He very much did mean he beats women who annoy him.

1987, he elaborated on his quotes to Playboy. "I haven't changed my opinion... If you have tried everything else – and women are pretty good at this – they can't leave it alone. They want to have the last word and you give them the last word, but they're not happy with the last word. They want to say it again, and get into a really provocative situation, then I think it's absolutely right,"

Six years after THAT

"Sometimes there are women who take it to the wire. That's what they're looking for, the ultimate confrontation—they want a smack."

Stop trying to defend him, mythologise him or bring fcking self defense into this. It's disgusting

Connery’s stance on violence as a means of control, not self defense, is documented in a pretty famous Barbara Walters interview.

Connery: I think it depends entirely on the circumstances, and if it merits it.

Walters: What would merit it?

C: Well, if you have tried everything else. And- women are pretty good at this. They can’t leave it alone. They’ve got to have the last word, and you give them the last word. But they’re not happy with the last word. They want to say it again. And get into a really provocative situation. Then, I think it’s absolutely right.

You may not be familiar with all of this, which is entirely fair because it’s not reasonable to have watched every celebrity interview in history, but I would encourage you to watch it as context. He was inarguably talking about hitting women in his life to shut them up.

First time I saw that interview, I remember being shocked by how blunt and honest it was, because like most people I liked Connery as a movie star. He did not sanitize his opinions. Outside a card game with the boys on a Thursday night, you’re not going to hear a more honest endorsement of violence in a relationship.

I judge his words based on what he actually said instead of using them to make an entirely unrelated point justifying violence.

In no way does what he said about striking a woman for being disagreeable suggest he's talking about self defense.