Taller People Doing Tae Kwon Do

[PhotonGuy]

My knowledge in Tae Kwon Do is very limited but I would think a taller person would have some advantages, they would have the advantage of reach in sparring and they would they would also be able to generate more power with their longer arms and legs.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Taller people always have a reach advantage. As for generating great power. I don’t think they necessarily have that advantage

 

[Simfers]

At my first TKD school, I had the opportunity to spar with a fellow beginner who was 6'10" tall. Getting past the reach was a nightmare, and I never could, since I was a total newbie, but he was quite slow, so someone with more know-how could take better advantage of that, I'm sure.

 

[Earl Weiss]

Taller generally also means larger. An old Motorhead saying is "There is no substitute for cubic inches."

 

[Xue Sheng]

The longer your limbs are, the more room (longer sequence) for acceleration, equalling more potential for power.

True, but there is more to it that range. Like I said, it does not necessarily mean greater power generation

 

[Xue Sheng]

It does neccesarily mean that given that the technique is executed the same.

IF it is executed the same. And the power generation from a shorter person can also be very powerful, if done correctly. Bruce Lee's 1 inch punch if you will. The only thing guaranteed by a taller opponent is reach advantage

 

[isshinryuronin]

The longer your limbs are, the more room (longer sequence) for acceleration, equalling more potential for power.

There's always a downside. Longer limbs mean once the opponent gets inside your guard, he has a lot more room to work within. I cared for a long-legged Great Dane, Buddha, who one day came across a mouse in the dojo. It was amusing to watch him hopelessly trying to catch the mouse as it ran in and out between his legs. A short legged terrier would have had an easier time chomping down on the rodent.

 

[Xue Sheng]

A short but stocky person can deliver huge power via heavy bones. Yes.

But if you take regular peoples physique, then having longer limbs is beneficiary in everyway in TaeKwondo.

ONLY if they know how to generate power properly....just because one is tall, it is not a given that they can hit harder than a shorter person...every where including Tae Kwondo

 

[Xue Sheng]

Didn't work for Frazier against Foreman but yeah it can be a disadvantage to be tall.

The one ace in the jacket a long limbed fighter has is his uppercut. Lennox lewis used it to great effect against Holyfield.

Mike Tyson was shorter than many he fought

 

[Earl Weiss]

Didn't work for Frazier against Foreman but yeah it can be a disadvantage to be tall.

The one ace in the jacket a long limbed fighter has is his uppercut. Lennox lewis used it to great effect against Holyfield.

Worked for Frazier against Ali, once anyway. - But that doesn't mean anything in terms of the overall issue.

 

[Xue Sheng]

Yeah I've heard of him

you've heard of him...... alrighty then.....

 

[O'Malley]

My knowledge in Tae Kwon Do is very limited but I would think a taller person would have some advantages, they would have the advantage of reach in sparring and they would they would also be able to generate more power with their longer arms and legs.

Ceteris paribus the taller person would have an advantage in terms of reach and weight. The latter is a factor in power generation, but merely one among many.

 

[O'Malley]

You don't automatically have an advantage in weight simply for being tall. You can be lanky. Wiry.

Of course. I said all other things being equal. If two people have the same body type, the taller one is generally going to be heavier.

 

[skribs]

This is one of the worst-faith arguments I've seen in a while. So many what-if gotchas that try to de-isolate variables so that nothing matters and everyone else is wrong.

 

[skribs]

What are you referring to?

The entire thread. The discussion derailed very quickly because one person can't look at one variable (difference in height) and so everyone else has to qualify their statements with "all else being equal", then that person finds another curveball so they can "win" the argument.

 

[MuayJitsu]

In a stand up fight a taller person will always have advantages over a shorter fighter but it doesn’t mean the shorter guy can’t win just means he has to play a different game.

I know it’s not taekwondo specifically but look in the ufc Steffan Struve was 6’11 and I was a fan of the guy he had some exciting fights and was a decent fighter but he had a record of 29-13…9 of those losses by KO. So it shows that a taller fighter can definitely be beaten

 

[Simfers]

In fairness, Stefan Struve seemed to make it a point of pride to never use his reach advantage. The dude liked to fight at close range.

But yes, height is a massive advantage in a style that basically forces you to fight at long range such as Olympic TKD. Not insurmountable I'm sure, but I feel it's definitely there.

 

[O'Malley]

No need of qualifiers. Let"s forget power..Do you see any advantage to being shorter in Taekwondo sparring?

I can't think of one

All else still being equal:
- smaller target
- lighter and can reach maximum ROM quicker (less space to travel), thus faster when in range
- lower center of gravity, hence quicker changes of direction.

These are advantages. Whether they would outweigh the range advantage depends on many factors, such as size of the gaps (e.g. in range), experience and gameplan.

 

[O'Malley]

 

[Fungus]

If both are foot fencing (which they do in TaeKwondo no matter org) then none of those points apply/matter, including maximum ROM.

I don't know the full TKD rules, but I know leg kicks aren't allowed, and it seems that in a game which is essentially a kicking game, and where sweeps and KO via body punches aren't possible the advantages seem limited. Are knee strikes or sweeps allowed in TKD? One issue in our style when you get in close, a tall subject also has longer knees and can easily knee you in the head in striking range with little effort if getting in close.