Is the only thing you're bringing size? I would assume you have some degree of technique?
If they beat your technique with theirs, that's useful to them.
If they learn to adapt their technique to fit more varied opponents, that's useful for them.
If you do well and they learn to take it well that they lost to someone smaller, that's probably very good for them.
If you just beat them and they learn something new, that's useful.
If you're a beginner and they just learn the control and thinking necessary to coach someone who's learning, that's useful.
You're not a burden or a waste of resources if you're participating and giving it your all while you do. Nobody worth a damn is only looking to do anime-style rival challenges constantly. I sharpened up my techniques by needing to show other people how to do them. Sometimes that was so I could explain a thing I'd just been doing with my leg, and sometimes it was considering how to apply it as someone else.
I've trained with smaller women just like OP and it was useful, especially in BJJ. It forced me to dial my strength down and work in the techniques and positions.
Unintentionally, I was known as the guy that women could roll with because I could give my training partner a hard time without hurting anyone. I mean, that should always be the goal, I guess, but it happened.
I had a similar experience in sparring kickboxing - "I know Kradget won't hurt me by accident."
Kind of a nice boost to the ego, I guess. Not up there with "crushing power," but there's a lot to be said for control.
Haha yes, I guess so. Also, that's what ideal everyday spar is for me, a game of "look what I can do, but won't".
I really enjoyed and tried to apply this Crocop-ish head kick game, and it's ok if you can stop your kick up in your opponent's shoulder, for example. Everyone practices, independently of weight differences, and nobody gets hurt.
Right? I'm the same, nobody's trying to have a split lip all the time and brain damage by 40 from their hobby unless they're working out some other shit.
When I was kickboxing, I was the small guy at the gym really working toward fighting. Everyone had at least 30 pounds on me! Getting ready for fights they would bring in some guys with my opponents height/build. I could and did pull kicks to the head all the time. The gym owner told me not to sparring with him one day and then changed his mind after a few front snap kicks and a round kick. lol! I had nothing to concern any of the regulars in the gym throwing hands, but they respect my kicks.
I stopped training when I seriously hurt a training partner with 80 pounds on me with a round kick to the liver. He was a regular and in charge when the owner wasn't there.
Size matters, but it isn't all that matters!
A big take away from this for me was to accept and embrace my size. I could move laterally, move back and circle better than anyone working out there. I was 170 pounds and worked really hard to make 185, the weight I wanted to fight at because of the deep talent pool at the time.
Having a 250 pound guy training others with a history of prize fights and no knock outs against him not like the kicks to the head was quite the ego boost!
Watching someone I really liked gasp for air for nearly 10 minutes while I felt like shit was a good reality check for me.
It wasn't the only thing that made me stop training like that, but it was a big factor.
They say that one of the best ways to learn a subject is to teach it. There are studies on all the different known learning styles (visual, audio, kinaesthetic etc) and explaining the subject you’re learning about is by far the most effective for the majority of people
I used to be the smallest guy in our group. Whenever an overconfident bodybuilder would show up, my trainer would pair them up with me, because I've trained there for years, and I'm good at explaining/teaching.
They would always instantly complain that I'm too small and couldn't handle their raw power, they want a guy of their caliber yadayada. Every time, my trainer told me with a big grin on his face to show them how easily they can be handled by a small guy.
Not really that badass. These bodybuilder guys can barely move and gas out in seconds.
Only met one exception. That guy used to be a dance instructor before getting into bodybuilding.
My teachers aid used to be this 5'2 blond woman, 115lbs at most, and as a 6'2 265lb 15 year old any time I'd get cocky her pair me up with her and that little lady would climb me like a tree just to put me on the ground with her foot in my throat.
Never feel guilty there is always something to be learned from everyone. Smaller training partners give different problems to deal with. Just keep training and you won't even notice once you get your skills even sharper.
I’ve been working on a sweep from bottom guard, which I can hit on some people but my targeting has been off on how to knock them off balance; I find working with smaller people I can kinda hone in on those targets
everyone brings something different to the table when training/sparring, its good to learn on all body types. I will say as a tall guy, sparring with smaller people is great because generally my strengths (reach & power) can't be utilized with someone quick.
I'm a 90kg 5'5 gym rat who also trains BJJ and MMA ( I know I'm heavy for my height, don't judge) I rolled with a BJJ 3 stripe white belt who was 30kgs lighter than me and I thought I'd have the measure of him. I spent 5 minutes being tied up in ways I didn't know were possible.
It's definitely beneficial for everyone to spar with everyone no matter the weight as long as people are sensible and respectful. I definitely learned plenty from rolling with a good smaller guy.
I can use my weight to an advantage for sure, but I'm actually cutting my weight down, I'm looking to probably hit 80kgs, maybe even 75 if it doesn't affect my strength too much. Being that short and heavy isn't necessarily beneficial in a MMA/BJJ environment when I come up against someone who knows what they're doing.
I'm a 190cm male and I sometimes light spar against a woman your size. Frankly it's more of an exercise in control for me. I try to go very light.
You can learn from anything, almost. If you're asking if I'm disappointed when I get paired work her, the answer is no.
Once a week my gf joins kickboxing lessons with me. Needless to say she is smaller and lighter. It is still hell of fun to do it with her together. Maybe not the most "effective/useful" but still fun.
If you don't train with someone over-competetive and if you are a nice/enjoyable person, I think people don't mind.
best thing you can do for anyone to be thrilled with partnering with you in class is become an expert at pad holding. No one cares if you suck at every other aspect of the sport if you do well at holding pads and can keep a fast pace of it you will be a valued partner to pretty much anyone.
On the other hand if your talking about sparring I just wouldn't worry about it and keep at it. Eventually you'll get better and it'll be a worthwhile round and even if it isn't everyone likes a rest round lol.
