Am I too short for Karate

[BG fighter]

Have you ever tried with someone 6`5 or above?

[sensei8]

Have you ever tried with someone 6`5 or above?

Oh yeah!! Just within the Shindokan Hombu there's a member of our Board of Regents who's a Rokudan and he's 6'7", a very fit 310lbs. Our new Kaicho, who I've known since we both were 7 years old, is 6'4 and 3/4", he loves to make sure that I remember his extra 3/4", and he's a hand full and a half. In the billion years, feels like it at times, that I've been in the martial arts, I've trained with some very tall/big martial artists and I'll tell you, it caused me each time to take a noticed pause when I first trained with them. Once we shook hands; the training was absolutely wonderful.

I'd like to say one last thing; it sure was nice of my Dai-Soke to have taught me a few off-buttons for when things became intense and dirty.

[phoenixfire]

BG Fighter,

I am only 5'2" and 135lbs. I have never fought professionally, but I have fought some pretty big guys who are really good. When I fight, I generally try to keep my side to them to give them a smaller target. I keep my head out of the way and use their size as an advantage. Usually if you can get past the legs and past their lunge punches then you should be fine. A lot of the taller/bigger guys depend on keeping their space, they arent' sure what to do if you get too close to them. This is not 100% but, it seems to be a good majority.

I'm sure if you got invited to such a big tournament, then you must be really good. If I were you, I would at least give it a shot. A lot of these big guys underestimate shorter people too, so you might suprise a few of them. I wish you the best of luck with your decision. Keep practicing and keep us posted!

[wolverine uskf]

When i was still fighting i was 5'10" 165-175, and loved taller fighters. They had more reach, but i liked to use short power strikes from inside. The only problem was they knew that, so i cross trained with some other styles, and learned miss direction, and long short combo's to get the openings i needed. Something like this might give someone at your high level, the element of surprise with anyone that has seen you fight befor. I know it worked for me, i was 5-0-1 after i did this, and the 1 draw was a taller, higher ranked fighter that i should have beat, but i refuse to win buy doing permanant damage.