A larger opponent.

[eliteguardian]

Hello everyone, I have a slight problem in sparring for tournaments. I am a black belt but I have a very odd weight class, I am fourteen, five foot eleven and 137 pounds. My only competition in tournaments is a gentleman who is two years older then myself, a second dan and has 70 pounds on me although he is only slightly taller. Naturally being larger and more experienced then I am he is a better fighter as he is on the Provincial team.

If you could offer any advice as to how I could train or prepare to face such a larger and more experienced opponent I would very much appreciate your help.

~With Respect

Elite

 

[sfs982000]

Well not having seen either you or your opponent spar it's kind of hard to pick any specific areas to concentrate on. Just going off the fact of your height and weight it sounds like you might have a slight speed advantage on him. Other than that I would just recommend sparring as often as possible to improve your skills.

 

[Cyriacus]

I assume youre in the confines of WTF Rules.

Theres no simple answer.
But generally, the biggest problem is His Kick-Reach. Try to move to the sides, instead of backward. Try to close in, so that He doesnt have room to chamber His leg, and do a quick two same-hand rear-hand punches (Think, he does a round kick, you catch it on a forearm, go in, one>two> with the same hand, then get out in a righteous hurry if it gets a bit rough, or optimally, snap your own round kick in and score, and dont be afraid to clinch up for a second.)

The moral is, get too close for Him to exploit His reach, because even though it isnt substancial, its a game changer for you. And then have fast hands. It aint exactly orthodox, but your chances in a circular moving kickfight really arent going to get much better unless You can find an equally sized Sparring Partner.

If You can get a Sparring Partner, then You can learn the ins and outs of how to move with them in such a way that the slight additional reach, height and whatnot really dont matter any more. But I presume You either dont have a suitable Partner to do that with, or dont have time. Thats just how Id do it, anyway.

DISCLAIMER: Answers will vary, because NO Opponent is the same. Im just tossing ideas at You, so that You have some food for thought.
DISCLAIMER 2: I may not be the best person to ask though, because Im normally the taller person

 

[Nomad]

What type of tournament? Point sparring, contact, full contact, or so on? Your tactics will change depending on the context of the tournament. If it were pure point sparring for instance, I'd say to work on your explosiveness and speed. You should have an advantage in speed and be able to get your techniques in first, particularly with good footwork.

Biggest piece of advice would be to not worry about his advantages, but look to making your own technique faster and crisper. You might not be able to beat him now, but sparring with him will definitely be beneficial to you and will increase your skill over time. I'd seek him out as a sparring partner as often as possible.

If you let his "advantages" intimidate you, he will almost certainly win. As someone who was considerably older and bigger than much of my competition, I would use that intimidation against them until they stopped caring about it and realized that they were younger and faster than I was...

 

[chrispillertkd]

Hello everyone, I have a slight problem in sparring for tournaments. I am a black belt but I have a very odd weight class, I am fourteen, five foot eleven and 137 pounds. My only competition in tournaments is a gentleman who is two years older then myself, a second dan and has 70 pounds on me although he is only slightly taller. Naturally being larger and more experienced then I am he is a better fighter as he is on the Provincial team.

Being in an odd weight class is one thing, being in the same weigth class with someone who has 70 lbs on you? How in the world does that happen?

If you could offer any advice as to how I could train or prepare to face such a larger and more experienced opponent I would very much appreciate your help.

~With Respect

Elite

If you are much lighter than him you might have a speed advantage, in which case I'd suggest closing the gap and then getting out of the way fast. With an experienced opponent you do need to be very cautious because they are likely to have better timing, even if they are slower than you. Being able to attack or counter attack during the natural spaces in your movements. You should also work on controlling the distance so that they cannot close with you (that doesn't mean always backing up, of course; angle work is invaluable and, at times, even closing with them so they cannot attack because you're moving past them).

If you're not fighting under WTF rules a very hard punch or three to the face does wonders.

Pax,

Chris

 

[granfire]

As the guys said above, work your strength and work the mat.
Sparring against the larger (taller) opponent the last thing you want to do is think straight line. Use the angles, get on his weaker side (assuming he has one).

As to the mass, you might have to hit a little harder to score or make an impact.
When I sparred against gentlemen good a head taller than me and close to 200 pounds heavier, my usual contact scale was off by a lot! It was only in school and light/medium contact, but all of that is relative. The contact they used on me was far more light then what they dished out among themselves, still considering it being 'light'.