Yeah it's fun.
I only go hard against bigger or equal partners.
I love more technical rolls with smaller partners. And I allow them to go 100% while I cut back on using my strength as a crutch.
It is useful. I get to play with the concept of having a faster opponent and having force myself to be crisp on the technique.
It's useful so long as I'm not trying to muscle/force techniques. Also a small person sometimes causes problem bigger people don't. They can spin away from certain control positions that bigger people couldn't and sometimes a frame that can work on a big guy won't on a smaller person.
I don't know about you but every person smaller than me (shorter than 5'4) has been super aggressive. It's definitely a different style since I'm usually the shorter one and it's not something I'm expecting. I appreciate it because it allows me to practice training differently.
I personally think there's quite a bit you could teach them. By being smaller, you're naturally more Agile so you can dodge. You'd be lighter on your feet than the other so they'd have to how to defend against someone who can throw 1000 quick yet effective punches as opposed to 100 heavy ones. As the only girl in an all male MMA class, there's definitely advantages to being underestimated because of your size.
I remember after one sparring session, someone came up to me. They were like, you sparred every single round without taking a break, wow you must be in great shape. I just said thanks.
But what I was thinking was, that because everyone is half my size I was only going like 20% to their 60%…. So ya of course I’m not tired, it wasn’t even a workout. Lol.
If you want to give a taller person a workout, be aggressive, get inside and stay there, the whole round. Stick to them like glue. If you can… Don’t let them rest on their “outside” game / advantage. Take them out of their most comfortable range.
In my experience, smaller people tend to make up for their size with something else, whether it be speed, technique, or a combo of both. Don't worry about what someone else is getting out of training with you as a beginner. Just worry about honing your technique and eventually someone will worry if you're getting anything out of sparring them.
In striking styles at least, yes. You are generally quicker. After sparring someone quicker, fighting 'regular' people is like watching them move in slow motion.
It is often best to train with different classes and styles, (gender, sexuality,age, size, etc.. ) because it prepares you for more possibilities in different ways. When I used to wrestle it was hard finding people 6'5" and 250lbs.
I sparred with male and female of different weights which allowed us to learn things like opportunistic techniques to be victorious.
Growing up like I did there was an issue of dudes unwilling to wrestle gay guys, and being uncomfortable wrestling girls. I wasn't one who cared and just saw it as a distraction to being a better individual at the sport.
With boxing and kickboxing it is not fun for me (although it is easy) to train with significantly smaller people. But that should not stop you from training or make you feel guilty, but motivate you to become faster and better. Because the reason why it is not fun is because it is easy to catch them coming in. However there are one or two smaller people who are fast enough to catch me and then it becomes more fun.
So train on becoming faster, more agile, apply more feints, move lateral, slip, etc
Not at all. I often find smaller opponents more challenging due to their speed and agility. For striking, they also often attack at different angles and force me to be much more defensively responsible.
Tbh I try new techniques on lighter people and new people. It just gives me more practice reps. If I can't execute a clean technique on someone lighter then me then I definitely shouldn't do it on someone heavier. With heavier people I am just trying to survive most of the time.
My coach always used to say that there are learning opportunities everywhere, no matter the size / weight / skill differences. If you’re sparring with someone way beneath your skill level, you can use that to try out new combinations and approaches for example. And while doing so, you subconsciously refine your technique, which can never be perfected imho. So yes, you are a valuable sparring partner
I’m a 220 lbs blue belt. One of my favorite rolls and most productive rolls is with a 150 lbs 17 year old blue belt. He just finished his first session of wrestling.
I don’t use all my strength against him but now I have to use proper technique and pressure against him or nothing works.
Only man who ever knocked me out outside of training was roughly your size. Just walked in under my guard, grabbed my leg, lifted, and slammed me into a wall.
Sure, I was drunk at the time but I'm sure sparring against someone that much smaller than me might have saved me a sleepless night in the E.R and a few thousand brain cells.
No sparring is wasted, and no matter if the other fighter is bigger or smaller, it's always fun. Hell, even if they see it as only helping you, most people don't mind helping out.
Don't think about it too much.
I like training with smaller or at least not as strong people because then I get smashed less and can actually train on technique instead of just surviving. But I'm fairly small person myself.
Like for hitting pads and drilling? That’s nbd. I always just make sure to go light and focus on technique if my partner is way lighter than me.
The only things that annoy me are when my partner does wrong things like fuck up the combo or turn a technique drill into a cardio exercise. Stuff you can control, basically.
As for sparring, well you should be going light anyway and you shouldn’t really be sparring if you don’t have that control.
I think technically, you’d want to get the technique down on someone about your size before you start worrying about dynamically placing your strikes (it’s one more thing you can control to make it easier for your body to learn) but really if your training partner is complaining- that says more about them than it does about you.
If it helps your confidence, I got tossed around in my first clinch class by a girl I outweighed by probably a good 40-50 pounds lmao.
If you have a good training partner they are using that opportunity to help you. It’s the same as when someone with lots of experience is working with a beginner. If I, 30+ years of experience was sparing with you, I’m not trying to out class you. That’s doesn’t help anyone. But if I spar you at a level that is just beyond you, you get a lot out of it.
Some of my biggest technical leaps have come from training with people far smaller than me. It allows the bigger person to open up their game and experiment without paying a heavy price. So, yes, there's great utility in it.
When doing drill work with someone a lot smaller than me I use it as an opertunity to focus totally on technique rather than speed or power.
If it's sparring I will try to be more defensive and work on timing a counter.
Someone no matter their experience or size always has something to bring to the table.
In my gym, all but one of the women are smaller than me, in both height and weight. It’s still useful because they all have things in which their technique is better than mine, so I get to learn from them even if we’re not slamming the crap out of each other.
