Can a short person be good at MA?

[GuardMaster]

I'm 5'7" and find it hard to pick up MA.

For instance in BJJ, my short legs makes most of my guard arsenal like triangles etc hard to execute (I really gotta think of a new login name ) In fact my short legs make it hard for me to control my opponent in the guard, to wrap my legs around my opponent or to keep them away.

When standing I find my short legs make my kicks simply suck.

Basically I find myself at a disadvantage because of my height. Is there any advantage I can have? Is there any skills in BJJ or MMA I should be focusing on.

Now don't go and say Royler is great and he's 5'7" . Royler is a world champion , i'm not. I'm talking about the average joe.

I feel if i was 6'1" I would be able to execute all my BJJ and kicking punching techniques 100 % better, no questions asked so height is a big factor.

Can anyone shed some good news for me, this is depressing.

[eXcessiveForce]

world champions all start off as average joes.

Hard work is what makes them champions

[adacas]

First of all Royler wasn't born a champion he trained to be a champion so quit your whining. First of all I doubt the average BJJ practitioner is over 6'. Most I know are stalky little bastards that are good at getting in close. Having long arms and legs is good for wrapping around your opponent but the disadvantage is that there is also more for your opponent to grab. Ofcourse you do need to taylor what you learned from your classes to yourself just as everyone else does no matter their height. Take advantage or your small stature. You are a smaller target and you could be a lot quicker too. Getting low to do a take down isn't so hard for you as compared to someone taller. I hated it when I would go for a takedown against someone smaller and they were able to see it coming from a mile away. It will take longer for a taller opponent to crouch down and shoot compared to say a 5'7" opponent. I like to look at Mike Tyson for tips on how to box a taller man. He is 5'11" and I know a few inches taller than you but he had to box people 6" taller than him and he did pretty well except for lately ofcourse. Fight in close when you can because a taller person will want to keep his distance as that favors him but when you take it close in his body some of his power is taken away and you have this huge target to attack and you can move in and out. Size doesn't always matter...just is some places haha.

[foolsknight362]

I completely agree with eXcessiveForce, world champions do start off as average joe's, you should not be worried about that. Maybe start up boxing?

[GuardMaster]

So at 5'7" I can be a lot quicker an opponent, and better at takedowns. So that translates to a fast wrestler. Ok so now I starting to figure out a gameplan. In BJJ that would translate to close the distance (since keeping distance with someone with better reach sucks for me) take him down and get the mount.

What about guard? My guard arsenal is going to suck pretty bad at 5'7" no?

Can I even have a guard at this height? What if I lose the mount? If I take down a 6' oppoennt and get rolled over on my back I will be forced to use guard (better than being mounted). Its gonna be damn hard using guard against someone 5' taller than me who outweighs me by 50 pounds.

Any strategies for this particular situation? So I screw the guard? Should I get back to my feet as quickly as I can? Maybe you can offer some more tips here. Your advice is very good.

[Sean Dempsey]

What about guard? My guard arsenal is going to suck pretty bad at 5'7" no?

that's misguided.

one of the guys I train with is about 5'6 and he does fine. I am 6'1" and he triangles me ALL THE TIME.

Also, ever hear of open-guard?

Man, you're just stuck on feeling bad.

I want you to say this every hour on the hour, ten times "I can be great at BJJ, I am a great height"

It's all mental man, you're ruining your own training with your thoughts. Do you have ANY IDEA how many 5'4" WOMEN have triangle, armbar, kimura'd me or whatever else from the guard?

[BadgerFu57]

Just keep working and stay motivated. Wrestling is great cross-training.

Also, it's a lot harder to pass your guard because you have a lot shorter distance to go than the other person. You just have to learn how to use what you have. I have been rear-naked choked by a guy weighing 120 pounds.... and i weigh 200.

[Hakoko]

Concentrate more on your guard than in the mount position, not too say that you should forget the mount, but definitely work more on your guard positioning.

[Tom Yum]

Size determines your fight strategy, so don't get discouraged if you're 5'7." Think about your strategy for a second in no matter which martial art you take. If you're short, you want to work on speed. If you're tall you want to work on distance.

