height or lack thereof

[lssanjose]

This may seem silly but I see guys that post have a height of 5' 11 or so. Now how would a short guy like me 5' 2 or 3" [haven't measured lately] do in a fighting art [I took wu shu for three years but that was way in my pre teens]? I don't know it just seems that my height could be somewhat limiting. My arms are somewhat short, which leads to me to kick a lot as i can't seem to get any closer gah ! .

thanks ahead of time, if you have any questions for clarification don't hesitate to ask.

Les

[ryanhall]

Grappling. Your body type does not lend itself to conventional striking.

[lssanjose]

thanks for the quick advice. That's something my friend told me once. I was surprised by his answer as I feel I can easily be picked up.. That's something i 've gotta work on now that i think about it.

[platinum_angel]

i agree with ryan hall

[moromoro]

i agree with ryan hall

CAN YOU SAY something better that kissing somebodys ass like i agree with him.


height should not matter in a real fight but it is because of our perception's of ourselves that makes it a factor (positive/negative)

[lssanjose]

Interesting

[Kingston]

moromoro has a good point. unless there is a MASSIVE size difference (your fighting a 6'7 guy who wieghs about 260) its mostly a mental obstacle. Of course if you have the training.

of course if you have no training, are in bad shape, aren't confident. You'd probaly lose to almost anyone

[ryanhall]

Of course height matters. Do muscle mass and strength matter? I would hope that you say so. Anyone who says that size doesn't matter has been spending too much time watching Ninja movies.

As far as height goes, it matters as well. Someone tall has a reach advantage, but is suceptible to being off-balanced by a smaller adversary. His limbs will move slower because they have to travel further.

Someone as short as the original poster should lean towards grappling, as he won't even be able to reach the head (for striking) of someone who is slightly above average height. This translates to a considerable loss of power when striking the most important target on your opponent. He will be out-reached by his opponents, so getting in close enough that the long limbs are a liability should be his goal. Also, most very small people cannot generate sufficient power to KO a large opponent (not saying it can't be done, but if you're 5'2'' and 120 lbs, you won't be knocking many people out). If we're talking about self-defense, I would recommend: getting basic h2h skills, buying a gun, and training to use it. A blade could substitute in as well.

[darrianation]

Do something with weight classes. If those guys in your weight class still out reach you then loose some weight and fight smaller guys.

Or do as Ryan said.

[moromoro]

man, watch the first 4 ufc's the smallest guys won them....
gracie proved you dont have to be the biggest monster to win...

Do muscle mass and strength matter? I would hope that you say so.

not really because you have to adapt to what your body has....

iam an eskrimador reach does not matter if you both have sticks, iam also not a small guy, 180cm (5,11) and about 225- 230 pounds, yes i do gym training to supplement my martial arts.

you hear it a million times, if both fighters are the same in skill size and height matters, this statement has never been proven.......it is BS

to me it is all psychological

also just because a guy is tall, i believe he has more weaknesses than anything,

STOP OVERESTIMATING YOUR OPPONENTS AND LOOK AT YOURSELF, see his weaknesses.

A tall guy gonna have a lot of weaknesses if your fighting him for real....

thanks

terry

[Guest]

Royce Gracie didn't look like 5 feet 2 in the video I've got.

Oh, you mean lighter.......

The thread starter is on about height. Of course it matters. So many different attributes (or lack of them) matter. The key is to work out a strategy to suit you. It is not to pretend that it doesn't matter.

[jcolvin]

Train hard and you don't have to worry about a height problem. Think about it from this scenario. Your opponent is 6'5" and you are 5'2" and you bust his knee with a round kick and he either falls to his knees or to his back. How tall is he now?

[ryanhall]

Kingston,
My post wansn't directed at you. I agree that an inch here and ten pounds there doesn't make much of a difference. You agreed that a large disparity in weight, height, and strength will make a difference. If I'm a little better than average height at 5'11" and I'm fighting someone who's 6'7" and proportionally heavy, I'll be at a disadvantage. If the original poster is 5'2" and the average person is 5'9", it's like a normal person fighting a giant every time they need to protect themselves.

moromoro,

man, watch the first 4 ufc's the smallest guys won them....

And what were they? Grapplers. I don't count the first few UFC's as any kind of real test in regards to who would come out on top for real. Gracie had a huge advantage in that he was the only real grappler and one of the few professional fighters involved. If everybody else could grapple, he would have been toast. It came down to his advantage in range being more of a factor than his smaller size. Oh, yeah, and he was 6'1" and 175 lbs when he fought. Not 5'2" and 130.

STOP OVERESTIMATING YOUR OPPONENTS AND LOOK AT YOURSELF

We're not overestimating anything. It's called accepting reality. If I have to fight Shaq, I'll have trouble no matter how good I am. Yeah, if everything went right, you'd be fine. But what if he gets ahold of you. Have you ever tried to groundfight with someone who has more than 120 lbs on you? It's challenging.

not really because you have to adapt to what your body has

That's like saying that the other guy having a gun doesn't matter because I've accepted that I don't have one and have resolved to work around the problem. Come on.

Jcolvin,

Train hard and you don't have to worry about a height problem. Think about it from this scenario. Your opponent is 6'5" and you are 5'2" and you bust his knee with a round kick and he either falls to his knees or to his back. How tall is he now?

You all come at this from the best-case scenario. You're wrong. Plain and simple. What if you don't have the exact set-up necessary to pull that round kick? What if you f#ck up and the other guy grabs you? What if you strike him repeatedly in the head, but he happens to be one hell of tough guy and doesn't go down because you weren't able to hit him hard enough? Stop living in a fantasy world. Size, weight, strength, skill, attitude, etc. all matter.

[haumana2000]

It depends if you are training for competition or the street whether it really matters. I grew up thuggin in gangs, (not advocating that here, just explaining. we're all young once) Anyway, in 90% of all the confrontations I saw, including some pitting small filipinos against big samoans or tongans, it's ferocity and intent that count. Me and Moromoro dont always agree, but he's got a point on this one. Me personally, even in my ring experience my size has not been a big factor (im 5'7 and 165 lbs.) EXCEPT, when I fought a tall muay thai guy in an nhb match that took place in a high school gym on a large open mat. He ran around the whole time, and my short little ass, just couldnt corner him off. strength does however count, not in a match up sense, but utilizing yourself to your full potential.

[haumana2000]

also, I am happy to say that one of my guys chris is only 5'3 134 lbs and competes in a local monthly nightclub fight circuit(boxing). he's the lightweight champ, but last week, after he defended his title, he swept the middle weight division, then fought a big heavyweight indian named (no shit real name) red feather who didnt have a fight since his opponent dropped out Of course chris didnt knowck him out, but he avoided the clinch and outboxed red feather bloodying his nose for the win! sorry that was my ahppy little story (They grow up so fast....kidding)