Rousseau answers the great question "Who would win in a fight between a savagen and a modern human"

Yes, the friendly trivia of "who would win in a fight..." comes up again. According to Mr. Rousseau, this one goes to the savage. Why is this? Is Eywa on the savages side? Shouldn't we be able to blast a crater so far into their racial memory that they won't come within ten clicks of this place? (According to the colonel, that's a fact)
"The body of a savage man being the only instrument he understands, he uses it for various purposes, of which ours, for want of practice, are incapable." In other words, these beings we would call "savages" have less technology than us, and there for have to do more for themselves, and compensate with their bodies what their society lacks in technology and tools. Because of this, their bodies are stronger, much more practical. The savage man's body is physically superior to ours because he is savage. His body is docile to his way of life, his culture, and thus has been shaped and adapted to it. "If he had had an axe, would he have been able with his naked arm to break so large a branch from a tree? If he had had a sling, would he have been able to throw a stone with so great velocity?" Now, as Rousseau said (and I paraphrase) once the civilized man has been given his tools and weapons, he may easily beat his evolutionary grandfather, yet in a fair one on one contest, all outside factors constant, the savage would surely win.
This is best displayed by the scene in James Cameron's Avatar, where Neytiri comes to the aid of Jake when he is stranded out in the jungles of Pandora. (For more info, please see my previous post) Neytiri, at first glance is positioned in the subjects mind as a "Savage" with animal like features and behaviors. She's the embodiment of Rousseau's arguement that man, who is given choice, may appropriate the insticts of all beasts, where every species of brute are confined to one. She hisses and crouches like a cat, bares fangs like baboon (and/or thanator), swings her bow in an almost primate-like manor. She does not fear them, because she and Rousseau both understand that an animal does not naturally make war on man unless in self defense. She respects them and only kills out of necessity. Jake on the other hand, represents the "civilized man" who is completely out of touch with nature. Once his gun (technology) is taken away from him, he is helpless "like a baby". He showed hostility and fear towards the thanators and thus was attacked out of self defense. Somehow, by implementing technology, we have lost our "naturality". We've killed our mother, and become more dependent on technology. Our natural instincts were abandoned and changed with our cultures. According to Rousseau, many of our "necessities (like clothes )" were at one time unnecessary, and through our changing culture, become conventionally known as normal goods.
Nature's Paradise Painting by Thomas Kinkade gives perfect example. The simple stone and stick fire pit would've been all a "savage" would need in order to survive, however it is long since been used, and instead a nice warm 2-story log cabin sits in the background.