You might find it harder to keep people in your guard, so work on pressing the action from the guard which means using the guard as a short stop between your next move. Work on passing the guard with taller people. Work on preventing them from getting it.

[JaredExtreme]

I am 5' 8", but fortunately for me I have long legs and big feet (Cakegirl are you reading this ) being of a smaller stature may be a handicap at first when you do BJJ, but after you get technique it won't matter much.

For example there were two blue belts at my old BJJ school who were about 5'6" 140. These were SMALL GUYS. Yet, they were fast as hell and could wiggle/slip out of anything. Smaller, faster people are much harder to grab and control when they have the proper technique.

[GuardMaster]

Thanks for the advice guys.

I do need a good kick in the shin to get me going again.

As far as my advantage goes at 5'7", I've been told than if i'm short i gotta work on my speed. Well i'm not fast. I weigh 185. I'm a fatty right now. I'm 34. I used to weigh 115 when i was a 17 year old kid. Well that was ages ago.

Even if I did lose tons of weight I'd lose lots of strength, then I would not be able to dominate top positions, and would have to be forced to use guard which would be a big mistake.

I think for someone like me with short legs, i need to be realistic and drop to say 160 pounds of muscle while maintaining strength. Concentrate on a top game. Mostly boxing since kicking is out of the question with my lousy reach. Then great takedowns with the wrestling. Acquring the mount from BJJ, pounding the crap out of my opponent, and working the sleeper via Rickson style, or armbar similar to Rickson style. If my opponent has a guard game, I have to do one more step and unlock the guard by passing it before getting to the mount and finishing.

This strategy seems good for my bodytype but also seems KICKass for the street and practical real life fighting habits.

But the bottom line is this is basically submission wrestling. Now I know I can still have a guard game and I should have one in case I find myself on my back, its sure hells beats being mounted. But its most likely not going to be my specialty.

[IPON]

Gaurdmaster your not RUDY, dude stop trying to brain F*&@K yourself....its depressing me I don't know how long you have studied BJJ but here are the questions (there is no right or wrong answer)

Do you want to study BJJ

Do you feel it is right for you

The average person can study and learn any MA, but that does not mean it is right for them. People in wheelchairs or other handicaps get BB in MA you can handle BJJ. But remember, grappling/ground fighting is not for everyone. Just think would Bruce Lee have been the same icon if he study Karate only (or never studied wing chun) good yes great maybe legendary doubtful...wingchun was the style for him.

I do understand you point about Royler, he started advanced being a Gracie but height is height. Yeah you may not reach his accomplishments in the ring (and you may not want to) but the mechanics are the same, you know it can be done...that's all you need to know.

Height is not the issue, like Sean said women that are 5'0-5'5' are practicing BJJ and judo....but maybe you need a deeper understanding of the techiques. You learn all the techniques you can and then apply to your strengths by understanding your weakness. I don't study BJJ so I can't give technical advice, but I definatley would discuss this with your instructor since you are struggling with this issue

There are advantages and disadvantages to everything you know some of the disadvantages now focuses on the advatages lower center of gravity.... do you have good balance do you frustrate people when they try to take you down.

Anyway, I am not attacking just my thoughts

[Nick]

Why would you lose strength from losing FAT? I'm 5'7". Over the past year I lost about thirty pounds, and gained muscle, now I'm 158 lbs. Before I was about 181 lbs., but I'm sure as hell I could kick my own ass from a year ago.

Later...

[jubaji]

Originally posted by Sean Dempsey

one of the guys I train with is about 5'6 and he does fine. I am 6'1" and he triangles me ALL THE TIME.
Do you have ANY IDEA how many 5'4" WOMEN have triangle, armbar, kimura'd me or whatever else from the guard?

maybe you suck

[jubaji]

Originally posted by Nick
I lost about thirty pounds, and gained muscle, now I'm 158 lbs. Before I was about 181 lbs., but I'm sure as hell I could kick my own ass

... flexible too