[fintstone]

I got in a few fights as a youngster and never had much trouble with guys my size, but really big guys were a different story. When I was about 14 and about 130lbs, an 18 year old, 260lb senior lineman used to beat me (and the rest of the JV team) up regularly. Most of my peer group considered me the best fighter in the crowd, so after I got demolished, they simply took their licks without much resistance. I thought I could at least put up a good fight and make him pay, but I could never land a punch as his reach was so long. He was 6'5 and I was probably about 5'6". I got in a fight with another senior that year who seemed less tough and did not play sports (more a pot head). He was even taller but skinny. He turned out to be a lot tougher than he looked (should have guessed as he was quite eager to pick a fight with me for no reason). I could not land a punch on him either as he also used his reach (apparently has some martial arts training as he mixed punches with kicks that pushed me back). It was a joke. I quickly learned how important reach was from those two "fights". I also learned from the first guy that the old adage that bullies would stop if you stood up to them was inaccurate. It is only accurate if you inflict some damage or they get onto a lot of trouble. That year sucked.