cjburns77 Posted March 5, 2005 Posted March 5, 2005 I am 5'7, 150 lbs and very quick (so i am told). I have short legs and what I have learned (the hard way) is that shorter people must have patients (which is my greatest challange). Wait for the right moment and then GO.. Must move with courage and move fast and move often.. Because at the moment you can get into your opponents danger zone that is the time to keep him or her off balance with speed. And I believe that the greatest coefficient of change to force is acceleration, and shorter legs have shorter distances to move to there desired point. So short legs can be fast and very very powerfull.. But if you can't be patient enough to wait for the opening or make a mistake those longer legs of you opponent will cream you.. I think longer legs give the practitioner more room for error, and shorter legs give less room for error. As I say this there is always the exeption to the rule.. There are people out there with long fast powerfull legs.. in that case the shorter must adapt, improvise, and overcome.. Easier said then done!!! Right.. I will live my life at level 10... Every Day, Every Time, Without fail, No Exceptions!!!
RightMakesMight Posted March 7, 2005 Posted March 7, 2005 Come on, short people, we all know that a tall person of equal ability and build has the advantage. Short people have to actually be better in some catagory to win because tall people are already winning the reach catagory. I don't want to take away anything from all you tall champions, the best is the best no matter how you look at it, but if I could stay as fast and as flexible as I am now and grow some real legs... Tall is an advantage for kicking people, short is an advantage for...driving expensive sports cars and flying jet fighters? : ) RightMakesMight"If you're not doing what is right and no one is there to see it--YOU will still know.""Just because you're not doing anything wrong doesn't necessarily mean you're doing what's right."
Myst Posted March 7, 2005 Posted March 7, 2005 Yeesh, I just made it to 5 feet last year (its been my lifetime goal ), and I know plenty of short people who are great at tkd! My assistant instructor is just a few inches taller than me, and I've always admired her skill. I think tall people have more of an advantage in the "showy" aspect of tkd, as they can kick higher, etc. Height would also help you in sparring, but so can being short. I think there are good and bad points for both, but short people should certainly not be excluded from tkd! When peace, like a river, attendeth my way. When sorrows like sea billows roll. Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul.'
isshinryu5toforever Posted March 7, 2005 Posted March 7, 2005 From what I have seen, taller players have an advantage in fighting. Forms, that's all subjective, whoever has the best technique and the cleanest tecchnique should win forms. In fighting though, a shorter player must be very patient and he must be very quick to fight a taller opponent. Usually a shorter player will be able to even things out if he can work angles and use his cover punch. This involves being quick and strong though. However, if the taller player is as quick as the shorter player, this can create problems for the shorter guy. I have seen extremely quick short people have some success against taller opponents who can't move as fast, but then I have seen those same people step in the ring with taller opponents who are as quick, and they get smoked. Maybe not true in all cases, but from what I have observed a shorter player must always find a way to compensate. If the taller player is his equal in these areas, things get difficult. He who knows others is wise. He who knows himself is enlightened.- Tao Te Ching"Move as swift as a wind, stay as silent as forest, attack as fierce as fire, undefeatable defense like a mountain."- Sun Tzu, the Art of War
writerlady04 Posted March 11, 2005 Posted March 11, 2005 Hey, I am 5'3 and i am a good sparrer- i generally go agaist people my height and higher- I love it. cause we are already mid level to tall people so why not take a change short people! Life is a book, you have to read it to achieve it- invent your own novel
sk0t Posted March 16, 2005 Posted March 16, 2005 People with a height advantage have an advantage cause of their reach alone. There is no reason if a short person cause circumvent the reach, why they couldnt have just an advantage. I am 6 foot 1 inch, and I am a pretty well-rounded at gyoroogi, but I have been beaten by much shorter people. It isnt the size of the dog in the fight, it is the size of the fight in the dog. sk0t"I shall not be judged by what style I know, but how I apply that style againsts yours..."
AdamFieldITFTKD Posted April 3, 2006 Posted April 3, 2006 Mr Humphries 1 dan (5"5) is one of the most refined fighters i have ever seen and he spars and wins with Mr Dowling 3 Dan (6"5) on a regular basis so i think that it is what you put in to the trainig not how you begin A machine can do the work of 50 men, no machine can do the work of one extraordinary man though
Ironberg Posted April 3, 2006 Posted April 3, 2006 Here ya'll go:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dLla9TZL0bY&search=Tae%20Kwon%20DoDavid and Goliath -- David is TKD. "An enlightened man would offer a weary traveler a bed for the night, and invite him to share a civilized conversation over a bowl of... Cocoa Puffs."
foofies Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 That is not true!!But, when I started TKD my instructor took my hight from feet to the hip and from the hip to the shoulder. He said its better to have your legs as twice as tall as your upper body --hip to shoulder--. HaKUnA MaTaTA
battousai16 Posted April 4, 2006 Posted April 4, 2006 huh, i've never heard of that. i guess it makes sense, though. "I hear you can kill 200 men and play a mean six string at the same time..."-Six String Samurai
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