What does it feel like after you've been beaten up in a fist fight? Physically and emotionally?

I have no clue. I imagine you would feel sore and uncomfortable and unhappy. Kind of like being in a small car accident. How sore would depend on what level of restoration you had to go through.

I think it would make a difference if you “won or lost”.

It would also be different if you’d been punched in the face or been whacked with a fire place poker.

It hurts. Win or lose.

Welcome to Fluther.

It would help to have some detail applied to the question. “Beaten up in a fist fight” can cover a lot of ground, and even though I’ve never been in an honest-to-gosh fist fight in my life (nor punched anyone since I was in single digits in age), there’s a lot that I know about this from observation.

First of all, the Hollywood depictions of knock-down drag-out street and bar fights that last for minutes on end are total nonsense. Most “fights” of this sort are over within one or two punches. A punch that puts someone on the ground is usually all it takes, and that can be accomplished – by someone who knows what he’s doing – with a single blow. Check out YouTube videos of bouncers handling unruly evictions from a bar, for example, or drunks who decide that they want a piece of him: one punch, turning the body into the punch and driving with the force of the body behind the shoulder, and it’s over.

Of course, not everyone on YouTube videos knows how to throw a punch. Many people simply swing wildly, and / or with the fist not closed tightly or straight into the head or chin, for example, and are surprised that their hand won’t work afterward for some time because they’ve broken the wrist, a knuckle or two, or one or more fingers. I’ve had a broken toe; I can only imagine the pain and lost mobility from broken bones in the hand. And that’s one of the things that @Muad_Dib was referring to: even the winner of a fight who has punched incorrectly to a hard surface has a banged-up hand or two.

Body punches hurt for days, but sore muscles and bruises don’t put one out of commission, they just lessen mobility and good feeling.

If you’re talking about organized boxing, then that’s another story altogether. I’ve never done any boxing, either, but I’ve watched a few on television. Those guys get beat all to hell, too, but usually their hands (and therefore their other bones, too, as a rule) are not so badly injured. But facial and body bruises and cuts (especially to the face, in that sport) take time to heal, and the day-after swelling can be especially sore. Part of the reason for that is that the sport is refereed, so that there are no “killing blows” (as a rule), and the mayhem can go on for as long as both fighters are willing and responsive. That generally wouldn’t happen in a street fight, where “fairness” is not part of the “game”.

Amped during. I never lost a fight so I wouldn’t know.

Shitty if you weren’t the perpetrator.

I would equate it to the feeling you get when you are a goalie and are scored upon. My older family members did beat me up and I lost. They would sit on my head and fart. Not good,

Hurts like a sumbitch.

Some feel traumatized. Some feel vengeful. Some feel both. Some turn off feeling altogether, both physically and emotionally. No limit to the range of feelings, as there are no limits to the strength or weakness of character that any person has before being beaten up.

It is for the victim to decide/discover if they’ve been beaten up, or beaten down.

Physically, it gets worse as you get older. As far as pain that lasts a while.

I don’t usually get beat up, but it is common for me to engage one, or multiple people on my job. After the dust settles, I’m usually fine. It’s the days after, or weeks that I feel sore, or injured somewhere.

My biggest issue has been with stamina. I’m in my mid 30’s, and rolling around with 20 year olds has left me winded. Especially if they were on drugs.

If someone gets the best of me, I just chalk it up to probability. If you fight with 100 people, you should “lose” some. So, I try not to focus on it.
I do consider having to get physical with someone in the first place, is a failure of sorts on my part. I always replay the event in my mind later, to see where I could have acted different. I’ve gotten good at diplomacy/de-escalation. But, I still have to get nasty on an almost daily basis…

Worst parts about being in a fight, are definitely being punched/kicked in the nose, or testicles. Gut punches are no fun either, but the immense pain subsides quicker. Kidney impact is shitty, but it’s hard to get hit there. Jaw sucks, because you brown out (never gotten knocked completely out, fingers crossed.) Gotta keep your tongue away from your teeth, or the right punch will make you bite your tongue badly. I think that’s almost the worst, because it burns every time you eat, or drink, for a long time.
Rolling down stairs with someone is pretty unpleasant too. Gives you multiple injuries.

Fighting sucks…

It’s been a while… but what I think of first is how you take inventory afterwards.

“my arm hurts here, my hands hurt, my leg hurts right above the knee, none of that seems really serious. What I’m really worried about is my cheek and back of my head, so let’s check those out first.”

Someone always wants to talk about it afterwards, to recap over and over, maybe someone like @MrGrimm888 has some insight to share immediately after, but I was usually just done and wanting to handle whatever needs to happen next. I never felt like there was a lot to understand and other than figuring out what happened, I didn’t want to talk.

Emotionally a lot depends on how much you’ll see the other person. The only consistent thing that comes to mind is usually some level of shame, win or lose.

You should ask Bill Cosby’s girlfriends.