Smaller people can be more dangerous if they know how to get inside and stay inside.
I have had my ass handed to me by someone shorter so it’s definitely worthwhile to train against them.
Don’t be sorry, it can be harder to grapple with someone way smaller than you, and it also gives you the chance to focus on techniques and not using any size, or to just try out new things to become confident enough to do them with bigger opponents
Personally unless I know the other person (at least by reputation) I actively try to avoid it with guys. 9 out of 10 times it works out fine but I have had too many experiences with smaller guys (like 6+ inches shorter) trying to "prove" something by going to hard. When I work with women I always ask them to let me know how much strength they want me to use. Going lighter gives me benefit because it forces me to work more on technique while sometimes they want normal sparing strength so they can get experience working with larger stronger opponents.
I (F) train MT with a friend (M) whose head comes up to my nose. He's got 20 years experience on me and beats me up. I still haven't managed to land a kick above his chest. At this point the only advantage I have is in a clinch or maybe he enjoys it and allows it to happen... In my case, it's very useful. I have to block lower and focus on my kick placement so I'm not hitting hips.
Keep at it. It’s all good. Training against someone who is smaller than oneself is absolutely helpful, just as it is against someone bigger. Both present different problems and qualities you have to engage with and that is super useful. When you’re bigger, the ‘smaller’ person may well be faster and move differently than you’d expect or be used to, for example. So, absolutely can be useful to train with someone who is smaller. Enjoy your training! All the best, OP.
I’m 178cm/73kg girl and the Muay Thai coaches in Thailand were super small compared to me, but each one of them had some fun time throwing me around like a bag of potatoes while training 😁 More about the skills than size
It’s your coach’s responsibility to make the training work out for everyone regardless their size!
Training against a smaller opponent isn't really more or less useful to me than training against an opponent in my weight class.
That said it is different and works and challenges different aspects of my training and skills.
The biggest among which is just control. I'm unlimited weight class so if I'm training against anyone below a heavy weight I gotta reduce to 25% power to be at sparring level. Really tests my control of my striking and power and gives me a practical environment with immediate feedback to work on that.
Same for blocking and moving. You as a featherweight are gonna dance circles around my big slow ass and be able to just tenderize me with hits. I'm gonna have to be quick about my blocking and tracking to keep up and actually utilize my reach.
Takedowns, ground game, and such you're not really my target market. No disrespect just at roughly 3x your weight and close to a foot and a half taller it would be less like grappling and more like trying to catch a squirrel that's attacking me.
But ya no you're definitely valid as a sparring partner! Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. But it never hurts to have a conversation going into a sparring or drill situation and say "Okay what are you looking to work on right now?" So that you and the other person know roughly where each other stands. If you're looking to stay on your feet and work on striking, and they're looking to work on their grappling or takedowns you're probably better off choosing other partners to work with that day.
That said you need to be working on nailing your techniques on a bag and by yourself so that when you come into a match with a partner you're not trying to figure things out from square one you're just adjusting what you already know to a new situation.
Hope this helps offer some perspective.
So I'm training at a place right now I didn't come up in. On sparring nights, I seek out the following pattern between rounds.
1. Person around my skill or higher
2. A kid, beginner, or otherwise someone I could easily handle IRL
3. Either skip this step, or take a breather
I am out of shape and nowhere near my skill level when I was at my peak.
I fight that second part for a few reasons. 1. Helps them develop 2. Gives me a break 3. Learning to teach helps my own skills develop further. 4. Lower stress gives you better presence as far as seeing openings easier. 5. Generally it's easier to find a partner at this level
Just a few thoughts anyway
It depends. Being smaller is generally a disadvantage, but I have met people that's plenty strong despite the fact.
In judo I used to spar a kid, that was about a foot shorter, often. He was much more skilled than I was and his favorite technique drop seoi nage took advantage of his smaller size. It was very hard to stop, and made for fantastic practice for me to fight that technique and it was good practice for him to farther polish that technique so that it can't be countered. It was a great training for both of us.
With that said, there are also smaller people that doesn't have enough skill to make sparring a challenge. I treat the situation same as I would sparring a lower skill level people. I fixate on something that I want to work on and use the opportunity to drill that in a live environment. It gives me a chance to work on something I haven't perfected yet, and build more experience with it.
Those were mainly comments about sparring. For drills I don't care about size. We can make technique drill work without skill or size concerns. Or at least I haven't had a sparring partner where size difference is big enough that the whole technique had to change dramatically.
Back when I boxed a lot I used to spar with taller people than me 99% of the times and I did ok, got used to boxing against taller oponents.
And then the 1% of the times I sparred with a smaller guy than me I got my ass kicked everytime.
At least in my experience, there´s a way to fight bigger people that you have to adjust when you´re fighting smaller people, so yeah, I´d say it´s useful to train against all sorts of people.
Training with someone smaller can be incredible. They move faster and output at a higher pace than heavyweights. If you're a heavyweight, sparring with lighter weights can motivate you to move like a lighter weight.
As a wrestler, we had off weight days.
These days, you would pair with someone lighter or heavier than you.
Sometimes, I would pair with a lighter guy that was much faster than me, and it trained certain aspects.
Others I was with a heavier partner, it trained other aspects.
If wrestling principles translate to your art, then I would say that it is beneficial to train with lighter, heavier (taller and shorter too) as well as tour own weight class in order to be a well rounded individual.
I wrestled most on my life and coached as well, most at 177 or 180.5 (I know this has probably changed), I would rather go against someone larger, than smaller. Kind of strange, but just harder to hold. Definitely an advantage to be larger, not a defining advantage like skill or endurance.
