It just seemed a bit of a strange thread for someone with Phil's profession to start...
My saddest memory is of my Dad losing his temper, gesturing like he was going to smack me (he hardly ever actually did, I certainly can't remember any incidents throughout my childhood), me standing my ground as a stronger fitter 20 year old and him backing down fearfully. He looked so sad and kind of broken, I guess knowing he shouldn't have lost his temper but also that he was physically fading away. I wish I hadn't acted like that but I think the fight or flight thing kicked in and I instinctively knew the physical balance of power had shifted. He died a few weeks later during recovery from his third open heart surgery. We were very close but he did have a short fuse and I was belatedly going through my difficult teenage phase.
Well, that was fun.
I don't know that I could / would want to go through the pain of the loss again
I'm not over the original loss so wouldn't make any difference to go through it again.
He wouldn't have stood a chance - he'd been dead 15 years (I'm 45). The most ironic thing was that his name was made famous by The Bionic Man. Oh the hilarity as a child of the '70s; "I bet your dad's the Bionic Man...". Funnily enough, if he was my age, you might struggle to tell which was which in a fight we've always looked the same.
Never had a fight in my life so no idea.
However - when I first met my dad (well, since I was 4 yrs old) I was 21, that was around 21 years ago and I believe he is around 21 years older than me coincidentally!
I saw pictures of him when he was 21 and we were identical - to the point where it could have been a photo of me on the wall of that bar in Hong Kong. At 42 though he was overweight and drank a lot. I'm approaching 42 and have never been fitter - I do drink far too much though! He's now in his 60's and I sincerely hope I dont become the frail arthritic shadow of a once fine figure of a man that he is now.
So, no fighting, but a comparison of how we have measured up so far.
Both of us are passive and anti-antagonism, so a scrap would probably take ages and be punctuated with 'sorry' and 'ooh, mind yourself'. It would be a truly pathetic sight.
We did physical violence once, when I was about 15. It quickly turned into pushy-pushy stalemate.
Never been in a fight and skinny as hell. Dad.
It's an interesting thread, and quite poignant. Doesn't matter if that was intentional on the part of the OP.
I didn't know my dad when he was in his forties, he had buggered off by then. I've spent most of my life making sure I didn't emulate him in that respect, including not drinking heavily, so I'm probably in better shape now than he was at this point.
My dad vs me. I win by knockout in round 1. He never played any sport seriously. Drinks way too much, smoked into his 40s and never exercised.
My granddad however, different story. He's 90 and blind in one eye and I'd still think twice before taking him on. He still tills the fields and rides his bike to the market everyday. I offered to pump up his almost flat tyres and replace his 1950s bike when I visited him last year and his response was "don't touch it, there's nothing wrong with it". He's the reason I played any competitive sport as a kid and continue to do so now.
You're a legend gramps. I hope I'm half the dad I am to my kids that you are the granddad to me!
Not sure. My dad worked for the BBC at my age, but spent his spare time pretending to be an engine hoist whilst restoring classic cars and is still immensely strong at 70 odd. Also, a very gentle, caring man, so as with a few others, it would be a shit fight to watch.
My stepdad though - that's a whole 'nother kettle o' fish. A navy man with a bit of a temper. Probably, he'd blooter me.
Despite me being a lot bigger than my Dad, by all accounts he was a bit of a silent assassin according to blokes in the local if anything ever kicked off (by silent, my Dad's a pretty quiet bloke but could easily look after himself) - I think our village pubs were a bit Wild West in the 80s! He was also extremely strong and fit. I'd take a battering.
To be honest I think it would still be a close run thing now if we had a rumble (which we wouldn't!).
This thread has weird freudian undercurrents the depths of which I cannot begin or even want to fathom.
Some of it's that old 'Silverback Male' thing, I think.
My wife says it's funny how I react if my son challenges me.
He's 16 now and as tall as me but not quite filled out as much as he's going to. I can't see us ever fighting but it might almost feel like that power passing between the generations thing, I guess, if we did bcause I'd let him win rather than hurting him.
When I were a kid my father worked with stone, handling, sawing and carving huge blocks of stone that were put up on the bench using scaffold planks and rollers fashioned from a brewery crate track (small rollers fixed in metal frame) used upside down. Once he'd got the stone in place my brother and I used the planks and rollers to build our own little rollercoaster! Fond memories, but fight? sh*t! the size of his arms? I would've been knocked into the next week!!
* As an aside, my little brother followed into the trade and legend has it they did come to blows once (bro was in his late teens) but neither has ever claimed the upper hand. (they get on fine now but work independantly).
