It’s a story as old as time itself…

Kid gets bullied, kid learns to defend themself, kid gets bullies to back off.

You’ve heard it before, but for some reason, that story never gets old, does it?

Well, here’s another version of that tale for you to enjoy.

Start now!

Years of bullying ended in one sparring session.

“During 8th and 9th grade, I was the target of a pretty big group of bullies.

They made my life hell both inside and outside school, as we lived in a small community.

Jeez!

It all started when I came to a local party with a case of beer.

The soon-to-be bully frontman came up to me, caught me off guard with a brass knuckle punch right in the solar plexus, robbed me of my beer, dragged me away, and made me kiss his feet before letting me leave.

After that, the word got around quick that I was a wimp that everyone could mess with, and they did.

Entering school in the mornings and leaving in the afternoons were my most vulnerable times. They often grouped up, waiting to catch me entering or leaving.

Sounds rough…

I was real stealthy and an explosive runner, so they didn’t catch me often, but they never missed a chance to try.

Sometimes, they caught me off guard.

One time when my mom was working the night shift and I had friends over, they invaded my apartment by climbing up the balcony, peeing all over it, and kicking in the front door.

They never got inside, but they trashed it completely.

We actually went to court for this.

I started going to the gym frequently and made good progress for a couple of months until one day, they all showed up and jumped me inside the gym.

I never went back after that. My secret spot was revealed, and my progress was over.

Sounds like a nightmare.

I lived in constant fear during these years, unable to move outside without keeping all my peripherals on point.

I developed tactics like being late to school every day and staying in the classroom of the last class as long as I could to avoid running into them in the cafeteria or entrance.

I still remember the relief I felt after getting into the safe zone on Friday afternoons, knowing I could relax during the weekend.

And I remember the aching anxiety every Sunday evening, knowing I had a full week of dodging abuse ahead of me.

He found a new purpose.

I was a martial arts fanatic, and when a Thai boxing club opened in my town, I was the first one there. I showed up at every class and loved every second of it.

I trained for about a year until one day, the key bullying group came inside.

The word must have gotten around, and I thought this was the last time I’d be able to train.

I never realized how strong I had become during that year because I was still living in constant fear.

But when they all hit the floor during warmup out of exhaustion, I was baffled.

I wasn’t even sweaty yet.

Oh, this was gonna be good…

When it was time for sparring, I got paired up with one of them.

He didn’t stand a chance.

He couldn’t protect himself at all, and the few punches he threw were complete misses.

I clocked him so many times I lost count during the two 2-minute rounds.

I didn’t hit hard; I still followed the rules and let him decide the pace and power.

They all left mid-class after the sparring.

The rest of that class, I was anxious because I knew they would be waiting outside to get me, like always.

But to my surprise, they weren’t there.

Showed them!

The next time I ran into them, they completely ignored me.

I was still afraid and ready to run, but they acted like I wasn’t even there. It took a while to accept this, and I stayed ready when they were around me for months after that.

It’s crazy to think it only took a couple of minutes to end years of abuse.”

Here’s what folks had to say on Reddit.

This person had a lot to say.

Another reader chimed in.

This Reddit user shared their thoughts.

Another person nailed it.

And this individual spoke up.

This story sounds like an episode of Cobra Kai!

If you liked this post, you might want to read this story about a teacher who taught the school’s administration a lesson after they made a sick kid take a final exam.