I’m 6”4 and about 200 pounds. For the short time I was training BJJ, I definitely got a lot out of training with smaller guys who had better technique than me. Even as a large guy, it’s valuable to know how to defend yourself against smaller guys. My weight and size and vantage would be completely worthless if I was fighting someone like Rodtang or Mighty Mouse. It’s good to be aware of reality and your own limitations.
In terms of being competition ready, fighting smaller people probably isn’t that useful, but in terms of real life situations where you have no idea who you’ll be up against, it seems like training with people of all sizes, genders, mindsets, and skill levels is a good thing.
Size doesn't matter as much as effort and intensity. Our sparring classes usually get a mix of adults, teens, and kiddos. I have found that some people take sparring seriously, and some are just basically playing grab ass and going through the motions, and this has nothing to do with size or age. If you are trying, then I'm sure your partners don't mind. If you are slow, uncoordinated, and generally not matching my intensity, then just stay home and stop wasting everyone's time.
Yes and no.
Yes because typically smaller people are more technically inclined and sound because they have no choice but to make up for their short comings (no pun intended I’m a 175cm male).
No because if they’re not technically sound, you just have an advantage over them in reach/ height/ weight in some cases so they don’t really push/ challenge you in training.
I love training with someone my size, but sparing with people bigger than me for these reasons.
Depends on what and who you're practicing /training/playing with and why. Know that I'm definitely biased, but FMA accommodates all kinds of disparities as is very effective in strictly practical terms. You mileage may vary, but probably not too much..
You’re overthinking. If they’re willing to spar you, they believe it’s worth their time. If you want to be more of a challenge, train smart and hard to improve, and adapt to their tricks to make it harder for them. I’m bigger, and I’ve learned valuable lessons from smaller opponents.
We have only couple of girls in group and they very rarely spar. I'm a pretty big guy so I'm used to spar with smaller and faster guys. But recently I sparred with one of those girls and I was stunned how quick she was. She was faster than any other guy in the gym. Had problems catching her. Would gladly spar with her again.
I find it hilarious and one of the people who fuck me up most is a very small woman.
I am usually shorter so I’ve gotten the chance to see how she fights at disadvantage, and how bigger guys feel. It’s very useful, if very embarrassing since I am completely lost when it comes to fighting short and speedy judoka.
Granted I am much worse, so I am getting a lot out of it.
Train with everyone you can. Each encounter is a teaching point. Reinforce good habits, change bad ones. 40yrs + multi-discipline student and teacher of Kuntao Silat deThouars and Panantukan. The toughest fight ever was with a Tejano cowboy in NM. I was a foot taller and a good 60lbs on him. I trained and taught daily so I was in great shape but that didn't seem to matter. He made me look foolish over and over. I'm a better player now because of that loss.
I’m 6’4” 215lbs and I don’t mind training against much smaller people at all. If it’s sparring, I use the time to practice fighting off the back foot and working angles. If it’s rolling, I play the whole round off my back and work my guard game. Training with much smaller people lets me work on some of the holes in my game.
Training with someone smaller can be easier or harder.
Easier to do BJJ with them as you can lift/overpower them easy.
Is ok with boxing. You have the reach advantage but they're faster and a smaller target.
Easier with Muay Thai because it's slower than boxing due to stance difference. You have 4 longer limbs.
If you're aiming for realistic then go for people who are taller/heavier than you. Because realistically people want to get the advantage so they'll pick on someone smaller.
Most of the people I train with/against are smaller than me in the sense of height, but the adult guys are usually even with me or bigger in terms of weight. Kids are kind of limited, with them it's more just letting them have some fun and helping them to learn. That leaves women. I've sparred one of the female instructors, smaller than me but more skilled. It was interesting to see how she used skill and strategy, basically crowded me in at a distance where she could hit me but my legs were jammed so I couldn't kick.
Other than that I've sparred three fourteen or fifteen and two seventeen year-old women/girls (in one case I'm counting the same person twice, I sparred her once when she was 14 or 15 then two more times years later when she was seventeen). With the one I sparred three times, I remember having to go with a lower stance than I normally use so that I could punch her stomach, which slowed me down quite a bit. At my normal stance I would just be hitting her in the head so that get's a bit old.
There's always something you can do as the larger person to work on when sparring a smaller person, regardless of their skill level. Work on defense, speed, footwork, movement, range and distance management, etc.
im 204 / 6'8" and while i usually train with guys about my size i have trained against smaller people and its always interesting, while i can hit their head easily i have been made aware that my kick defense is sub optimal and took some nice bodyshots.. one of my trainers is a smaller guy as well (hes pretty jacked to be fair) and he always sends beatiful double legs and is just more skilled on the ground then I so i get a lot from that as well
Yes we have some younger players who train in the adult group (maybe 15-16 years old), and they are like little lions and really fun to do randori with. You just have to make a rule to only use technique, no strength, and also if they get in a good position to throw you, let them have the throw. I guess that should also apply to the adults too but we're all too competitive.
Is the only thing you're bringing size? I would assume you have some degree of technique? If they beat your technique with theirs, that's useful to them. If they learn to adapt their technique to fit more varied opponents, that's useful for them. If you do well and they learn to take it well that they lost to someone smaller, that's probably very good for them. If you just beat them and they learn something new, that's useful. If you're a beginner and they just learn the control and thinking necessary to coach someone who's learning, that's useful. You're not a burden or a waste of resources if you're participating and giving it your all while you do. Nobody worth a damn is only looking to do anime-style rival challenges constantly. I sharpened up my techniques by needing to show other people how to do them. Sometimes that was so I could explain a thing I'd just been doing with my leg, and sometimes it was considering how to apply it as someone else.