Close call between the TA soldier going through sandhurst and the sport science student 6 inches taller (same weight). I think I could shade it with the extra reach but would still take a beating.
He's getting on a bit now but I hope science catches up fast enough that I never have to see him go...
Me,
As he'd been dead for 6 months at my age (40 3/4)...
Pik n Mix
Yunki
Khani +1
Well good thread. I wouldn't stand a chance despite being almost identical - even to the extent that our clothes are the same! He's spent most of his life pretending to be a wrench/strong arm & undoing nuts & bolts with his hands. Also, his whole childhood was spent getting the shit kicked out of him (jewish) until he grew to 6 ft 2 & bought a motorbike 😀 only seen him loose his temper once though when some ****y cheshireman in a bmw opened his drivers door on me when I was riding past. That's if it came to a fight, we're far too laid back to get riled up.
Unless there's no coffee mate left...
well me vs my father when I still lived at home = a draw as we both ended up in A&E.
Me - 6'4", 15 stone slightly over weight cyclist and desk jockey who plays a bit of football.
Him - 6'4", 15 stone, more muscle than flab, semi pro footballer in a time when fights were part of the fun.
I suspect he would have me but given our respective passive, laid back demeanour it would be a horrible watch for the neutrals. He's now 62, but I would still fancy his chances.
Pik n Mix - Member
Screw it I would take a beating off of all your dads to just have another minute with mine
Just this. I would do almost anything for some more time with my dad... We had our moments but he was a great man and I wish we had clashed less often - as did he. Bloody hell I feel sad.
Toe to toe, I'd be too strong and streetwise for him, if it got wrestley as a control and restraint instructor, he'd tie me in more knots than I know how to get out of.
There is a fair size difference though, I'm 6ft 14.5st, he was 5ft8 and about 10st wringing wet at his best.
I've thought a long while before posting anything here. Away from the topic, I don't get on with my parents. A traumatic childhood, full of anger and arguments and no doubt not helped by issues i didn't understand then, but am starting to now that I have had kids, has left me with so little respect for my parents that I have no feelings for them. I saw my dad a week ago. He's a frail old man now, and I am struggling to know what to feel or say if he pops his clogs, so much so I'm almost angry that he's made me feel that way by being old and frail in the first place.
Thing is, despite attempting 20 years ago to put it on the table they continue with the same traits as always and are completly blind/ignorant to how I feel.
My dad did give me a rather simple doing once. After being extremely rude to "the woman I love" (his words I have not forgotten) he gave me a lesson in why he had been a successful Royal Artillery boxer. I am such a wimp one punch and I was down. I deserved it and made sure that next time I rained in my teenage angst. Valuable lesson learned.
My dad could probably beat me in a fight now. He's 73 😳
He'd have decked me!
My dad was a "bit of lad" in his day and had a bit of a rep as a nutcase ginger. I never forget as a 7 or 8 yr old and being bitten by a jack russel, dad was non to pleased with its owner who was a bloke called chock, a builder type and a fair bit bigger as my old mans no more than 5'9" tops. It was an interesting conversation that they had...
In my perceived spirit of the thread, Dad.
A kinder, more thoughtful and calm gentleman you could not wish to meet, with no visible issues to this day that could make me do anything other than aspire to be anywhere close to his character. Not an inch of ego, bravado, or desire for anything other than the happiness of his family.
..but I once witnessed him confront someone who nipped in and robbed a parking space he was about to reverse into.
Holy crap - what an insight that was.
I miss my dad. 🙁
I'm like him in many ways - same sense of humour, similar taste in music, films and books.
He was kind, generous and generally wonderful - I like to aspire to that, but I have a vindictive and vengeful steak a mile wide, which is more from my mother.
I did martial arts, but he was nearly a foot taller than me, and I have the upper body strength of a kitten.
I kicked his arse at Wipeout on the Playstation though.
At the age I am now (42) my dad(60) was just starting to calm down a bit , he was 6'1" and about 22 stone with a 54" chest. He had a belly but the rest of him was muscle he would've knocked 7 bells of pooh out of me. Fighting has got him into lots of trouble over the years , and only just got off prison once after punching someone through one of those wire glass windows you get in pub doors.
In the last 12 months he's lost about 6-7 stone and I have to double take as he looks like a shadow of his former self.He's still a grumpy old bugger though.
but I have a vindictive and vengeful steak a mile wide, which is more from my mother.
