In self defense, what is the best way to defend yourself against a taller person

Question

I believe eventually this guy at my school will eventually try and start on me. I am broader than him but im about 5-7inches smaller. He is 6ft4 and I a 5ft10 roughly. I have been putting it off when hes pushed me in the corridor etc and now its time to act any ideas where I should aim taking into account my height and me being broader than he is? Thanks 10 POINTS FOR BEST ANSWER!

Answer 1

Whenever my sifu demonstrates the practical use of a particular stance of a form, usually a lock or a throw, I usually ask him, "does it work on a huge guy who uses his sheer strength to overcome my locks and throws?"

Sifu would say, "if you feel your locks and throws are not happening, you need to change strategy immediately and go for strikes.  If you need to fight a taller bigger guy, you need to strike quickly and retreat out his range immediately."

"Also if you need to strike, hit the critical areas, like eyes, throat, face, crotch, kneecaps, shins."

Like many others pointed out, don't fight him if you don't have training.  Otherwise you might get pummeled just by being overpowered by him.

Edit:

Bruce Lee vs Kareem.  This is just for fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=id1L-nFVl...

Answer 2

Keep shooting on him (go low and pick him up by the legs) then drop him. Then hit him in the face while he's down for that brief period. Since youre the one who dropped him. You could also kick him while hes down. Point being is bring him down, give him a shot or two while hes getting up. Repeat. Till he gets knocked out or gives up.

This tactic I have noticed work really well for streetifhgts that dont incur weapons or anything dirty like that. Its ghetto but pretty effective. This is of course assuming both yall have no martial arts experience.

Btw. since you short you have the advantage when shooting on him, and then lifting him, this is why it works great for you.

Heres a sample video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJeoaYv03...

Most streetfights arent like this. This is (like all streetfights) a crappy one. But the takedown made all the difference. Most streetfights are how the loser wanted to fight, swinging for the fences- this exposes their legs really well. Watch other street fights to see what im talking about. THe takedown is easy to apply since i assume you dont have time to learn martial arts and brutally effective.

Of course.. you can always walk away....or fight dirty...real dirty. Like pencil in the hand dirty....but not pencil in the eye dirty.

Good luck.

btw. The takedown is called the double led takedown. Theres many variations for easy wrestling different takedowns that you can all learn conveniently on youtube.

Please rate dont hate

hope this helps thanls

Answer 3

Don't fight him, don't respond to him, if he pushes you take it and move on, don't look at him, don't acknowledge him.  If he gets in your face look at a watch, someone down the hall, yawn but ignore him and take away his power.  

If it has to come down to fight.  Do what ever feels natural to you but if you don't have training there is a serious risk you getting hurt.  

Answer 4

well, best avoid it, but when it starts to go down, might as well put your dukes up!

from my martial arts observations and experience. big and tall people will always get the advatage....but they dont realize that most of the time. Tall guys have more reach so he'll keep you at bay with those jabs a straights and possibly kicks too. the thing about short people is that the average one is much quicker to react with speed than the average tall person. If you have good strength and stamina behind your punches, it may be all you need to hurt him. build stamina and resilience. Your best advatage would be close in the distance and make close powerful hooks and uppercuts. At first he'll try to hit you when you come close, you either block (especially when he'll aim at the head) or take a hit in the gut (doing crunches will strengthen the abs). But when you take the contact keep closing in. and it will be hard him to hit you cause it will feel awkward for him to hit you with his long lanky arms bending all the way to hit, so his power will reduce by a couple of percent.

If anything, he might grab you and try to bring you down with him to the floor, keep hitting him until your on top of him and then, game over. Make sure the arms are held by your leg and your arm so you have one arm to keep bashing him.

Remember to keep your guard up, this is as practical as it can get for the average person

Answer 5

The truth is none of this matters without training, and getting in a fight is way more risk than reward. But I understand wanting to deal with a bully.

Strategy wise:

To get inside on him, and underneath him.

The disadvantage of being tall means that his center of gravity is taller (making him easier to bring down or take off balance) and he needs more distance for strikes to mean anything. I you close in on him quickly you get to where you can punch with power, and he is at an awkward angle. Think Mike Tyson, he ducked in under punches and delivered hooks and uppercuts galore.

However instead of trying to go that route, where you may not be that effective due to lack of training, I suggest straight up tackling him, driving your shoulder at his waist level or below, getting him to the ground, getting on top of him and administering the beat down where all his advantage is taken away, and you have the leverage to administer some punishment.

Shortly after you will get broken up, and probably get in some sort of trouble. But more than likely he won't mess with you anymore. You got to ask yourself if that is worth it though, is the punishment worth just getting this guy to not mess with you? There are easier and more correct ways to do this, that while they may need feed your ego the same, they would keep you out of trouble. Telling a teacher, or an adult, asking to press charges the next time he pushes you, (ensure witnesses, and camera footage if available at your school). Tons of routes you can take to avoid conflict.

