6 Feet, 4 inches in height - Defence and attack?

[isshinryu5toforever]

I would say, for you, figure out what people do to consistently close the gap, and figure out how to defend against it. Also, work on straight jabs and faster kicks. With your length and reach advantage on shorter fighters, you can be a handful if you learn how to manage your distance and theirs. I guess that would be my main advice to you. Figure out your exact kicking and punching distances. This is a lot harder than it sounds, and it's important for all fighters, but if you want to take real advantage of your size, that's the number one thing you should work on. Next would be working on flexibility and power, so you can make your effective kicking range larger. You can improve both your maximum and minimum kicking range over time.

As a short, but bulkier fighter, 5'8" (173 cm) 183 pounds (83 kgish), I either crash, hide behind my hands, put a knee up and move in, or I actually use your distance and wait on you. If I crash, I use leg kicks if they're legal, and upward punches just below the ribcage. I also learned a lot of tai sabaki movements (movements that are designed to take advantage of angles of attack and defense), because I was always such a small fighter from when I started Karate to about the age of 15, so I try to stay close, but move in very specific ways a lot. Smaller fighters will usually work on speed, and they will try to read the hips and shoulders of their opponents more if they are knockdown fighters.

Really, there are tons of things smaller fighters can do. It all depends on their size, relative strength, and speed. It would seem that there are many, many methods for smaller people, because many Easter martial artists were smaller men. Bigger guys have to figure out what works for them more often than not.

[sensei8]

I'm 6' 1", therefore, I'm going to attack your base repeatedly. Why? The bigger they are, the harder they will fall! I'm going to use combos for attacking your base. Yes, I might hit you one time, but, it'll be to only set up my combos to your base. I'm going to angle in/out, but, I'm going to drive forward at all times.

Keep chopping at the tree, even with the smallest axe, it will still bring down the mighest oak!

Edited July 3, 2009 by sensei8

[the beast]

Keep chopping at the tree, even with the smallest axe, will still bring down the mighest oak!

Well said