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So in addition to arm rubbing, basic drills and fighting with taller people pose a challenge for both partners.

Jiyu Kumite is when everything is ratcheted up a notch so that's when a disparities in height, weight, reach, strength are really highlighted.

I've been given a myriad of advice on how to fight much taller people which ranges from:

-do your best and know that you'd just run away in a real fight (I have a problem with this one because a much taller man will most likely be able to out-run me.)
-stay as far away as you can, go in for one shot and then retreat on a different line that what you entered on
-it shows your spirit - but don't just stand there and try to go toe to toe with them, it won't work
-you're going too far inside and getting too close

What I have found is that when I can do sweeps and takedowns, I'm fine. When I'm confined to stand-up fighting formats I have considerably more trouble.

One drill that really helped me understand how to get in on a line and get out on a different one was bump sparring. This is a drill where both partners are down in a slow horse-like stance. You fold your arms over your chest and while staying low you move around each other and try to bump the other person out of their position.

What's nice about the drill is that it really illustrates the futility of standing in one place and just shoving on each other versus when done well - you can actually send your partner flying across the room or reaching for the floor to catch their balance.

Perhaps it is the wider lower stances that help to show just what way someone can move quickly and what way they cannot.

I also find that in the stand-up format eye fakes help me see if they tend to use one arm or leg over the other as their first movement.

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Did you show compassion today?

That's the opposite of the advice I've always heard for shorter people. Usually the suggestion seems to be to get inside as fast as you can to neutralize the reach advantage. Also, your best striking range is going to be closer than theirs, so getting into your optimal range will hamper their ability to choose targets and deliver power.

Then again, if there's a large strength disparity they still might be able to overpower you. Also there's the problem that a wrestling match gives a significant advantage to the stronger fighter so they might just grapple once you get past their range. Unless you have strong groundfighting skills it will be difficult to surmount the advantage. Still, I'd say all of those problems are preferable to being at a range where your opponent can hit you, but you can't hit them. Getting in close seems to be making the best lemonade out of this situation.

What situations were you talking about? Dojo, street, tournament?

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- Justin Powell

I think that's good advice for circumstances that eliminate elbows and backfists, e.g. for boxing and some types of martial arts tournaments. Not sure it's as sound for real fighting, but I'm a big guy, so my challenges tend to be on the other side of the equation, anyway. I'll ask Fedele Cacia what he thinks next time I see him (which ought to be tonight, but may not be because of some retrocalcaneal bursitis in my left foot).

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Mike

I used to spar with a really big lean guy, he was about 6ft 4inches and I'm about 5ft 10 .................I could never beat him and we were all scared of sparring with him ........one time he brought a friend with him and he was probably about 5ft 4, and because they were friends he had no fear of him so what he did was sparred very quickly, in and out and trying to get around behind the big guy.the big guy said it was like trying to swat a fly and he couldn't touch him...when I got to spar with big guy I used the same tactics and it worked a treat
If you are a fan of boxing try and get a tape of Dwight Braxton fighting Mathew Saad Mohamed....Braxton was about 5ft 6inches and Mohammed was 6ft 4.and braxton beat him his tactic was to stoop and make himself smaller.go into low horse type stances..but I don't know if this would work to well with kicks and knee strikes involved

Angling off and closing , I once fought a guy 7 ft tall , distance isnt the answer IMHO , angles are the answer , contact and manipulation while getting your feet pointed at them , but theres not pointing at you .

moving on a X and putting pressure on the opponent .

One of my training partners is quite short this has totally changed his regards for size .

he now has the tools to negate the reach .