umm i wouldn't go with boxing unless you plan on fighting this guy in a year or so. Boxing skills can be obtained fairly quickly, but to be able to use them and allow your body and mind to be in sync to box effectivley you need to train constantley. Boxing alone (unless you are highly skilled) will not be a great "street fighting" style. If I were you I would do a few months of a ground martial art that is more centered around takedowns, because anyone can throw a punch (not necissarily well of course) and as you said hes much bigger, so unless you have fast hands and are able to slip and roll under quickly and naturally you'd be better off getting him into a hold on the ground :) .. oh and just so you dont start something you'll regret you need to understand that size has so much influence its crazy, height alone can make a fight much more difficult, unless of course you have trained to fight on the inside (and even still its hard). This is why i strongly recommend you learn how to subdue him instead of trying to punch it out, you need to get this guy into a position where his movement is limited. Hope this helps, and dont be discouraged, sure many dont think fighting solves anything, but in reality it surely can :)

Great question, Conor. Just to give you a background, I wrestled through high school, was captain of the boxing team in college, have a black belt in tkd, and a purple belt in BJJ. I've also done a bit of muay thai and had some experience in fighting in the street.

Boxing is actually great for self defense. It comes out pretty instinctively when you are attacked and you will find that after a year or two of boxing you develop a stronger "chin". That is to say you will be able to get punched in the head without being as phased. I don't know if this is because you learn to instinctively keep your chin down and brace for punches or if its some kind of an actual physiological change, but most boxers will tell you that it is a real phenomenon.

The other benefit is that when you get into a real fight, the aggressive fighting attitude you develop from lots of ring time comes out. If someone hits you, rather than shying away, you'll instinctively go after them and the chain of punches will flow out naturally.

Now the downside is that you might very well break your hand. The last time I was attacked in a street fight, I put the guy on the ground with just punches but i had to get my hand x-rayed after. Another guy I know recently broke his hand on someones face in an altercation.

Someone also mentioned earlier that doing a ground style could be better. For your purposes this actually might be very true. I've used BJJ in one on one street fights before and even if you are significantly small than the opponent, if you train hard for a year or two you will still have a good chance of dominating them on the ground. Actually, there is a video of me choking out a guy in a street fight on youtube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjeMdR5Gl...

But be warned that going to the ground is not a good option if you have to worry about other people kicking you while you try to grapple their friend.

The other benefit of grappling is the self defense rear naked choke from behind. I don't know if you've ever watched Dexter, but the main character chokes people out a lot by sneaking up on them. That actually works shockingly well. I've used it in the street when I see someone attacking someone else. Just casually walk up behind them and fight is over. Of course, pulling off that choke requires getting a feel for it that you need to train to get. If all you want to do is stop this guy once, learning grappling for a year and doing this might be your easiest bet.

I'd suggest looking around for an MMA gym. They'll give a little taste of everything and you won't learn as much sport BJJ which you probably won't need.

I'd steer clear of basically all tkd, karate, kungfu places. That stuff isn't going to help you (at least not any time soon). And to a lesser extent most Krav Maga places as well. What you need is live hard sparring, whether it be boxing or grappling.

Also, if you have to fight, don't worry, feeling afraid beforehand is completely normal. But if you've done your homework in the ring, it will feel natural once the punches start flying. Adrenalin is one hell of a cure for pain and nerves.

Final note, don't stick around for the cops and don't throw the first punch if its in front of witnesses. If you choke the guy out and people are watching, that's fine, very little actual damage. But if you punch someone out and they lose teeth, break their nose, etc. you will be paying out the wazoo. I mean like tens of thousands of dollars. I'm also an attorney and I sued that guy who attacked me and I have had friends who were sued for fighting a bully and winning because they stuck around and talked to the cops afterwards.

It's good to learn some form of self-defense, however, fighting (no matter the reason or place) is illegal, and considered assault.

If you do plan to fight him, I would not recommend doing it somewhere cameras or responsible adults or young children are.

I wouldnt recommend learning to fight just to beat someone up, I always try to sort problems out with words, or threats, and if all fails, then I too myself, resort to violence.

But, to answer your question, id say go learn to fight, but whatever you learn, just use it wisely, and be aware every action has a reaction.

As you said, you dont think talking it out will end well for you. Id say take a few classes just to learn self defense, then try talking to him, so if he trys to swing at you, you can block it.

If you do decide to try to talk it out, use a calm voice, and do not react to anything he says. Simply ask him kindly to **** off.

Otherwise, yeah, go learn some fighting moves and take him down... Make sure your actually able though, dont want to find out you did a month of boxing and he did 8 you know?

Any boxing questions chivaslover180@yahoo.com

Hey... Yeah I know strange question... One of my friends have been bullied her whole life by some kid twice the size as me, we are both the same age ( 18 ) but he really does hurt her, but... sadly I can not do anything but help her and make her walk away... I want to learn some sort of fighting so if this happens again... I can simple beat the **** out of him if he does it again.. I know I would need to go gym and learn... But no one and I mean no one should hurt a girl for no reason... I know this is a really stupid question but, I am willing to actually go gym and learn fighting just to get this guy to leave her alone... It has been happening to her for years and its not just going to stop like that... What do I do? This guy is just a dick and the only way I can see this stopping is by me doing something myself.. He is strong but he does not do any lessons he just... simple stronger then me, I need to sort this out, and by me going to up to him and saying please can you stop will probably end up me with a broken nose... So yeah, I can not sit back and watch while she is bullied for no reason... We was in the high street and he came up and smacked her in the head... Trust me I was so ready to beat the **** out of him... But I am like 5,4 and he is like so much taller... I really need to do something.. :(