Height problems

**Katriona1992** · Posted On: 11/10/2011 4:07pm

Hey fellow bullies,
I stand at around 5'5 and weighs 115pounds (52kg). Recently a new girl joined the gym. She is around the same weight range but is around 7 inches (16cm) taller. It came at no suprise when I found out, alas, she used to be a part-time model prior to finishing her degree. She has been boxing as long as I have before prior to joining our gym (around nine months).

Anyways, we got to spar. Fml. Her jab is as long as a pole. I tried to tap it away with my left glove and left myself open for a right straight. I tried to bob underneath it or find another way to go around it but it was too fast. The entire 4 x 3 round consist of her throwing jabs at me 75% of the time. Thankfully, the 25% I did manage to somehow get in (by following my coach's advice, becoming a human punching bag and just walking straight into the punches with my guard up) I managed to hit her with some good old fashioned hooks and found out, much to my suprise, I hit much harder than she does once we're at that distance. However, it was still a very frustrating experience.

Tonight, I am going to spar with her again. Any advice? Taking up her hits worked but (a) it really hurt afterwards and (b)in an amateur match, where everything is decided by points, I would have lost (and yes, I know amateur matches aren't self defense but I wouldn't want to find myself walking into punches on the str33ts either).

**Neo Sigma** · Posted On: 11/10/2011 5:13pm

I'm the same height as you, in a gym of guys who are all 5'10 and above. So here's a bit of what I do to not get jabbed all night.

Anyways, we got to spar. Fml. Her jab is as long as a pole. I tried to tap it away with my left glove and left myself open for a right straight.

You did that backwards. Assuming you're both orthodox, you parry jabs with your right hand, not your left, because using your left leaves you wide open for,you guessed it-a cross in the face.

I tried to bob underneath it or find another way to go around it but it was too fast.

It's not that her jab was too fast, it's that you generally don't bob under straight punches, you slip them. Slipping leaves you a lot better off to counter and get inside. Bobbing and weaving is usually for going under hooks because they take longer than straight punches to get where they're going.

Thankfully, the 25% I did manage to somehow get in (by following my coach's advice, becoming a human punching bag and just walking straight into the punches with my guard up)

I have to be honest, your coach sounds like he knows sweet **** all about fighting a taller opponent. Yes, you'll eat **** coming in most of the time, but that really shouldn't be your main method of closing distance. Movement and feints are both important in getting yourself in range. Cut an angle and use your footwork. And stay aggressive. You really have no choice on that one. Letting a much taller opponent set the pace and establish a rhythm is a surefire way to get jabbed to death. Shake her up a little and stay on her. Also, make the most of your time inside. If you ate one or two to get in, make sure you're throwing three or four.

One other thing to think about is the fact that her being tall sort of limits her options with you. You KNOW the jab is coming out first most of the time, and a lot of tall people will just keep popping it out there. Once you get a little more familiar with her timing, throw an overhand right over the top of it and enjoy the expression on her face.

Unfortunately, a lot of this is only going to come with practice, and you'll probably continue to eat **** for a while until you get used to it.

**Katriona1992** · Posted On: 11/10/2011 5:48pm

Originally Posted by Neo Sigma

I'm the same height as you, in a gym of guys who are all 5'10 and above. So here's a bit of what I do to not get jabbed all night.

You did that backwards. Assuming you're both orthodox, you parry jabs with your right hand, not your left, because using your left leaves you wide open for,you guessed it-a cross in the face.

She's a leftie.

It's not that her jab was too fast, it's that you generally don't bob under straight punches, you slip them. Slipping leaves you a lot better off to counter and get inside. Bobbing and weaving is usually for going under hooks because they take longer than straight punches to get where they're going.

Point taken. Ta.

I have to be honest, your coach sounds like he knows sweet **** all about fighting a taller opponent. Yes, you'll eat **** coming in most of the time, but that really shouldn't be your main method of closing distance. Movement and feints are both important in getting yourself in range. Cut an angle and use your footwork. And stay aggressive. You really have no choice on that one. Letting a much taller opponent set the pace and establish a rhythm is a surefire way to get jabbed to death. Shake her up a little and stay on her. Also, make the most of your time inside. If you ate one or two to get in, make sure you're throwing three or four.

Yes, I did try to stay on her but she knows how to use the jab to get out almost as much as she knows how to keep her distance with it.

One other thing to think about is the fact that her being tall sort of limits her options with you. You KNOW the jab is coming out first most of the time, and a lot of tall people will just keep popping it out there. Once you get a little more familiar with her timing, throw an overhand right over the top of it and enjoy the expression on her face.

I hear ya :)

Unfortunately, a lot of this is only going to come with practice, and you'll probably continue to eat **** for a while until you get used to it.