But if you feel conflict is necessary, I suggest straight up tackling and going for the good ol ground and pound.

Answer 6

if you wanna do serious damage, aim for right under knee cap or directly on the outside of the knee cap . Good luck !

His leg  will buckle and then you can have your way with him !

Answer 7

I regularly train with guys that are bigger than me, and I train with people who are smaller than me.  The key is to use your height to bring him lower.  YOU go low.  Low for you is even lower for him.  He will be more off balance than you.  When you go low, keep your back straight and use your knees, so you have your balance.

Remember the steps to countering any sort of attack:

1. Avoid the attack

2. Move to a safe place

3. Take the attacker's balance

4. Throw.

Easy to say, take years of practice on the mat to master.

Answer 8

Depends on the style.  Karate, Tae Kwon Do, and other striking styles favor the tall and lanky with a long reach.

Judo favors a low center of gravity.  The shorter of the two, the shorter needs to get in on the taller guy neutralizing their long reach and long kicks.  The shorter guy wants to 'jam up' the taller guy and use your lower center of gravity to your advantage.

Answer 9

Japanese Jiu-jitsu.

Best wishes :)***

Answer 10

Kick Him in the nuts!!!

Answer 11

best thing to do is not fight maybe tell him that you dont like it and please stop if he doesnt do it back to him then if he doesnt stop throw up ya dukes

i had the same problem with this islander he came up from behind and sat ontop of me and started punching me parents took it to the police he hasnt looked me sideways since if u fight remember u can be charged even if he starts it by pushing u

i dont do martial arts i do muay thai and my coach told me not to fight back because he did it once and if he did it again or got into any trouble they would send him packing back to newzeland and now look he is former champion and tht guy is probably homeless

and if u do any fighting maybe ull make pro one day and this guy will b watching tv and he will see u on tv and he will say S**t i gave this kid a hard time at school and he could of killed me

only time i use my fists is when im in danger i used them when i got a lit paper thrown at me

then recently got stabbed with nails and KO'd the kid and vowed not to watse my time on them fools

good luck cheers

Answer 12

well if he pushes you you should be close enough to get a good hit on him you are faster i assume a shot to the nuts would be cheap and seen as a cowardly move but they all go down from that and a shot to the shins would hurt him if he is not a big guy but one nice shot to the throat would do him in for a very long time and it does not take too much force to do it after that he won't be able to defend himself cause the shot to the throat won't let it happen.

Answer 13

This is a great one my father showed me. Now usually I don't give advice in how to win a fight, but I think you're going to like this.

Wait for him to approach you and start taking smack. Let him get right up in your face and stare you down (like big guys like to do). Keep your hands down at the side and play scared, looking at your feet. Right when he feels big and bad, and he is right on top of you, throw your head and hit him with the knot right at your hair line and hit him (if you can) on the bridge of his nose. Chances are he will fall, if he doesn't he will still be watery eyed and unable to see (temporally). This will give you enough time to take care of some of his friends, and/or deliver a punishing blow to him.

Great huh?

Answer 14

I really hate to tell you this but you cannot learn to fight on the internet. Unless you train and drill it repeatedly against a resisting opponent, when the fur starts flying anything they have told you will go right out of your head.

That is why all martial arts drill and train stuff constently, so that it will be able to be use dunder stress. Even experienced fighters sometimes forget the game plan.

My advice is if you are that worried about it find a good school and start training, as that is going to be the only way it will be there when you need it.

Answer 15

Most of tall guy losing the short guy are speed and agility.you cannot face to face with opponent, however, you could choose the place that he is not familiar that compete with him. Try to extend a long time to win.

Answer 16

-don't get in the fight, tell a teacher, be friends, and all that mess

ok, you and your bully, is about the same when compared to me and a TKD friend of mine, except I’m 6ft 250 Samoan build, and quick like lighting, but the most effective thing we ever tried was something he called "monkey kicks"

wrap your hands behind his neck, while in front of him, pulling up with your arms (this forces him to stoop at least a bit) bring your knees (rapidly) in to his solar plexus, h**l crumble a bit more, if need be, as he continues to crumble, bring them in to his chin.

the key is to pick the right time and place to finally give in to the fight, not only for all the terrain bonuses, but for what i call the "Ender factor" (enders game- Orson Scott Card’s) you want to use the violence as a last resort, but as a strategic resources, having enough people watching so your victory is know, but not so many that a second fight will erupt out of it. you don’t want to look like something fun to fight, you need to win every fight in the future with one quick decisive victory.  While of course balancing trying to stay your self, and not becoming a bully.  The key is never fight out of fear or anger, do it as a reasonable response to a legitimate threat.  Only your close friends can give you the insight in to why your fighting