I had two occasions when I have gone out to check on something, the first when I was in my 30's my dughters said there was someone on our back porch I went out to sea, he ran down the street. I ran after him and caught him in a yard a couple of hundred yards down the street. Having cornered him I thought what will I do with him. I probably weighed about 75kg at the time. He surrendered and explained he was in the yard because he wads being chased by some boys. He was only a kid and I rzang his parents and they came and collected him.
The second occasion was someone knocking on our fence in St Clair at about 1am I went out and he rused me and knocked me to th ground. I said your'e brave tackiing a 75 year old and he apologised the police came but he was long gone except for his mate who was paralytic on the ground and he said he didn't know who the other guy was.
I know I know no fool like an old fool. Other than a bruised ego no harm was done.
Sorry to hear that happened to you bloke. I've spent the last 53 years as a martial enthusiast, the past 27 years with a heart area effect as a result of an impact accident. The thing about age BobR, is with age we do lose a lot of our motor speed and muscle fiber strength and so going one on one, in a match of strength and speed is no longer practical for us older folks to do.
However as long as our reflexes still make our hands retract away from getting burned at speed, it identifies (to me anyway) that guiding reading and directing the force of something or someone coming at u, remains the go to alternative, until the day this ability has ceased.
About 5 years ago, I was in Byron Bay with two large heavy double bags full of groceries from woolies slung over my shoulder. I was almost past the post office and about three feet away and about two feet out from the Anz bank wall. I looked over my shoulder on hearing a noise, to see a guy in his early twenties running fast along the footpath towards me, deliberately knocking people aside with complete disregard.
About twenty feet in front of me, a woman in her mid-eighties, was moving along with a cane towards him. I put both of my heavy shopping bags on the ground and looked over towards the reserve to see a koori fella in his mid-forties, sitting arms rested on a park bench opposite.
I stood there looking at him, looking at me and just as the guy rushed up, I bent down, picked up first one bag and then the other and turned to continue walking in the direction he was approaching. Unfortunately for the guy rushing at me, this caused first one and then the other of my rather heavy shopping bags, to propel him off-balance and crash headlong into the solid tiled, Anz bank wall and then fall down.
He didn't look too healthy, I leant over and said "you need to move slower hey man, you could get hurt rushing along the streets like that!"
I then crossed over towards the park where the koori guy was slapping his thighs laughing and he said "that was great brother. I saw that bloke mucking up and how he was running down the street shoving people aside and how he knocked one young bloke over, then I saw you and I thought I wonder what this Hippy looking fella is going to do? When you put your shopping down on the pavement, I thought you were going to have a go at him and then when you did that shopping bag trick mate, it was the funniest thing I have seen in years!"
"I just laughed and said yeah accidents can happen all the time if a person is not careful in what they are doing hey mate. He stuck his hand out, I shook it and said glad to meet you too brother" and left.
The point in sharing this incident BobR, is to highlight the fact that we are most definitely still far more than capable to look after ourselves, even into older age mate, we just have to use our awareness of where we are and if need be, dismissively waive away and direct the actions of antagonists instead of confronting them.
"Yep, if age says we can't match muscle to muscle, if we get into a tussle, then as they say, it's time to use the force, Luke. "Hà ha ha
That's how I as a 7o years old with a heart area effect, will continue to apply myself should situations require it for many years to come.