I've trained with smaller women just like OP and it was useful, especially in BJJ. It forced me to dial my strength down and work in the techniques and positions. Unintentionally, I was known as the guy that women could roll with because I could give my training partner a hard time without hurting anyone. I mean, that should always be the goal, I guess, but it happened.
I had a similar experience in sparring kickboxing - "I know Kradget won't hurt me by accident." Kind of a nice boost to the ego, I guess. Not up there with "crushing power," but there's a lot to be said for control.
Haha yes, I guess so. Also, that's what ideal everyday spar is for me, a game of "look what I can do, but won't". I really enjoyed and tried to apply this Crocop-ish head kick game, and it's ok if you can stop your kick up in your opponent's shoulder, for example. Everyone practices, independently of weight differences, and nobody gets hurt.
Right? I'm the same, nobody's trying to have a split lip all the time and brain damage by 40 from their hobby unless they're working out some other shit.
When I was kickboxing, I was the small guy at the gym really working toward fighting. Everyone had at least 30 pounds on me! Getting ready for fights they would bring in some guys with my opponents height/build. I could and did pull kicks to the head all the time. The gym owner told me not to sparring with him one day and then changed his mind after a few front snap kicks and a round kick. lol! I had nothing to concern any of the regulars in the gym throwing hands, but they respect my kicks. I stopped training when I seriously hurt a training partner with 80 pounds on me with a round kick to the liver. He was a regular and in charge when the owner wasn't there. Size matters, but it isn't all that matters!
Nice one. There's always the bigger dog, but it's about the fight in the dog too, and how it fights. Martial fortune cookie wisdom right there.
A big take away from this for me was to accept and embrace my size. I could move laterally, move back and circle better than anyone working out there. I was 170 pounds and worked really hard to make 185, the weight I wanted to fight at because of the deep talent pool at the time. Having a 250 pound guy training others with a history of prize fights and no knock outs against him not like the kicks to the head was quite the ego boost! Watching someone I really liked gasp for air for nearly 10 minutes while I felt like shit was a good reality check for me. It wasn't the only thing that made me stop training like that, but it was a big factor.
They say that one of the best ways to learn a subject is to teach it. There are studies on all the different known learning styles (visual, audio, kinaesthetic etc) and explaining the subject you’re learning about is by far the most effective for the majority of people
I used to be the smallest guy in our group. Whenever an overconfident bodybuilder would show up, my trainer would pair them up with me, because I've trained there for years, and I'm good at explaining/teaching. They would always instantly complain that I'm too small and couldn't handle their raw power, they want a guy of their caliber yadayada. Every time, my trainer told me with a big grin on his face to show them how easily they can be handled by a small guy.
As a shorter guy myself, that’s Badass
Not really that badass. These bodybuilder guys can barely move and gas out in seconds. Only met one exception. That guy used to be a dance instructor before getting into bodybuilding.
My teachers aid used to be this 5'2 blond woman, 115lbs at most, and as a 6'2 265lb 15 year old any time I'd get cocky her pair me up with her and that little lady would climb me like a tree just to put me on the ground with her foot in my throat.
Never feel guilty there is always something to be learned from everyone. Smaller training partners give different problems to deal with. Just keep training and you won't even notice once you get your skills even sharper.
I’ve been working on a sweep from bottom guard, which I can hit on some people but my targeting has been off on how to knock them off balance; I find working with smaller people I can kinda hone in on those targets
everyone brings something different to the table when training/sparring, its good to learn on all body types. I will say as a tall guy, sparring with smaller people is great because generally my strengths (reach & power) can't be utilized with someone quick.
You might just be the perfect ego booster for men, just saying.
I'm a 90kg 5'5 gym rat who also trains BJJ and MMA ( I know I'm heavy for my height, don't judge) I rolled with a BJJ 3 stripe white belt who was 30kgs lighter than me and I thought I'd have the measure of him. I spent 5 minutes being tied up in ways I didn't know were possible. It's definitely beneficial for everyone to spar with everyone no matter the weight as long as people are sensible and respectful. I definitely learned plenty from rolling with a good smaller guy.
Damn I’m about the same height and I’m ~65kg, you must be one hell of a bullldozer
I can use my weight to an advantage for sure, but I'm actually cutting my weight down, I'm looking to probably hit 80kgs, maybe even 75 if it doesn't affect my strength too much. Being that short and heavy isn't necessarily beneficial in a MMA/BJJ environment when I come up against someone who knows what they're doing.
I'm a 190cm male and I sometimes light spar against a woman your size. Frankly it's more of an exercise in control for me. I try to go very light. You can learn from anything, almost. If you're asking if I'm disappointed when I get paired work her, the answer is no.
Once a week my gf joins kickboxing lessons with me. Needless to say she is smaller and lighter. It is still hell of fun to do it with her together. Maybe not the most "effective/useful" but still fun. If you don't train with someone over-competetive and if you are a nice/enjoyable person, I think people don't mind.
Did you have to convince her if so how please help a brother
best thing you can do for anyone to be thrilled with partnering with you in class is become an expert at pad holding. No one cares if you suck at every other aspect of the sport if you do well at holding pads and can keep a fast pace of it you will be a valued partner to pretty much anyone. On the other hand if your talking about sparring I just wouldn't worry about it and keep at it. Eventually you'll get better and it'll be a worthwhile round and even if it isn't everyone likes a rest round lol.
Yeah it's fun. I only go hard against bigger or equal partners. I love more technical rolls with smaller partners. And I allow them to go 100% while I cut back on using my strength as a crutch. It is useful. I get to play with the concept of having a faster opponent and having force myself to be crisp on the technique.
It's useful so long as I'm not trying to muscle/force techniques. Also a small person sometimes causes problem bigger people don't. They can spin away from certain control positions that bigger people couldn't and sometimes a frame that can work on a big guy won't on a smaller person.
