small person ju jitsu

[johnson]

my wife recently had a crack at the art but gave up for the following reason. She is 5foot tall and about 7 stone; the average person there is 6 foot, 14 stone. This caused severe problems eg a hip throw felt to her like a shoulder throw, a shoulder throw like going into space!! also she simply couldnt reach with certain techniques eg hip throw.- her hips came to opponents mid thigh. Also her elbows wouldnt reach ukes neck etc

Maybe to be fair she didnt try hard enough but being new to this forum I wondered if anyone of about this height copes and if so how do they adapt for the height differences??

[Joe karate]

I don't see why a smaller person can't throw a larger one. In fact i believe some or all of the throws are designed to be used against a bigger person.

Either the instructor was bad or she was just too inexperienced and got frustrated(its very common and understandable)

[Andrew Green]

There is a reason for weight classes, can you easily throw someone twice your weight Joe? Remember thats probably well over 300 lbs...

Perhaps she could try something that involves less airtime? or get a friend or two that is closer to her size. People that far apart in size and weight really shouldn't be working together, doesn't do either of them any good.

[TheMachine]

ju jitsu can cater to any person no matter what size. Take Helio Gracie for example, he is not one big guy but he is a grat ju jitsu practitioner

[SoKKlab]

Well Certain throws like Hip throw (O-Goshi etc), work better for smaller people against Larger, because of their lower centre of Gravity. But I can see what you are getting at in your post, it must be a very frustrating situation for yr wife.

One of the Senseis that teaches the Aiuchi-Ryu Ju Jitsu class that I attend is about the same dimensions as your wife and she doesn't have any problems throwing larger people but she is always keen to point out what works for smaller people against larger and to stress those techniques.

Perhaps your wife could try to find a class taught by someone of her own dimensions and learn from them, as she'll be able to concentrate upon the Ju Jitsu that works best for her and to have a mentor who will directly understand her needs because they are the same sort of size and weight.

[Anne]

At first it is very frustrating to have a size disadvantage, but once you have properly trained in JJ then you should be able to get to a point where you can fight people larger than you. You're not going to find an art better than JJ for smaller against larger though, because JJ's principles are not based on size advantages, but positioning, timing and speed.

[Jim]

All MA's are about determination. I think she should have given it a bit more of a go before 'pulling the pin'.

[cal_JJJ]

I think that in the begining it is real important to work with someone your own general size and weight until you get the mechanics down. Then you have a better idea ( & confidence) as to how to fit into persons of diff. sizes & weights than yours.

[cal_JJJ]

I think that in the begining it is real important to work with someone your own general size and weight until you get the mechanics down. Then you have a better idea ( & confidence) as to how to fit into persons of diff. sizes & weights than yours.

[Sub zero]

One of my sensies is the samllest guy in the club.BUt he can throw.And i agree with sokklab.If u have a lower center of gravity ur better off for alot of throws.
E.G i guess becasue he i ssmaller he doesn't have to bend his knees as much when executing a hip throw.Becuase the reason why you bend down is to get your center of gravity below his.
(I'm sure u already knew that, bt it's just an example.)

[cal_JJJ]

The problem w/ new students is that they do what they know. That is, to throw something you have to pick it up, transport it, and put muscle into it. Now, you apply this to someone who is somewhat behind you & outways you by 50 to 75 pounds. It can be a real confidence breaker unless you have a real good instructor.

It is easier for someone to learn principles when they have as few distractions as poss. Once the principles are learned then we can push the envelope with confidence.