The Best Fighting Styles For Short Guys

Being short can have a lot of disadvantages in life. However, when it comes to fighting, many of the disadvantages of being short can also be used as positives.

To make a long story short, if you are smaller than an average man, fighting someone bigger than you is difficult. However, this does not mean that it is impossible to beat them. Not only this, but being short can give you some distinct advantages over your opponent – provided that you use them correctly.

All in all, being smaller than your opposition is a style clash more than anything. There are both pros and cons to fighting someone who is both bigger and smaller than yourself. The main point is that you must know how to fight against different styles and shapes of opponents – otherwise, you will be exploited. Even if you are a more technical fighter than a tall opponent if you do not know how to use your size to your advantage. Eventually, they will pick you off through superior tactics.

Muay Thai

The average height of a Thai male is 167cm, whereas in the Netherlands it is 184cm. Both of these nations are renowned for their kickboxing champions, yet there is a clear discrepancy in height.

There is no doubt about it that Thai boxers are capable of beating taller western opponents due to their superior technique and striking ability. This has been proven time and time again with the likes of Saenchai being undefeated for almost a decade. As Saenchai often fighters larger opposition, there is no doubt that he is able to use his small stature as a positive.

To make things simple, a tall and rangy fighter will want to keep a small opponent at bay with long kicks and jabs. As a general rule of thumb, they want to keep a distanced fight and never let the smaller fighter on the inside. As a short guy, your aim should be to do the complete opposite of this.

Thankfully, Muay Thai is a fluid and 8 limbed martial art that allows you to use a variety of strategies, no matter your height, build or stature. Even if you are extremely small, the inside position is still a great place to be since it doesn’t matter what your height is. An elbow to the face is going to hurt just as much from someone who is 5″3 as it is from someone who is 6″2.

Judo

Being short in judo is certainly not a negative. Tall and short people will typically have very different styles and techniques, but ultimately there is no real height advantage in the sport.

One key reason for this is that there is a huge amount of hip throws in the sport of judo. Being smaller allows a judoka to easily get below their opponent’s hip line with their own hips. This can result in very quick and explosive hip throws such as the Uchi mata or O Goshi. Judo throws can be pretty devastating in real-life fights – especially hip throws on concrete. Having your full body weight thrown into the air is OK in the gym, but can still stun a person if they land incorrectly. Judo is extremely effective in street fighting and has been used for decades within MMA, although it often plays second fiddle to wrestling.

In summary, Judo is one of the best martial arts for short guys since height has no real impact on how effective you are as a fighter. Much like every other martial art, you must make your own height and body type work to your advantage.

Wrestling

The most notable example of wrestling working for short people is Henry Cejudo. Despite being 5″4, Cejudo showed that being a gold medal winning Olympian also translated well to the world of MMA. In a very small club, Cejudo is one of very few fighters who have held belts at 2 different weight classes.

Even though Cejudo fought at a weight class where everyone is relatively short, he still managed to beat fighters such as Dominick Cruz, TJ Dillashaw, and Sergio Pettis who are all between 5″6 – 5″8 which is considerably taller than Cejudo.

Wrestling is a sport and martial art which does not discriminate on height. If anything, being a smaller wrestler is an advantage since you are lower to the ground. Being low to the ground offers a better base and makes it more difficult for opponents to take you down to the mat. Not only this, but wrestling is also extremely technical with a very high skill ceiling. So whilst there may be a meathead element to the sport, it also requires a lot of cerebral thinking and high degree of concentration.

Whilst wrestling was overlooked in the early days of mixed martial arts, it is now an absolute necessity. If you are not able to wrestle well, you cannot beat a well-rounded fighter.

Krav Maga

Quite simply a brutal martial art. Krav Maga does not care about gender, color, height, weight, or any other dividing characteristic. Whilst Krav Maga is not a systematic or pleasant martial art to watch, there is no doubting how effective it is.

With the aim of Krav Maga being to keep yourself safe and immobilize your opponent if necessary, there is not too much strategy or thought about the consequences of your own actions. Designed for war zones and life-threatening combat situations, Krav Maga will have you do just about any technique in order to stay alive.

Being short doesn’t really matter in Krav Maga since there are often weapons and everyday objects involved in training. Not only this, but groin strikes or eye pokes do not discriminate on height. Whether you’re short or gigantic, they will hurt just as much no matter how you measure up.

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

There are many historical examples of Brazilian jiu-jitsu fighters dominating bigger and stronger fighters, no matter their height or weight. Royce Gracie is the prime example of this who was beating legitimate heavyweight figthers, despite being a very average-sized human being.

Fighting on the ground means that your opponent no longer has a height advantage. Granted, they are still taller than you, but if you’re able to isolate your opponent’s upper body away from their hips, they could be 11 feet tall and still have nowhere to go.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu has a variety of different styles, but having a headlock and butterfly based game allows a smaller man to be very compact and difficult to submit. We need to look no further than the early days of the UFC to prove that BJJ works for smaller men. Whilst it is not a one-stop solution to fighting a tall opponent, knowing BJJ certainly neutralizes any inherent advantage that they may have.

Overall Summary

Fighting against a person who is taller than you can be incredibly challenging. However, learning to use your height as an advantage is a key part of all martial arts listed above. A fight or combat should be thought of as 2 opposing body types. If you are going to play into the hands of a taller opponent and let them strike you at distance, things are not going to work out well. This can be turned on its head if a tall person is lured into playing a short man’s game, in which the deck is stacked against them.

There is not a single martial arts style or single technique which will allow you to defeat a taller person 100% of the time. There are however a strong set of techniques within each martial art listed above that will tip the balance in the shorter man’s favor.