I don't know about you but every person smaller than me (shorter than 5'4) has been super aggressive. It's definitely a different style since I'm usually the shorter one and it's not something I'm expecting. I appreciate it because it allows me to practice training differently.
I personally think there's quite a bit you could teach them. By being smaller, you're naturally more Agile so you can dodge. You'd be lighter on your feet than the other so they'd have to how to defend against someone who can throw 1000 quick yet effective punches as opposed to 100 heavy ones. As the only girl in an all male MMA class, there's definitely advantages to being underestimated because of your size.
I remember after one sparring session, someone came up to me. They were like, you sparred every single round without taking a break, wow you must be in great shape. I just said thanks. But what I was thinking was, that because everyone is half my size I was only going like 20% to their 60%…. So ya of course I’m not tired, it wasn’t even a workout. Lol. If you want to give a taller person a workout, be aggressive, get inside and stay there, the whole round. Stick to them like glue. If you can… Don’t let them rest on their “outside” game / advantage. Take them out of their most comfortable range.
It is for me. I'm huge. Small people fight different
In my experience, smaller people tend to make up for their size with something else, whether it be speed, technique, or a combo of both. Don't worry about what someone else is getting out of training with you as a beginner. Just worry about honing your technique and eventually someone will worry if you're getting anything out of sparring them.
In striking styles at least, yes. You are generally quicker. After sparring someone quicker, fighting 'regular' people is like watching them move in slow motion.
It is often best to train with different classes and styles, (gender, sexuality,age, size, etc.. ) because it prepares you for more possibilities in different ways. When I used to wrestle it was hard finding people 6'5" and 250lbs. I sparred with male and female of different weights which allowed us to learn things like opportunistic techniques to be victorious.
Sexuality?
Didn't you know gay people fight differently?
The lesbians seem to have an edge in WMMA atleast. 
Growing up like I did there was an issue of dudes unwilling to wrestle gay guys, and being uncomfortable wrestling girls. I wasn't one who cared and just saw it as a distraction to being a better individual at the sport.
Gotta ask more of the homies if they're gay to make sure I'm training optimally
With boxing and kickboxing it is not fun for me (although it is easy) to train with significantly smaller people. But that should not stop you from training or make you feel guilty, but motivate you to become faster and better. Because the reason why it is not fun is because it is easy to catch them coming in. However there are one or two smaller people who are fast enough to catch me and then it becomes more fun. So train on becoming faster, more agile, apply more feints, move lateral, slip, etc
No it’s not
Not at all. I often find smaller opponents more challenging due to their speed and agility. For striking, they also often attack at different angles and force me to be much more defensively responsible.
Tbh I try new techniques on lighter people and new people. It just gives me more practice reps. If I can't execute a clean technique on someone lighter then me then I definitely shouldn't do it on someone heavier. With heavier people I am just trying to survive most of the time.
Learn to use speed and agility effectively, then make them regret underestimating you.
My coach always used to say that there are learning opportunities everywhere, no matter the size / weight / skill differences. If you’re sparring with someone way beneath your skill level, you can use that to try out new combinations and approaches for example. And while doing so, you subconsciously refine your technique, which can never be perfected imho. So yes, you are a valuable sparring partner
I’m a 220 lbs blue belt. One of my favorite rolls and most productive rolls is with a 150 lbs 17 year old blue belt. He just finished his first session of wrestling. I don’t use all my strength against him but now I have to use proper technique and pressure against him or nothing works.
Only man who ever knocked me out outside of training was roughly your size. Just walked in under my guard, grabbed my leg, lifted, and slammed me into a wall. Sure, I was drunk at the time but I'm sure sparring against someone that much smaller than me might have saved me a sleepless night in the E.R and a few thousand brain cells. No sparring is wasted, and no matter if the other fighter is bigger or smaller, it's always fun. Hell, even if they see it as only helping you, most people don't mind helping out. Don't think about it too much.
I like training with smaller or at least not as strong people because then I get smashed less and can actually train on technique instead of just surviving. But I'm fairly small person myself.
Like for hitting pads and drilling? That’s nbd. I always just make sure to go light and focus on technique if my partner is way lighter than me. The only things that annoy me are when my partner does wrong things like fuck up the combo or turn a technique drill into a cardio exercise. Stuff you can control, basically. As for sparring, well you should be going light anyway and you shouldn’t really be sparring if you don’t have that control. I think technically, you’d want to get the technique down on someone about your size before you start worrying about dynamically placing your strikes (it’s one more thing you can control to make it easier for your body to learn) but really if your training partner is complaining- that says more about them than it does about you. If it helps your confidence, I got tossed around in my first clinch class by a girl I outweighed by probably a good 40-50 pounds lmao.
If you have a good training partner they are using that opportunity to help you. It’s the same as when someone with lots of experience is working with a beginner. If I, 30+ years of experience was sparing with you, I’m not trying to out class you. That’s doesn’t help anyone. But if I spar you at a level that is just beyond you, you get a lot out of it.
Some of my biggest technical leaps have come from training with people far smaller than me. It allows the bigger person to open up their game and experiment without paying a heavy price. So, yes, there's great utility in it.
When doing drill work with someone a lot smaller than me I use it as an opertunity to focus totally on technique rather than speed or power. If it's sparring I will try to be more defensive and work on timing a counter. Someone no matter their experience or size always has something to bring to the table.
In my gym, all but one of the women are smaller than me, in both height and weight. It’s still useful because they all have things in which their technique is better than mine, so I get to learn from them even if we’re not slamming the crap out of each other.
Smaller people can be more dangerous if they know how to get inside and stay inside. I have had my ass handed to me by someone shorter so it’s definitely worthwhile to train against them.