I am struggling to not make a sexist comment here 😉
Those of you that miss your dad I do feel sorry for your loss but some of us on here never really knew our dads
If you took him out my life it is about 4 minutes of memories erased and his influence on me was close to nil.
you have my sympathy for your loss but i am also jealous as hell that you had a good un who GAS as that is way more than I got
I will have regrets when he goes but I wont be missing him as I never had him.....that is tragic though I am ok with it now [ seeing as we seem to be doing serious as well]
Dad 45: Bricklayer
Me 45: Pen pusher
You do the maths 8)
+1 sad
I actually don't know. I'm bigger, faster and pretty well trained in martial arts. He's smaller slower but a nasty piece of work when pushed. I could see quite a long tussle in which hopefully he'd calm down and buy me a pint!
If I ever thought I could beat my dad it a fight I'd be disgusted with myself
Even if I could beat him, I would never dream of lifting a finger against him
He died in dec this year, and even if I could have I'm back tomorrow I wouldn't lay a hand on him
He was my hero
philconsequence - Memberits you vs your dad, but not you dad as he is now, as he was at your current age. who'd win?
fair fist fight, none of thems weapons
My father would kick my arse many times over as he was in "special force" in his younger days ... probably immobilize a person with some chop sticks/a pen.
I am trained as pen pusher. Take that 12 pages rules! I will defeat you with Health & Safety ...
🙂
think ill go and see my dad.
- the people saying what they would exchange for 1 more minute has made me really sad.
my dad is proper off the wall bonkers and he's brilliant.
i tried to fight him once when i was about 18 and stupid, im bloody glad he didnt try and hit me back.
men were just harder from that era in every respect. im a stonemason and at 64 he is still much stronger and much much fitter than me- it wreaks me to do a days work along side him.
love you dad
JT, lovely post.
My dad at 52 - still working as a miner, big bloke, liked a pint, grumpy old bugger. Me at 52 - psychiatric nurse, not bothered one way or the other about a pint, also a grumpy old bugger. Thing is, I end up rolling about on the floor with folk that want to leave the unit or rip my head off, usually both, on an all too regular basis. However, this is done within the remit of control and restraint (or whatever they're calling it this week), so it's not really 'fighting' as such, more badly choreographed chaos. My dad would have probably kicked my arse, due in no small part to the fact I don't think I'd want to hit him back.
Same, not spoke since 2005. I don't even know where he lives but I'll just follow oil stains til I find his Ducati 900ss
My dad played cricket against young Boycott, tennis for his town and county, raced enduro and six day trials motorbikes back in the day, then football for the Navy and stoked boilers on aircraft carriers around the world, while rucking and rutting his way around the ports of Empire. I got nothing on that. Never even close. I must admit though I'm close to being as fit now as any time in my life, wheras at 47 my dad had had too many years of shift work, beer and Embassy so had slowed a bit, though still being competitive at the golf, darts and snooker. He could still kick my butt at those now at 79, even with the fancy defib/pacemaker. I'd be proud to carry his clubs, though.
Actually one of the things I used to love was a proper play fight with my brother which my Dad used to get involved in (seemed to happen most often on a Sunday evening for some reason). Dad had some right sneaky moves that I could just never work out or get out of.
Jnr now picks on me for a play fight, regardless of size it'll take him a while to get the better of me as I learnt from the master 😆
My dad never ever[i] ever[/i] raised a hand to me. In fact, he never even raised his voice to me. Never in a million years would I ever dream of doing so to him.
FWIW, he's now 68, and if it came to a test of physical strength and / or fitness, he'd still easily win. 😀
Actually, I suspect he'd also easily win any test of cunning and / or mental prowess... 😳
Thanks all for a gentle prod, just arranged to ride earlier in the day so I can take Mum & Dad to their favourite Fish n Chip restaurant on Sat for their tea. They seem chuffed to bits. 😀
Maybe my Dad would win? As far as I'm aware, neither of us have had a proper fight since teenage years, so hard to tell....although I'd struggle to punch my way out of a paper bag!
My Dad is still my best mate though-we're going to Twickenham together at the end of May-I'm just as excited as when we used to do stuff when I was a little kid 🙂
Don't know who my dad was, but if I met him I would kick his ass for not dealing with his responsibilities
Very disturbing thread, don't know why anyone would even think of this, or post it if they did!!!! 😕
Well I've been in the paras, could have been a professional boxer, as well as doing mixed martial arts at a very high level! My dad is 6ft 4" built solid, probably was the hardest dad here and was an ex underground fist fighter, so I guess I don't know! 😕
Actually I think I would as I have the fitness advantage! 😆