player's face was still red a half hour later where our daughter put a right cross on him. The football coaches literally shamed the kid into quitting the football team, and even commented that perhaps they needed to recruit my daughter to hold his positing on the line instead of him. That said, the kid deserved it, and no one in that school fricked with my daughter again. While she took a three day suspension, I was not going to punish her for defending herself, and went to bat on her behalf to get her a chance to make up the work she would have otherwise gotten an "F" on for the days she missed.

My kids will know two things, you do not fight unless your life or great bodily harm depends on it. Pride means jack shite.

If you are forced to fight, you fight to completely incapacitate. If the other person dies as a result, you will have to face the consequences. So you had better be sure there was no avoiding it.

If they look anything like me, the only offers of conflict will be from idiots.

I look shockingly like this guy, minus the trashy tats.

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So if some jackass pushes you and smacks you in the face for being a puss, you'll walk away?

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Pushes, yes.

Tries to hit me in the face and he's gonna end up with a broken arm, a shoulder to the face, a headbutt, or a hit to the throat.

In my experience, people don't throw a swing if you are walking away.

I did get hit with a bottle once.

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I look shockingly like this guy, minus the trashy tats.

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I hope you don't have a girl...that poor child would be hideous!

Fighting is trashy, but sometimes you need to throw down when someone lays their hands on you.

My son takes Krav Maga and wrestling in the evenings. He really loves it and thinks it's a lot of fun. I told my wife, "I want my son to walk away from a fight but not because he is scared".

Once you learn how to protect yourself it helps your confidence I think.

1 roll of dimes balled up into his fist, one right cross, one belt taken off and whipped buckle-first across the bully's back repeatedly, and no one has ever messed with my boy since.

After leaving the assistant principal's office with him after receiving his two week's suspension, I took him to El Potrillo's to celebrate.