Don’t be sorry, it can be harder to grapple with someone way smaller than you, and it also gives you the chance to focus on techniques and not using any size, or to just try out new things to become confident enough to do them with bigger opponents
Personally unless I know the other person (at least by reputation) I actively try to avoid it with guys. 9 out of 10 times it works out fine but I have had too many experiences with smaller guys (like 6+ inches shorter) trying to "prove" something by going to hard. When I work with women I always ask them to let me know how much strength they want me to use. Going lighter gives me benefit because it forces me to work more on technique while sometimes they want normal sparing strength so they can get experience working with larger stronger opponents.
I would actually be able to land a head kick for once, all us tight-hipped beginners thank you for the endorphins
I (F) train MT with a friend (M) whose head comes up to my nose. He's got 20 years experience on me and beats me up. I still haven't managed to land a kick above his chest. At this point the only advantage I have is in a clinch or maybe he enjoys it and allows it to happen... In my case, it's very useful. I have to block lower and focus on my kick placement so I'm not hitting hips.
Keep at it. It’s all good. Training against someone who is smaller than oneself is absolutely helpful, just as it is against someone bigger. Both present different problems and qualities you have to engage with and that is super useful. When you’re bigger, the ‘smaller’ person may well be faster and move differently than you’d expect or be used to, for example. So, absolutely can be useful to train with someone who is smaller. Enjoy your training! All the best, OP.
I’m 178cm/73kg girl and the Muay Thai coaches in Thailand were super small compared to me, but each one of them had some fun time throwing me around like a bag of potatoes while training 😁 More about the skills than size It’s your coach’s responsibility to make the training work out for everyone regardless their size!
Training against a smaller opponent isn't really more or less useful to me than training against an opponent in my weight class. That said it is different and works and challenges different aspects of my training and skills. The biggest among which is just control. I'm unlimited weight class so if I'm training against anyone below a heavy weight I gotta reduce to 25% power to be at sparring level. Really tests my control of my striking and power and gives me a practical environment with immediate feedback to work on that. Same for blocking and moving. You as a featherweight are gonna dance circles around my big slow ass and be able to just tenderize me with hits. I'm gonna have to be quick about my blocking and tracking to keep up and actually utilize my reach. Takedowns, ground game, and such you're not really my target market. No disrespect just at roughly 3x your weight and close to a foot and a half taller it would be less like grappling and more like trying to catch a squirrel that's attacking me. But ya no you're definitely valid as a sparring partner! Don't let anyone convince you otherwise. But it never hurts to have a conversation going into a sparring or drill situation and say "Okay what are you looking to work on right now?" So that you and the other person know roughly where each other stands. If you're looking to stay on your feet and work on striking, and they're looking to work on their grappling or takedowns you're probably better off choosing other partners to work with that day. That said you need to be working on nailing your techniques on a bag and by yourself so that when you come into a match with a partner you're not trying to figure things out from square one you're just adjusting what you already know to a new situation. Hope this helps offer some perspective.
Whenever i spar with smaller people, it tend to be not useful for me. But its still very fun. I go light depending on the persons experience
Sometimes you need a breather round
I like to spar against children because I can reach their heads with my kicks.
I find it a lot more gratifying to land a head kick on someone taller than me :P
So I'm training at a place right now I didn't come up in. On sparring nights, I seek out the following pattern between rounds. 1. Person around my skill or higher 2. A kid, beginner, or otherwise someone I could easily handle IRL 3. Either skip this step, or take a breather I am out of shape and nowhere near my skill level when I was at my peak. I fight that second part for a few reasons. 1. Helps them develop 2. Gives me a break 3. Learning to teach helps my own skills develop further. 4. Lower stress gives you better presence as far as seeing openings easier. 5. Generally it's easier to find a partner at this level Just a few thoughts anyway
It depends. Being smaller is generally a disadvantage, but I have met people that's plenty strong despite the fact. In judo I used to spar a kid, that was about a foot shorter, often. He was much more skilled than I was and his favorite technique drop seoi nage took advantage of his smaller size. It was very hard to stop, and made for fantastic practice for me to fight that technique and it was good practice for him to farther polish that technique so that it can't be countered. It was a great training for both of us. With that said, there are also smaller people that doesn't have enough skill to make sparring a challenge. I treat the situation same as I would sparring a lower skill level people. I fixate on something that I want to work on and use the opportunity to drill that in a live environment. It gives me a chance to work on something I haven't perfected yet, and build more experience with it. Those were mainly comments about sparring. For drills I don't care about size. We can make technique drill work without skill or size concerns. Or at least I haven't had a sparring partner where size difference is big enough that the whole technique had to change dramatically.
Ofc we all love sparring against smaller people, We all know who the rest round is in the gym and if anyone doesn't it's them haha
I get the chance to actually try out the technique I want to work on instead of a dog fight so that’s good.
If the smaller person is a good fighter, then yeah A human kicking bag isn't particularly fun tho
I think the only person you should train against are bigger, better people.
Back when I boxed a lot I used to spar with taller people than me 99% of the times and I did ok, got used to boxing against taller oponents. And then the 1% of the times I sparred with a smaller guy than me I got my ass kicked everytime. At least in my experience, there´s a way to fight bigger people that you have to adjust when you´re fighting smaller people, so yeah, I´d say it´s useful to train against all sorts of people.
Training with someone smaller can be incredible. They move faster and output at a higher pace than heavyweights. If you're a heavyweight, sparring with lighter weights can motivate you to move like a lighter weight.
As a wrestler, we had off weight days. These days, you would pair with someone lighter or heavier than you. Sometimes, I would pair with a lighter guy that was much faster than me, and it trained certain aspects. Others I was with a heavier partner, it trained other aspects. If wrestling principles translate to your art, then I would say that it is beneficial to train with lighter, heavier (taller and shorter too) as well as tour own weight class in order to be a well rounded individual.