Any advice on how to train to slip/weave/bob/avoid punches in general though? Our gym kind of ties a rope from the opposite corners of the ring and we practice bobbing and weaving under them. The mitt holder also throws back one or two hits every time we do a combo just so we get our guards back up but thats the extent of our training when it comes to dodging punches.

Anyways, thanks for your advice...much appreciated! :)

**Neo Sigma** · Posted On: 11/10/2011 6:20pm

She's a leftie.

...then shouldn't she be jabbing with her right hand? Unless you mean you end up eating a straight left afterwards. In any case, the big thing with parrying when you're shorter is to immediately come back with something. In your case, stepping in with a body shot is probably the best bet.

We'll glove up and do a bunch of rounds where each person takes a turn with a particular method of defense against a particular kind of punch, i.e., X will throw straight punches while Y slips. Eventually we progress to "X throws what he wants and Y works the defense against it from the previous rounds." That's just when we're specifically working on defending, though. As a padholder, you should always be throwing out punches(and kicks, in my gym) to keep your partner's defense sharp. Make sure you tell them at the beginning of the round that they can do more than just cover when you come back at them. The rope drill is good for developing the technique, but at the end of the day there's nothing like doing it when someone's trying to hit you.

One other thing to think about is what you've already partially discovered- arcing punches are your new best friends. Hooks, uppercuts, and overhands should all be featuring prominently against tall people, because as my coach(also 5'5") once explained to me, the rules change when you deal with tall opponents. Nothing other than some kind of dark sorcery will make your arms longer than those lanky motherfuckers, so you can't ever really play the straight punch game and hope to come out on top with any regularity.

**Uncle Skippy** · Posted On: 11/11/2011 1:01am

If you parry a punch and just stand there, you are pretty much asking to be hit with their follow-up.

If you parry with your right hand, you'll step out to your right with your right foot first. Parry with your left, step to your left with your left foot first. Parry and step out. Parry and step out.

This VERY VERY OVERSIMPLIFIED footwork is one of the easiest ways to introduce yourself to working angles and moving yourself offline.

I tell people half of your defense is not being there (move yourself!). The other half is simply trying to make up for not moving quickly enough.

**jdempsey** · Posted On: 11/11/2011 5:43am

By the sounds of it, if you circle to your left she'll probly jab. When she does be ready to slip outside her jab whilst throwing your right hand.
Her punch should skim past your right shoulder roundabout the same time yours hits her chin.
Sounds like she is controlling the distance. Also focus on your distancing when sparring. REALLY focus on being constantly in control of the distance between you and her. See how close you can get before she strikes, and get used to making her throw when you want her to. When you get a feel for that you can circle left or right to choose which hand you want her to throw.
When you are walking into punches with your guard up... Pick your fav. punch, lets say its the left hook. Dont be too obvious about it but be loaded so that when she makes contact with your left glove it fires out like lightning and hits her before she can get her hand back.

**gregaquaman** · Posted On: 11/11/2011 9:56am

I am confused with the left and rights now so I will give generic advice.

Orthadox the most common defence for the jab cross for me is the parry/slip and then bob and weave. There are a few tricks to doing this though

If they are a lefty your left foot needs to be on the outside of their right foot and you need to move forwards up their right side. Going back into the middle opens that right hand and reduces your reaction gap.

My coach the other day did mention that the best way to cover distance is straight up the middle but changeing levels. Trying to punch around corners leaves you too open.

His theory was go in straight fire rounds then cut angles then fire more rounds then get out if you have to.

Now this has been different to what I have assumend and been told in the past where you cut angles on the way in. I haven't tried this myself yet my coach does put a lot of though into this kind of thing ,is quite the decent boxer and is a shorty.

***WhiteShark*** · Posted On: 11/11/2011 1:59pm

Lots of good advice so far. Especially Gregaquaman's tip about your lead foot being outside of theirs. That is what I usually do. I try and keep that foot outside and keep trying to go to the blind side so they can't counter with a left straight. With that positioning I can usually follow a jab back into my own range and throw a lead hook into their ribs/kidney area. This will let me set up an overhand right or a right hook to the liver. The key is to move to the blindside enough so that the second hit lands while they are still having to pivot and adjust to your blindside position.

**money** · Posted On: 11/11/2011 4:06pm

I haven't sparred much with lefties, but I was having trouble dealing with someone who had 6 inches of height and a much longer reach not too long ago. What they've said above is pretty much exactly what I figured out sparring with this guy.

I tried covering up and moving in on him and he'd just pound the crap out of me with jabs and move out. What finally worked for me was aggressively working the angle to his lead side. By doing this I was able finally able to slip his jab and catch him in the chin with a left that came from underneath.

**Syphilis** · Posted On: 11/12/2011 11:39am

I legkick their stupid right leg usually....

Other than that; when dealing with reach, you got to throw a couple of shots, not singles. The first two will get their defenses back/hands up/get you in range, the third fourth and fifth are there to hit.