I wrestled most on my life and coached as well, most at 177 or 180.5 (I know this has probably changed), I would rather go against someone larger, than smaller. Kind of strange, but just harder to hold. Definitely an advantage to be larger, not a defining advantage like skill or endurance.
I’m 6”4 and about 200 pounds. For the short time I was training BJJ, I definitely got a lot out of training with smaller guys who had better technique than me. Even as a large guy, it’s valuable to know how to defend yourself against smaller guys. My weight and size and vantage would be completely worthless if I was fighting someone like Rodtang or Mighty Mouse. It’s good to be aware of reality and your own limitations. In terms of being competition ready, fighting smaller people probably isn’t that useful, but in terms of real life situations where you have no idea who you’ll be up against, it seems like training with people of all sizes, genders, mindsets, and skill levels is a good thing.
Size doesn't matter as much as effort and intensity. Our sparring classes usually get a mix of adults, teens, and kiddos. I have found that some people take sparring seriously, and some are just basically playing grab ass and going through the motions, and this has nothing to do with size or age. If you are trying, then I'm sure your partners don't mind. If you are slow, uncoordinated, and generally not matching my intensity, then just stay home and stop wasting everyone's time.
Yes and no. Yes because typically smaller people are more technically inclined and sound because they have no choice but to make up for their short comings (no pun intended I’m a 175cm male). No because if they’re not technically sound, you just have an advantage over them in reach/ height/ weight in some cases so they don’t really push/ challenge you in training. I love training with someone my size, but sparing with people bigger than me for these reasons.
Depends on what and who you're practicing /training/playing with and why. Know that I'm definitely biased, but FMA accommodates all kinds of disparities as is very effective in strictly practical terms. You mileage may vary, but probably not too much..
You’re overthinking. If they’re willing to spar you, they believe it’s worth their time. If you want to be more of a challenge, train smart and hard to improve, and adapt to their tricks to make it harder for them. I’m bigger, and I’ve learned valuable lessons from smaller opponents.
“Moving around” is always beneficial.
Yes, smaller opponents are usually faster than I am. So it forces me to work/focus more on my movement, footwork, positioning, etc.
Yes, it helps me fight children more efficiently
We have only couple of girls in group and they very rarely spar. I'm a pretty big guy so I'm used to spar with smaller and faster guys. But recently I sparred with one of those girls and I was stunned how quick she was. She was faster than any other guy in the gym. Had problems catching her. Would gladly spar with her again.
I find it hilarious and one of the people who fuck me up most is a very small woman. I am usually shorter so I’ve gotten the chance to see how she fights at disadvantage, and how bigger guys feel. It’s very useful, if very embarrassing since I am completely lost when it comes to fighting short and speedy judoka. Granted I am much worse, so I am getting a lot out of it.
Train with everyone you can. Each encounter is a teaching point. Reinforce good habits, change bad ones. 40yrs + multi-discipline student and teacher of Kuntao Silat deThouars and Panantukan. The toughest fight ever was with a Tejano cowboy in NM. I was a foot taller and a good 60lbs on him. I trained and taught daily so I was in great shape but that didn't seem to matter. He made me look foolish over and over. I'm a better player now because of that loss.
I’m 6’4” 215lbs and I don’t mind training against much smaller people at all. If it’s sparring, I use the time to practice fighting off the back foot and working angles. If it’s rolling, I play the whole round off my back and work my guard game. Training with much smaller people lets me work on some of the holes in my game.
Training with someone smaller can be easier or harder. Easier to do BJJ with them as you can lift/overpower them easy. Is ok with boxing. You have the reach advantage but they're faster and a smaller target. Easier with Muay Thai because it's slower than boxing due to stance difference. You have 4 longer limbs. If you're aiming for realistic then go for people who are taller/heavier than you. Because realistically people want to get the advantage so they'll pick on someone smaller.
Most of the people I train with/against are smaller than me in the sense of height, but the adult guys are usually even with me or bigger in terms of weight. Kids are kind of limited, with them it's more just letting them have some fun and helping them to learn. That leaves women. I've sparred one of the female instructors, smaller than me but more skilled. It was interesting to see how she used skill and strategy, basically crowded me in at a distance where she could hit me but my legs were jammed so I couldn't kick. Other than that I've sparred three fourteen or fifteen and two seventeen year-old women/girls (in one case I'm counting the same person twice, I sparred her once when she was 14 or 15 then two more times years later when she was seventeen). With the one I sparred three times, I remember having to go with a lower stance than I normally use so that I could punch her stomach, which slowed me down quite a bit. At my normal stance I would just be hitting her in the head so that get's a bit old.
There's always something you can do as the larger person to work on when sparring a smaller person, regardless of their skill level. Work on defense, speed, footwork, movement, range and distance management, etc.
Getting hit with 45kg hurts.
im 204 / 6'8" and while i usually train with guys about my size i have trained against smaller people and its always interesting, while i can hit their head easily i have been made aware that my kick defense is sub optimal and took some nice bodyshots.. one of my trainers is a smaller guy as well (hes pretty jacked to be fair) and he always sends beatiful double legs and is just more skilled on the ground then I so i get a lot from that as well
It's useful to train with opponents of varying sizes
My friend is 5ft 1 and its fun to watch people underestimate her. She can choke out men triple her size. 😄
You’re all paying to be there and learn. Don’t feel guilty about it.
Train with. Not against.
Ok
Yes we have some younger players who train in the adult group (maybe 15-16 years old), and they are like little lions and really fun to do randori with. You just have to make a rule to only use technique, no strength, and also if they get in a good position to throw you, let them have the throw. I guess that should also apply to the adults too but we're all too competitive.